Bruce Springsteen is rolling out his new album Wrecking Ball online with streaming previews of his new tracks everyday through March 2.
His latest is “Easy Money,” the second single, went live over the Internet yesterday (Feb. 20). His next song “Shackled and Drawn,” hit the Web today (Feb. 21).
Springsteen will release the full album with the E. Street Band on March 6. It’s been described as his angriest yet. Bruce is expected to take aim directly at the establishment in the wake of the financial meltdown and the serious recession it spawned.
Wrecking Ball Singles Roll Out
Monday, Feb. 20: “Easy Money”
Tuesday, Feb. 21: “Shackled and Drawn”
Wednesday, Feb 22: “Jack of All Trades”
Thursday, Feb. 23: “Death to My Hometown”
Friday, Feb. 24: “This Depression”
Monday, Feb. 27: “Wrecking Ball”
Tuesday, Feb. 28: “You’ve Got It”
Wednesday, Feb. 29: “Rocky Ground”
Thursday, March 1: “Land of Hope and Dreams”
Friday, March 2: “We Are Alive”
Bruce taps a full panoply of sound, not only from his own rock ‘n roll past, but also from outside sources from hip-hop to electronica and even Irish folk rhythms.
Ron Aniello ( Patti Scialfa, Jars of Clay) produced. Springsteen will make an appearance at the South-by-Southwest Music Conference in March, and is slated to host a panel.
Springteen previously released Wrecking Ball’s first single “We Take Care of Our Own,” which also included a video.
After the near collapse of the financial system through Wall Street greed and an eight-year war in Iraq, The Boss wants to know what’s happened to the nation’s soul. “Wherever the flag is flown/we take care of our own” he sings on his first release. But he adds “the road to good intention has gone dry as a bone.”
The album is a “big-picture piece of work…that combines elements of both Bruce’s classic sound and his ‘Seeger Sessions’ experience with new textures and styles,” manager Jon Landau told Rolling Stone.
So far the songs have been classic Springsteen with pounding guitar and backup instrumentation.
Rolling Stone calls “Shackled and Drawn” a country-folk stomper with lyrics that could have almost come from a Woody Guthrie songbook: “Gambling man rolls the dice, workingman pays the bill/ It’s still fat and easy up on banker’s hill/ Up on banker’s hill, the party’s going strong/ Down here below we’re shackled and drawn.”
Wrecking Ball is produced by Ron Aniello . Tom Morello and Matt Chamberlain make guest appearances. Pre-orders for the album are currently available at amazon.com. Click the link to the left.
The remaining nine tunes will roll out daily until Friday, March 2.