With Bruce Springsteen starting his new tour in the US in Tampa,FL (a city where I have lived and worked in), a tour which will later come to Europe, I decided to listen to "Letter To You" again. As it happened, it was snowing on that day which seemed to fit in with the album cover. This was after all the album he was going to promote with a tour before the lockdowns changed all these plans. In the meantime, he also released a covers album ("Only The Strong Survive") and it was apparent from the Tampa setlist that he was going to promote both of them, but he would focus more on "Letter To You".
This time I decided to listen to my vinyl copy for the first time instead of the CD. I used to buy Bruce's albums on both vinyl and CD, but I don't do anymore because this could prove to be a costly habit. However, I decided to buy this one when I found out that it was going to be a three-side album, with the fourth side being etched. And I secured a grey coloured vinyl as well.
I was surprised once again by how good an album it was. That's why I decided to write this belated review. I used to review all new Bruce albums in this blog, but somehow I stopped after "High Hopes".
First of all, it seems to be bookended by two songs about loss ("One Minute You're Here" and "I'll See You In My Dreams"). Having experienced personal loss in the past year, these two songs meant much more to me this time around. The title track, "House Of A Thousand Guitars" and "Song For Orphans" (the latter being one of three early songs that he re-recorded for this album) were my favourites when I first listened to it. This time round, apart from the opening and closing tracks I also appreciated "Burnin' Train" more. And let's not forget the drum intro of "Ghosts" which makes you think that he's about into "We Take Care Of Our Own" at any minute.
"Ghosts" and "Burnin' Train" look like they're going to be regulars on the setlists of this tour. Of course, that could change by the time the tour arrives in Europe at which moment I hope I will be able to see him and The E Street Band once again...
