Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
The music fan is used to hearing that their favoured band has found a way to enter the studio during a tour, the seizing of the moment as they are gripped by inspiration is an age-old tale that almost every group or solo performer has found in their time on the road.
What is surprising to find is a single, even an E.P. that is released during a tour, it is an act of supreme confidence that the possible spoiler for the fan of what they might expect on the night they enter the arena or venue, is in effect a trophy of aural greatness, a highlight given its own space and time.
Between the dates that Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band has fostered in the U.K., via three dates in France, Land Of Hope & Dreams finds its way into the hands of the fans, and in this framing of the live set in Manchester what is evident is the anger, the seething fury and rage that is at the heart of the hero of millions music, that his love for his country, his faith in the way that people he has loved and the respect garnered through their actions have been eroded because of internal politics that has destroyed a once great country.
The four-song strong E.P. is one that is bookended by one of the most passionate speeches to a crowd recorded for posterity, the calm beauty of performance is almost upended by this articulate resentment to a world that is not only on fire, but which has gasoline being poured on the flames by those in charge.
The four tracks, Long Way Home, My City Of Ruins, Chimes Of Freedom, and the title track of Land Of Hopes & Dreams, exemplify the narrative and ferocity of expression entails, and as the elegance of the music and the swell of the crowd’s appreciation pop the bubble of pained actions by presidents, leaders, and staff worldwide, so the relief of knowing that not every star is beholden to adoring those who want to destroy, that there is always hope in art, always hope in the future.
An excellent offering from the Boss, one perhaps by designed surprise, but nonetheless delivered with grace and importance.
Ian D. Hall