Springsteen's Devils & Dust: The Palace at 4 A.M.

By Daniel Wolff

(excerpt)

Without narrative or character development, without the release of rock&roll or its humor, without the social relevance that supported The Rising, Springsteen has deliberately constructed Devils & Dust as a bare stage. Like the narrator of "The Hitter," he places himself outside a locked door, alone, trying to describe where his life has taken him. If he can only get it right ­ make his voice as battered as the way he feels ­ maybe the door will open, and he can rest a while. Structured like an old mountain ballad, "The Hitter" refuses to ornament or build, repeating, instead, like the string of bloody fights it describes. It doesn't end with the door opening but with the fighter circling yet another opponent. What he does to survive (like the gunner in the title track, like most of the people on the CD) may well kill the things he loves ­ and his ability to love. But what he's gained in this exchange is a stark beauty. Finally, he's fighting to tell the truth.

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From Dave Marsh's new blog, Holler If Ya Hear Me