Working on a Dream
Encyclopedia
Working on a Dream is the 16th studio album
by Bruce Springsteen
, released on January 27, 2009 through Columbia Records
. It has sold more than 3 million copies worldwide, with over 585,000 in the United States as of September 2010.
The album came out of songwriting and recording that Springsteen continued with towards the close of his previous work, 2007's Magic
, as the band worked on a video for one of that album's songs. "What Love Can Do" was written, in Springsteen's words, as a "love in the time of Bush" meditation, but felt like the start of something new rather than a candidate for Magic. Encouraged by his 2000s producer
Brendan O'Brien
, Springsteen decided to start work on a new album and wrote "This Life," "My Lucky Day," "Life Itself," "Good Eye," and "Tomorrow Never Knows" during the next week. They were then recorded with the E Street Band
members during breaks on their 2007–2008 Magic Tour
, with most being finished in just a few takes. This all reflected a faster pace of producing new music than Springsteen had been known for in the past; Springsteen said, "I hope Working on a Dream has caught the energy of the band fresh off the road from some of the most exciting shows we've ever done." As with Magic, most of the tracks were first recorded with a core rhythm section band comprising Springsteen, drummer Max Weinberg
, bassist Garry Tallent
, and pianist Roy Bittan
; other members' contributions were then added subsequently.
The album is the last to feature new work of founding E Street Band members Danny Federici
and Clarence Clemons
, who died in April 2008 and June 2011, respectively. Federici's son Jason also plays on the album.
Title number "Working on a Dream
" was first performed during Springsteen's November 2, 2008 appearance in Cleveland for Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign
(accompanied by Patti Scialfa
), and then a chopped-up airing of the recorded version first appeared during the November 16 NBC Sunday Night Football
broadcast at halftime. The intact "Working on a Dream" began airing on radio stations and their websites on November 21; it was made available for free download via iTunes
and the Sony BMG website on November 24. The track entered the UK Singles Chart
at position 195 the following week. A music video
appeared on some foreign sites showing the recording of the song. "My Lucky Day" was made available in the United States on amazon.com
on December 1, accompanied by a longer music video that showed Springsteen and the band arranging and recording the song. "Life Itself" was released as a free download from amazon.com on December 28, with a music video that featured studio footage interspersed with vague scene snippets that may illuminate the moody song.
On January 12, 2009, the album leaked onto the internet. On January 19, NPR.org scheduled a streaming of it free for a week, in advance of the actual release. Sony BMG's Irish website also began streaming it. An extensive and carefully planned promotional push for Springsteen and the album was put together, incorporating appearances at the Golden Globe Awards, the Barack Obama presidential inauguration, a new greatest hits
album, the half-time show of Super Bowl XLIII
and an anticipated appearance at the 81st Academy Awards
. The last of these went awry when, in what Rolling Stone
termed "shocking news," "The Wrestler
" was snubbed by the Academy and failed to gain a nomination. Nevertheless, all the activity led Springsteen to say, "This has probably been the busiest month of my life."
An abbreviated version of "Working on a Dream" was included in Springsteen's February 1 performance during the Super Bowl. VH1 Classic
aired the documentary Bruce Springsteen: The Making Of 'Working On A Dream in early February 2009. The Working on a Dream Tour
began on April 1, 2009, in the wake of the album's release.
to proclaim Springsteen as "more hopeful, less bleak" than on his previous album Magic. It saw this go-around of the Springsteen persona manifesting "the voice of an honest striver redeemed by love and hard work." E Street Band guitarist Steve Van Zandt sees Working on a Dream as part of a trilogy with The Rising
and Magic: "They make sense together in terms of sound, concept and writing style. The three records have been a projection more toward the pop-rock form – this one more than the other two."
The album's opener, "Outlaw Pete", which some observers felt borrowed a central riff from Kiss
's 1979 disco hit "I Was Made for Lovin' You
", is more than eight minutes long, while two others clock in at less than three minutes.
