Bruce Springsteen aka the “Boss” is back with his 21st album “Only the Strong Survive” his latest album since 2020(Letter to you) but his second covers album since 2006(We shall overcome: The Seeger sessions). He wanted to make an album where he just sang and tried to “do justice” to “the great American songbook of the ’60s and ’70s”.
This album was a surprise in terms of when he announced a new album it was assumed it would be original material. When you’re Springsteen you can do an album all of covers, doing different genres or do a live Broadway show (2017-2021) where you tell stories and play music because you are the “Boss” he can do anything he wants at this point.
This album shows how much fun he has playing his favorite songs from his youth/growing up and wanting to share them with the public who aren’t familiar or haven’t heard them in years. The bottom line is he is having fun and you should too when listening to this album.
Most of the songs are groovy, upbeat, catchy, funky, rock out and he even gets emotional on some of the tracks. There is great piano and guitar work on this album and he even gets legend Sam Moore (of Sam & Dave) on a few tracks and the last track is a famous song that the Supremes made famous(Someday we’ll be together). It is not what we expected but we got what we deserve in a good album to sing along to in the car or your home. Only the strong survive which is what one of the greatest rockers of all time has done in Bruce Springsteen all these years.