In the four months since its release, Western Stars has received almost nothing but universal acclaim from Springsteen fans. Despite fears that he’d “lost his songwriting touch” after five years passed with no new original music released, his nineteenth studio album is currently being ranked up there with the best for a lot of his audience. There are even some who consider it his greatest ever achievement, and those fans were overjoyed to learn that Springsteen – in unusual fashion – would be releasing a live concert film of the album being played in its entirety rather than touring it as he’s done for seventeen of the last eighteen (Nebraska excluded).

The film sees Bruce joined by his wife Patti Scialfa and an accompanying group of musicians, including E Streeters Charlie Giordano and Soozie Tyrell, performing in the very unique setting of the barn on Springsteen’s ranch to a few invited guests. What makes the film different to this soundtrack are the special interludes before each song, whether it’s a narrative comment from Springsteen reflecting on time, family, love and loss, or family photos and videos that fans may or may not have seen before. I once read a review of “Streets of Philadelphia” that said “Bruce Springsteen is the greatest director to have never directed a film“, and Western Stars is Springsteen’s co-directorial debut alongside Thom Zimny, so that “Philadelphia” review comment may well be legitimised.

Rather than review the film, however, I’m going to focus solely on the soundtrack. While my initial review of Western Stars back in June wasn’t exactly enthusiastic, repeated listenings of the album have led to my opinions of certain songs changing, so I’ve looked forward to reevaluating my thoughts on them since learning of the release of this soundtrack. Additionally, regular readers of this blog will know that the live music of Bruce Springsteen is a fundamental aspect of my fandom, and it’s something that I believe elevates his songs to a level that studio versions can fail to reach, so admittedly, I’ve had high expectations going into listening to this.

With the exception of one track, Songs From The Film comes without any spoken introductions or interludes, and while for some fans the lack of them, and therefore the chance to hear Springsteen give a brief analysis of the meanings of the songs, could lesser their enjoyment, I feel that it gives audiences the freedom of choice as to whether they want to watch the film with added context, or simply sit back and enjoy fourteen songs without any major chatter in-between. These fourteen tracks consist of the thirteen songs from Western Stars, as well as the special cover of Glen Campbell’s “Rhinestone Cowboy” to close the performance out.

Where I felt the studio album got off to a poor start with the sudden and loud approach of “Hitch Hikin'”, this is, splendidly, quite the opposite. A fresh extended intro and withered vocals from Bruce peacefully ease us into the performance. Even though there’s very likely little age difference between the Springsteen singing on the album and the Springsteen singing here, I can’t help but feel there’s a great contrast in the experience of the man on stage in comparison to a pluckiness that’s more so found in our younger selves. The aforementioned freedom of live performance gives Bruce a chance to take ‘risks’ and add so many more beautiful nuances to his music, and while it’s minor, I love the prolonged singing of “I’m ridin’” from 2:12 to 2:16. When you consider the rest of the lyric, it strikes you as someone simply wanting to prolong this moment of bliss they’re in, and consequently the moment of bliss us listeners are also in hearing it.

“The Wayfarer” also benefits greatly from the experienced sound of Bruce’s aged vocals, as well as the additional vocal nuances he adds – listen to his “I’m a wayfarer, baby!” at 3:55 – and the changed instrumental in comparison to the album track (the only major one of this album) from Charlie Giordano in the outro. Of course, Giordano’s piano playing throughout complements Bruce and the majestic orchestra that are flawless on every single track, but it’s his playing from 4:00 that brings a colourful hint of jazz to the song, and does justice in bringing his own style to the coda originally played by Davey Sancious on the album. Charlie’s at it again almost immediately in the intro for “Tucson Train”, with a mesmerising piece of organ playing that you may well miss if you’re not paying attention. The song is somewhat faster paced than the album version and it truly feels like Bruce’s voice has been uncaged from the strong country twang he sings with on the album, and it’s at this point where it dawns on you how relaxed he is, with the way he sings lines such as “I left a good thing behind” and even “my baby’s coming in on the Tucson train” as instant examples. It’s up there with the very best performances on this album, and the moment I adore the most is when he sings “I spend my days just running this crane“, because the little bit of anger in this voice tells me he’s feeling the music and not phoning this in to make some easy money from album sales.