Listeners considered it one of Springsteen's most stylistically diverse efforts overall. The album recalls some of Springsteen's earlier efforts, as "The Last Carnival" has been interpreted as a sequel to "Wild Billy's Circus Story" from 1973's The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle. 1960s production flourishes are omnipresent, including ones derived from Wall of Sound
, girl group
, British Invasion
-era Top 40, Brian Wilson
and Pet Sounds
, and The Byrds
and "Eight Miles High
".
chart, selling 224,000 copies in its first week of release, knocking off a seven-week continuous run by Taylor Swift
's Fearless
. It was Springsteen's ninth number one album in the United States This tied him with The Rolling Stones
for the fourth-highest total in that regard; only The Beatles
(with 19), Jay-Z
(with 11), and Elvis Presley
(with 10) have more. Working on a Dream also debuted at number 1 on the Billboard Top Rock Albums chart, Top Digital Albums chart, and Top Internet Albums chart.
In all, it reached #1 in 17 countries around the world, and reached the Top 10 almost everywhere else.
Critical reception to Working on a Dream ranged widely. Rolling Stone
gave it a five-star rating and compared it to 1975's Born to Run
in scale and ambition. But Los Angeles Times
writer Ann Powers
said "The best thing that can be said about Working on a Dream is that it's boisterously scatterbrained, exhilaratingly bad." Review aggregator Metacritic
calculated the album as an overall rating of 72 out of 100, the lowest score of Springsteen's six albums released during the 2000s.
debut of the film The Wrestler. In December 2008 it received a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song
and won the award during the 66th Golden Globe Awards
on January 11, 2009. The album version, without end-credits string introduction, became available on iTunes
on December 16, in advance of the film's U.S. major cities openings in the subsequent days.
"A Night With the Jersey Devil" first appeared in October 2008 on Springsteen's website, accompanied by a Halloween
-themed music video
. But subsequent press releases omitted mention of it, and Springsteen sources confirmed it had been removed, for reasons unknown. The song was announced by eil.com to be included as the 14th track on the Japanese CD edition on the album, but the current tracklist does not include it. The video, however, is featured in the DVD included with the album's deluxe edition (as listed below).
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
by Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
, released on January 27, 2009 through Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
. It has sold more than 3 million copies worldwide, with over 585,000 in the United States as of September 2010.
History
The album was officially announced, along with a track listing, on November 17, 2008. The album first began selling in Germany and Ireland, on January 23.The album came out of songwriting and recording that Springsteen continued with towards the close of his previous work, 2007's Magic
Magic (Bruce Springsteen album)
Magic is the 15th studio album by Bruce Springsteen, released in 2007 on Columbia Records. It is his first with the E Street Band since The Rising in 2002...
, as the band worked on a video for one of that album's songs. "What Love Can Do" was written, in Springsteen's words, as a "love in the time of Bush" meditation, but felt like the start of something new rather than a candidate for Magic. Encouraged by his 2000s producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
Brendan O'Brien
Brendan O'Brien (music producer)
Brendan O’Brien is a record producer, mixer, engineer, and musician.At age 14, O'Brien played guitar for the Atlanta-based cover band Pranks. In the late 1970s, he moved on to writing, performing and recording with the Samurai Catfish band...
, Springsteen decided to start work on a new album and wrote "This Life," "My Lucky Day," "Life Itself," "Good Eye," and "Tomorrow Never Knows" during the next week. They were then recorded with the E Street Band
E Street Band
The E Street Band has been rock musician Bruce Springsteen's primary backing band since 1972.The band has also recorded with a wide range of other artists including Bob Dylan, Meat Loaf, Bonnie Tyler, Air Supply, Dire Straits, David Bowie, Peter Gabriel, Stevie Nicks, Tom Morello, Sting, Ian...
members during breaks on their 2007–2008 Magic Tour
Magic Tour (Bruce Springsteen)
The Magic Tour was Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's 2007–2008 concert tour of North America and Western Europe.The tour began October 2, 2007, in Hartford, Connecticut, and concluded August 30, 2008 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin...
, with most being finished in just a few takes. This all reflected a faster pace of producing new music than Springsteen had been known for in the past; Springsteen said, "I hope Working on a Dream has caught the energy of the band fresh off the road from some of the most exciting shows we've ever done." As with Magic, most of the tracks were first recorded with a core rhythm section band comprising Springsteen, drummer Max Weinberg
Max Weinberg
Max Weinberg is an American drummer and television personality, most widely known as the longtime drummer for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band and as the bandleader for Conan O'Brien on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien.Weinberg grew up in suburban New Jersey...
