Bruce Springsteen's Human Touch and Lucky Town were both issued March 31, 1992.
The question on fans minds ever since has been whether the two separate albums — his first "rock" music made without the E Street Band, and instead with studio musicians — could have made one excellent album, rather than two merely good ones.
Human Touch is the weaker of the two releases. It is less focused and does not have the cohesive vision that is present on most Springsteen releases. It seems that he just decided to relax and write some simple songs and play some guitar riffs. There is nothing terrible here; it’s just not up to his normal standards. However, average Springsteen is still better than the best of many artists.
Songs such as “Gloria’s Eyes,” “All Or Nothin’ At All” and “The Long Goodbye” are all competent and feature some powerful guitar playing here and there. There is just less passion than usual which reduces the energy level. It may be that Springsteen had gotten a little too comfortable.
“I Wish I Was Blind” is a nice gentle song with beautiful lyrics. Having Bobby Hatfield of The Righteous Brothers sing the high harmonies was a stroke of genius. “With Every Wish” finds him back on firm lyrical ground as you really do need to watch what you wish for at times.
All in all, it is a pleasant and non-offensive album that is listenable. The problem is that when reaching for some Springsteen to play on the old stereo system there are a lot of better choices.
Lucky Town finds a Springsteen who seems to be at a happy place in his life. He is now married to Patti Scialfa and his home life is good. The lyrics form the brightest and most positive that he had issued up until this point in his career.
Article comments
1 - ruben
maybe 1 album was better with good outtakes;like:better days/souls of departed/viva las vegas/troule river/7 angels/ leavin'train/human touch/gloria's eyes/ roll of the dice/ the long goodbye.
This could be a very great album.