An Experiment

Good evening everyone. I wanted to take a moment to talk a bit about an album I have been listening to recently. This is my first attempt at what I will call a mini review.

The album in question is Bruce Springsteen's We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions. For this recording Springsteen put together a whole new band just for this project, and they sound great together. At first glance it seems a little strange to have so large a group for music that has traditionally been so intimate. I for one do not often associate folk music with a horn section, but I feel the group works quite well. Springsteen really brings something of his own to this album of cover songs and the ensemble really comes to together well. From the boisterous, almost raucous Dixie-ish sound of Oh, Mary, Don't You Weep and Jacob's Ladder to the solemn Erie Canal to the powerful, almost haunting Eyes On The Prize the assembled musicians collaborate masterfully.

I feel there is one hole however, and surprisingly it is the title track We Shall Overcome. This song is so simple, so powerful on its own that it feels like Springsteen and his group really try to do to much with it. I feel this track is overly busy and complex. It feels like Springsteen may have been better off recording this a cappella, or perhaps just him and his guitar. As it is on the album the performance overwhelms the song.

Other than We Shall Overcome the album is a splendid production, and even that track in no way lessens the others. All in all I feel it is a wonderful album and I highly recommend it. So much so that I bought it for my mother for Mother's Day.