, bassist Garry Tallent
Garry Tallent
Garry Wayne Tallent , sometimes billed as Garry W. Tallent, is an American musician and record producer, best known for being the longtime bass player in Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band....
, and pianist Roy Bittan
Roy Bittan
Roy Bittan is an American keyboardist, best known as a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, which he joined on August 23, 1974...
; other members' contributions were then added subsequently.
The album is the last to feature new work of founding E Street Band members Danny Federici
Danny Federici
Daniel Paul "Danny" Federici was an American musician, best known as the longtime organ, glockenspiel, and accordion player for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band.- Career :...
and Clarence Clemons
Clarence Clemons
Clarence Anicholas Clemons, Jr. , also known as The Big Man, was an American musician and actor. From 1972 until his death, he was a prominent member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, playing the tenor saxophone. He released several solo albums and in 1985, had a hit single with "You're a...
, who died in April 2008 and June 2011, respectively. Federici's son Jason also plays on the album.
Title number "Working on a Dream
Working on a Dream (song)
"Working on a Dream" is the title song to, and first single from, Bruce Springsteen's 2009 album Working on a Dream. At the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards it won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Solo.-History:...
" was first performed during Springsteen's November 2, 2008 appearance in Cleveland for Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign
Barack Obama presidential campaign, 2008
Barack Obama, then junior United States Senator from Illinois, announced his candidacy for the presidency of the United States in Springfield, Illinois, on February 10, 2007. On August 27, 2008, he was declared nominee of the Democratic Party for the 2008 presidential election...
(accompanied by Patti Scialfa
Patti Scialfa
Vivienne Patricia "Patti" Scialfa is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. She is married to Bruce Springsteen and they have three children.- Early life :...
), and then a chopped-up airing of the recorded version first appeared during the November 16 NBC Sunday Night Football
NBC Sunday Night Football
NBC Sunday Night Football is a weekly television broadcast of Sunday evening National Football League games on NBC that began airing on Sunday, August 6, 2006 with the pre-season opening Hall of Fame Game. Al Michaels serves as the play-by-play announcer, with Cris Collinsworth as the color...
broadcast at halftime. The intact "Working on a Dream" began airing on radio stations and their websites on November 21; it was made available for free download via iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
and the Sony BMG website on November 24. The track entered the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
at position 195 the following week. A music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
appeared on some foreign sites showing the recording of the song. "My Lucky Day" was made available in the United States on amazon.com
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
on December 1, accompanied by a longer music video that showed Springsteen and the band arranging and recording the song. "Life Itself" was released as a free download from amazon.com on December 28, with a music video that featured studio footage interspersed with vague scene snippets that may illuminate the moody song.
On January 12, 2009, the album leaked onto the internet. On January 19, NPR.org scheduled a streaming of it free for a week, in advance of the actual release. Sony BMG's Irish website also began streaming it. An extensive and carefully planned promotional push for Springsteen and the album was put together, incorporating appearances at the Golden Globe Awards, the Barack Obama presidential inauguration, a new greatest hits
Greatest Hits (Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band album)
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band Greatest Hits is Bruce Springsteen's fifth compilation album, released as a limited edition first in the United States, Canada and Australia on January 13, 2009 exclusively through Wal-Mart retailers....
album, the half-time show of Super Bowl XLIII
Super Bowl XLIII
Super Bowl XLIII was an American football game pitting the American Football Conference champion Pittsburgh Steelers against the National Football Conference champion Arizona Cardinals to decide the National Football League champion for the 2008 season. The game was played on February 1, 2009,...
and an anticipated appearance at the 81st Academy Awards
81st Academy Awards
The 81st Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences , honored the best films of 2008 and took place February 22, 2009, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST / 8:30 p.m. EST...
. The last of these went awry when, in what Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
termed "shocking news," "The Wrestler
The Wrestler (song)
"The Wrestler" is the title song from the 2008 film, The Wrestler. The track was written and performed by Bruce Springsteen.The origins of the song are based in a lost and resumed friendship between Springsteen and Wrestler lead actor Mickey Rourke; Rourke told Springsteen about his upcoming film...
