Western Stars

2019, Jun 14

Apple Spotify Americana Singer-Songwriter 95 Highly Rated Columbia Pitchfork 7.8/10 A.V. Club D+ The Line of Best Fit 7/10 NME 4/5 Evening Standard 4/5 Paste 7.8/10 Rolling Stone 4/5 The Independent 5/5 All Music 4/5 Exclaim! 7/10 Gigwise 7/10 Under The Radar 8.0/10 Clash 8/10 Mojo 4/5 The Observer 4/5 Pop Matters 8/10 The Guardian 4/5 Spectrum Culture 75% music OMH 5/5 The Telegraph 5/5 The Irish Times 5/5 The Arts Desk 4/5

Pitchfork 7.8/10 Bruce Springsteen returns with elegiac and wise songwriting conjuring the golden expanse of the American West; it’s his best studio album in years.

A.V. Club D+ The album features some incredible songs, but traffics far too directly in the ’70s Americana that so affected him. He’s chasing a sound defined largely by nostalgia, and if anyone should know the dangers of trying to recapture the past, it’s Springsteen.

The Line of Best Fit 7/10 The Boss breaks no new ground here, but this is a record that exudes class throughout

NME 4/5 The Boss buckles up for his cowboy album and its the most charming and enjoyable he’s sounded in quite some time

Evening Standard 4/5 Madonna - Madame X

Rolling Stone 4/5 Bruce Springsteen's latest LP evokes country-tinged California pop from the 1960s and '70s, sounding like nothing he's done before.

The Independent 5/5 Where most rock superstars sink into trad tedium by 69, Springsteen is still crafting sophisticated paeans of depth and illumination, a rock grandmaster worthy of the accolade

Under The Radar 8.0/10 Bruce Springsteen's 19th studio album finds the singer/songwriter indulging in string and brass orchestration to illuminate tales of searchers and risk-takers in pursuit of the American Dream.

Clash 8/10 The 2010s have been a tumultuous decade for fans of Bruce Springsteen. From the relative highs of 2012’s ‘Wrecking Ball’ and last

The Observer 4/5 (Columbia Records)

Pop Matters 8/10 On Western Stars, Bruce Springsteen's first solo recording in 14 years, the primary influences are the borrowed elements of country, folk, and baroque pop...

The Guardian 4/5 Trailed as a break with tradition, the lush orchestrations and swooning vocals of this finely wrought album, in fact, chime beautifully with Springsteen’s history

The Telegraph 5/5 When Bruce Springsteen started out, he was a young man, frustrated at small-town life, roaring that he was born to run.

The Irish Times 5/5 By structuring the music around an orchestra, there is a remarkable freshness to his sound