COLUMBIA RECORDS TO RELEASE DEVILS & DUST ON APRIL 26



Columbia Records will release Bruce Springsteen's nineteenth album, 'Devils & Dust,' on April 26. 'Devils & Dust' features twelve new Springsteen songs.

'Devils & Dust' Track List

1. Devils & Dust
2. All The Way Home
3. Reno
4. Long Time Comin'
5. Black Cowboys
6. Maria's Bed
7. Silver Palomino
8. Jesus Was an Only Son
9. Leah
10. The Hitter
11. All I'm Thinkin' About
12. Matamoras Banks

'Devils & Dust' was produced by Brendan O'Brien, who first worked with Springsteen on the acclaimed CD, 'The Rising.' The new album was recorded at Thrill Hill Recording Studios in Los Angeles and New Jersey with additional engineering at Southern Tracks Recording in Atlanta.

Springsteen is planning a tour to accompany the release of the album. Details will be announced shortly.



The Hitter and Long Time Coming were tracks Bruce originally played on the 1995-1997 "Tom Joad" solo tour. I have them on bootleg and they're superb.

Bruce album due in April; tour to follow




Bruce Springsteen (Wire photo)
Feb 16, 2005


Associated Press

February 16, 2005, 11:31 AM EST


The seeds for Bruce Springsteen's new album "Devils & Dust" were sown nearly a decade ago, when the singer-songwriter launched his first-ever solo acoustic tour.

"I was so excited after playing on that tour, I'd get off the stage and go write," Springsteen said about those 1995-96 dates. "Then I put those songs on the shelf for a while, until I had a chance to revisit them."

The visit is now complete, with a 12-song album due in stores on April 26 -- Springsteen's first release of all-new material since his Sept. 11-themed "The Rising" in July 2002.

A tour was planned to follow the release, although Springsteen said it was unclear if he would perform alone or with a small band.

Two of the new album's songs, "The Hitter" and "Long Time Comin'," were actually written and performed on "The Ghost of Tom Joad" tour. But not all the material dates back that far; the title track was written around the start of the war in Iraq, Springsteen said.

"It works as a metaphor for all the music underneath it, the individual stories of people wrestling with their demons," Springsteen said of the title track. "A lot of it is set in the west, in what feels like a rural setting.

"It's about people working through their confusions, sometimes well and sometimes tragically," he said in a telephone interview earlier this week.

Springsteen opted to record without the E Street Band for "Devils & Dust." The core group was Springsteen on guitar and other instruments, producer Brendan O'Brien on bass and drummer Steve Jordan, who had produced last year's "23rd Street Lullaby" album by Springsteen's wife, Patti Scialfa.

In keeping with his pattern of recording, the new album is a quieter, more acoustic affair than "The Rising." Springsteen, now 55, has alternated between large-scale rock records followed by more introspective material since 1982's "Nebraska" was released two years after "The River."

Pedal steel guitar, harmonica and violin fill in the sparse, rootsy arrangements. Springsteen, who says his vocal range has expanded with age, provides some higher-pitched vocals on the track "All I'm Thinking About." Springsteen said the accompanying tour would be an acoustic affair whether he performs alone or with a band, targeting theaters and smaller venues.

"I was actually signed as an acoustic act, and I've always enjoyed playing acoustic," Springsteen said. "Even when I was in a band, back in my early days, I was always writing songs that weren't meant for the band."
[Edited 2/16/05 14:01pm]

An anti-Bush record by an established rocker? I might bite even though I didn't care for the last one. You'd think I learned my lesson but now that he hates Bush....

super!

Should we expect a Nebraska-like vibe?

Axchi696 said:

I hope not.

Not meaning that I do not like Nebraska (loooove Nebraska) but let him do something as 55 year old....

HamsterHuey said:

Oh, I didn't mean a note by note rewrite. The description seemed very much like the Nebraska/Ghost of Tom Joad sound. I think Springsteen is one of the few artists that has been allowed to grow up, and sound like himself without consciously doing so. He has his own sound, and changing producers (Hell, he brought in Brendan O'Brien for the Rising) doesn't help him stray too much from that.

Anyway, roll on April 28th!

Axchi696 said:

He is always himself. I have never seen or met an artist that is so down to earth and humble as he is.

Great news. Thanks for the info!

i enjoyed The Rising...im down for picking up this one too..

HamsterHuey said:

And yet he's obsessed with money (behind that clever facade)