" was snubbed by the Academy and failed to gain a nomination. Nevertheless, all the activity led Springsteen to say, "This has probably been the busiest month of my life."
An abbreviated version of "Working on a Dream" was included in Springsteen's February 1 performance during the Super Bowl. VH1 Classic
VH1 Classic
VH1 Classic is a television network, launched on May 8, 2000. It is operated as part of MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom and primarily features music videos and concert footage from the 1970s through the mid-1990s, though it formerly included a wider range of genres and time periods...
aired the documentary Bruce Springsteen: The Making Of 'Working On A Dream in early February 2009. The Working on a Dream Tour
Working on a Dream Tour
The Working on a Dream Tour was a concert tour by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, which began in April 2009 and ended in November 2009...
began on April 1, 2009, in the wake of the album's release.
Themes
The release of the first two songs prompted The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
to proclaim Springsteen as "more hopeful, less bleak" than on his previous album Magic. It saw this go-around of the Springsteen persona manifesting "the voice of an honest striver redeemed by love and hard work." E Street Band guitarist Steve Van Zandt sees Working on a Dream as part of a trilogy with The Rising
The Rising (album)
The Rising is the 12th studio album by American recording artist Bruce Springsteen, released in 2002 on Columbia Records. In addition to being Springsteen's first studio album in seven years, it was also his first with the E Street Band in 18 years...
and Magic: "They make sense together in terms of sound, concept and writing style. The three records have been a projection more toward the pop-rock form – this one more than the other two."
The album's opener, "Outlaw Pete", which some observers felt borrowed a central riff from Kiss
KISS (band)
Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. Well-known for its members' face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting,...
's 1979 disco hit "I Was Made for Lovin' You
I Was Made For Lovin' You
I Was Made for Lovin' You" is a song by American hard rock band Kiss, originally released on their 1979 album Dynasty. It was released as the A-side of their first single from the album. It was the band's second Gold single, selling over 1 million copies. The single was certified Platinum in the...
", is more than eight minutes long, while two others clock in at less than three minutes.
Listeners considered it one of Springsteen's most stylistically diverse efforts overall. The album recalls some of Springsteen's earlier efforts, as "The Last Carnival" has been interpreted as a sequel to "Wild Billy's Circus Story" from 1973's The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle. 1960s production flourishes are omnipresent, including ones derived from Wall of Sound
Wall of Sound
The Wall of Sound is a music production technique for pop and rock music recordings developed by record producer Phil Spector at Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles, California, during the early 1960s...
, girl group
Girl group
A girl group is a popular music act featuring several young female singers who generally harmonise together.Girl groups emerged in the late 1950s as groups of young singers teamed up with behind-the-scenes songwriters and music producers to create hit singles, often featuring glossy production...
, British Invasion
British Invasion
The British Invasion is a term used to describe the large number of rock and roll, beat, rock, and pop performers from the United Kingdom who became popular in the United States during the time period from 1964 through 1966.- Background :...
-era Top 40, Brian Wilson
Brian Wilson
Brian Douglas Wilson is an American musician, best known as the leader and chief songwriter of the group The Beach Boys. Within the band, Wilson played bass and keyboards, also providing part-time lead vocals and, more often, backing vocals, harmonizing in falsetto with the group...
and Pet Sounds
Pet Sounds
Pet Sounds is the eleventh studio album by the American rock band The Beach Boys, released May 16, 1966, on Capitol Records. It has since been recognized as one of the most influential records in the history of popular music and one of the best albums of the 1960s, including songs such as "Wouldn't...
, and The Byrds
The Byrds
The Byrds were an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964. The band underwent multiple line-up changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn remaining the sole consistent member until the group disbanded in 1973...
and "Eight Miles High
Eight Miles High
"Eight Miles High" is a song by the American rock band The Byrds, written by Gene Clark, Jim McGuinn, and David Crosby and first released as a single on March 14, 1966 . The single managed to reach the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100 and the Top 30 of the UK Singles Chart...
".
Release and reception
Working on a Dream debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
chart, selling 224,000 copies in its first week of release, knocking off a seven-week continuous run by Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift
Taylor Alison Swift is an American country pop singer-songwriter, musician and actress.In 2006, she released her debut single "Tim McGraw", then her self-titled debut album, which was subsequently certified multi-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America...
's Fearless
Fearless (Taylor Swift album)
Fearless has been well-received by music professionals, with many praising Swift for her introspective lyrics, as well as her mature sound. According to the music review aggregator Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an...
. It was Springsteen's ninth number one album in the United States This tied him with The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
for the fourth-highest total in that regard; only The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
(with 19), Jay-Z
Jay-Z
Shawn Corey Carter , better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having a net worth of over $450 million as of 2010...
(with 11), and Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
(with 10) have more. Working on a Dream also debuted at number 1 on the Billboard Top Rock Albums chart, Top Digital Albums chart, and Top Internet Albums chart.
In all, it reached #1 in 17 countries around the world, and reached the Top 10 almost everywhere else.
Critical reception to Working on a Dream ranged widely. Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
gave it a five-star rating and compared it to 1975's Born to Run
Born to Run
The album's release was accompanied by a $250,000 promotional campaign by Columbia directed at both consumers and the music industry, making good use of Landau's "I saw rock 'n' roll's future—and its name is Bruce Springsteen" quote. With much publicity, Born to Run vaulted into the top 10 in its...
in scale and ambition. But Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
writer Ann Powers
Ann Powers
Ann Powers is an American writer and pop music critic.Powers has been writing about popular music and society since the early 1980s...
said "The best thing that can be said about Working on a Dream is that it's boisterously scatterbrained, exhilaratingly bad." Review aggregator Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
calculated the album as an overall rating of 72 out of 100, the lowest score of Springsteen's six albums released during the 2000s.
Track listing
Bonus track information
"The Wrestler" first appeared in August 2008 at the 65th Venice International Film Festival65th Venice International Film Festival
The 65th Venice International Film Festival, held in Venice, Italy, was opened on August 27, 2008 by Burn After Reading, and closed on September 6, 2008....
debut of the film The Wrestler. In December 2008 it received a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song
Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song
Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song was awarded for the first time in 1962 and has been awarded annually since 1965 by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.-1960s:...
and won the award during the 66th Golden Globe Awards
66th Golden Globe Awards
The 66th Golden Globe Awards Ceremony was broadcast on January 11, 2009, from the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, United States on the NBC TV network...
on January 11, 2009. The album version, without end-credits string introduction, became available on iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
on December 16, in advance of the film's U.S. major cities openings in the subsequent days.
"A Night With the Jersey Devil" first appeared in October 2008 on Springsteen's website, accompanied by a Halloween
Halloween
Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...
-themed music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
. But subsequent press releases omitted mention of it, and Springsteen sources confirmed it had been removed, for reasons unknown. The song was announced by eil.com to be included as the 14th track on the Japanese CD edition on the album, but the current tracklist does not include it. The video, however, is featured in the DVD included with the album's deluxe edition (as listed below).
Deluxe edition
Includes the full CD plus a DVD featuring:- "The Sessions DVD"
- A 38-minute documentary showing behind-the-scenes footage of the recording of the album. Produced, directed, and edited by Thom Zimny, it includes studio footage edited to the tracks of "My Lucky Day," "Queen of the Supermarket," "Kingdom of Days," "Working on a Dream," "Life Itself" and "The Last Carnival." It also contains demos and early band versions of the songs as they were worked up.
- "A Night With the Jersey Devil" (Springsteen, Robert Jones, Gene VincentGene VincentVincent Eugene Craddock , known as Gene Vincent, was an American musician who pioneered the styles of rock and roll and rockabilly. His 1956 top ten hit with his Blue Caps, "Be-Bop-A-Lula", is considered a significant early example of rockabilly...
) – 3:23
The E Street Band
- Bruce SpringsteenBruce SpringsteenBruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
– lead vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
s, harmonicaHarmonicaThe harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
, keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
, glockenspielGlockenspielA glockenspiel is a percussion instrument composed of a set of tuned keys arranged in the fashion of the keyboard of a piano. In this way, it is similar to the xylophone; however, the xylophone's bars are made of wood, while the glockenspiel's are metal plates or tubes, and making it a metallophone... - Roy BittanRoy BittanRoy Bittan is an American keyboardist, best known as a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, which he joined on August 23, 1974...
– pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, organOrgan (music)The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
, accordionAccordionThe accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist.... - Clarence ClemonsClarence ClemonsClarence Anicholas Clemons, Jr. , also known as The Big Man, was an American musician and actor. From 1972 until his death, he was a prominent member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, playing the tenor saxophone. He released several solo albums and in 1985, had a hit single with "You're a...
– saxophoneSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
, vocals - Danny FedericiDanny FedericiDaniel Paul "Danny" Federici was an American musician, best known as the longtime organ, glockenspiel, and accordion player for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band.- Career :...
– organ - Nils LofgrenNils LofgrenNils Hilmer Lofgren is an American rock music recording artist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist...
– guitars, vocals - Patti ScialfaPatti ScialfaVivienne Patricia "Patti" Scialfa is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. She is married to Bruce Springsteen and they have three children.- Early life :...
– vocals - Garry TallentGarry TallentGarry Wayne Tallent , sometimes billed as Garry W. Tallent, is an American musician and record producer, best known for being the longtime bass player in Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band....
– bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Steven Van ZandtSteven Van ZandtSteven Van Zandt is an Italian-American musician, songwriter, arranger, record producer, actor, and radio disc jockey, who frequently goes by the stage names Little Steven or Miami Steve...
– guitars, vocals - Max WeinbergMax WeinbergMax Weinberg is an American drummer and television personality, most widely known as the longtime drummer for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band and as the bandleader for Conan O'Brien on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien.Weinberg grew up in suburban New Jersey...
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
Additional musicians
- Soozie TyrellSoozie TyrellSoozie Tyrell, , formerly known as Soozie Kirschner, is an American violinist and vocalist, most known for her work with Bruce Springsteen in the E Street Band.-Biography:...
– violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
, vocals - Patrick Warren – organ, piano, keyboards ("Outlaw Pete", "This Life", "Tomorrow Never Knows")
- Jason Federici – accordion ("The Last Carnival")
- Eddie Horst – stringString instrumentA string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...
and hornBrass instrumentA brass instrument is a musical instrument whose sound is produced by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips...
arrangements ("Outlaw Pete", "Tomorrow Never Knows", "Surprise Surprise", "Kingdom of Days")
Charts
| Chart (2009) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Top 50 Albums | 3 |
| Austrian Top 75 Albums | 1 |
| Belgium (Flanders) 100 Albums | 1 |
| Belgium (Wallonia) 100 Albums | 2 |
| Canadian Albums Chart Canadian Albums Chart The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada. It is compiled every Wednesday by U.S.-based music sales tracking company Nielsen Soundscan, and published every Thursday by Jam! Canoe and Billboard, along with its sister charts the Canadian Singles Chart and the Canadian BDS... |
1 |
| Croatian Top 40 International Albums | 1 |
| Danish Top 40 Albums | 1 |
| European Albums | 1 |
| Finnish Top 40 Albums | 1 |
| French Top 200 Albums | 2 |
| German Albums Chart | 1 |
| Greek Top 50 Albums | 1 |
| Hungarian Top 40 Albums | 2 |
| Irish Top 75 Albums Irish Albums Chart The Irish Albums Chart is the Irish music industry standard albums popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on its behalf by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured electronically... |
1 |
| Italian Top 20 Albums | 1 |
| Japanese Top 30 Albums | 17 |
| Netherlands Top 100 Albums | 1 |
| New Zealand Top 40 Albums | 1 |
| Norwegian Top 40 Albums | 1 |
| Polish Top 50 Albums | 8 |
| Portuguese Top 30 Albums | 5 |
| Spanish Top 100 Albums | 1 |
| Swedish Top 60 Albums | 1 |
| Swiss Top 100 Albums | 1 |
| UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
1 |
| US Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
1 |
| US Digital Albums | 1 |
| US Rock Albums | 1 |
| US Tastemaker Albums | 1 |
Year-end charts
| Year-end Charts (2009) | Position |
|---|---|
| German Albums Chart | 27 |
| Swiss Albums Chart | 30 |