The album’s titular track isn’t much different to the previous version, with the only real variations being the weakened singing of Bruce, which does benefit the song in giving more depth to the protagonist – listen out for the little intricacies such as his voice breaking at 2:36 – and the vocal harmonies of Patti Scialfa, Soozie Tyrell and company. I love how the fact we can hear the screeching of Bruce’s guitar pick highlights the acoustics and intimacy of the barn setting, but what will forever make this song perfect is the stunning cinematic playing of the orchestra and the build to their crescendo from 3:31 to 3:50. I asked back in June if it was too early to call “Western Stars” one of his classics, and four months later I really think it is. “Sleepy Joe’s Café” is a stellar band performance, as while Bruce’s vocals sound tired, this is so incredibly lively in comparison to what I thought was an already energetic album version. Charlie once more thrives on the organ, but is outshone by the horns section who spur this on to become something magical. I recall seeing many fans dreading the notion of live “Sleepy Joe” after the album was released, but when you hear this band performance and hear Bruce sings lines like “Summer girls in the parking lot slap on their makeup and they flirt the night away” the way he does, you have to wonder what people were worrying about! It’s also noticeable to the point of being worth mentioning that Bruce chuckles at the end of this (and “Hitch Hikin'”). I’ve written in the past that when you hear Bruce enjoying himself it can have a similar affect on us, and that’s most certainly the case here.

“Drive Fast (The Stuntman)” is another that surpasses its album counterpart completely, thanks to its lovely acoustic guitar intro and the drumming and orchestra throughout – the backing of the latter from 2:41 as Bruce sings is marvellous. It also features several nicely sung lyrics from Bruce, including his emphasis on “busted collar bone” and the tenderness he sings “I’ll keep you in my heart, don’t worry about tomorrow” with. Truthfully, every time I’ve listened to the studio album I’ve been bored when this one has started playing, but on the occasions I’ve played this live version I’ve been enamoured by these aspects, and as is always the case with live Springsteen, I’m certain to discover more subtleties with further listening. “Chasin’ Wild Horses” is the one song on the album to feature a spoken interlude, with Bruce telling us that you can’t run away from anything forever, including yourself. In a way his brief monologue could serve as an intro to any song on the album, as with his words comes an underlying message that you need to accept everything that comes in this life, whether it’s ageing, your sins, or the losses that come with life. The song itself is another lovely performance that I’m thankful for as there’s been times when I’ve felt the same way about “Horses” as I have “The Stuntman”. In contrast to the version on Western Stars, Bruce’s singing is again a lot more tender in this live performance and, in a way that’s fitting given his introduction, there’s a wistful acceptance to the words he’s reciting. The only downside to this one is that it doesn’t flow seamlessly into “Sundown” as it does on the album, but I’m happy to ignore that given I can listen to that seamless album transition any time I want. I also really can’t be disappointed at the coda on this starting at 4:16, which may well be the most beautiful piece of music on the entire live album.

“Sundown” was released as an Archive Series delaying single on October 4th, and even though I tried to only listen to it once before this full album was released, I wasn’t able to resist playing this multiple times over the last three weeks. It’s not perfect, as I’m not yet a fan of the way Bruce sings “Sundown ain’t the kind of place you wanna be on your own“, but with the exception of that, this is excellent in every category. The instrumentals stemming from the piano, orchestra and drums are lovely, the backing vocals of Patti, Soozie etc. are very pleasant, and the guitar playing throughout is essential. If you happened to read my initial album review, though, and have been paying attention to my focus on Bruce’s vocals in this write up, you’ll probably be aware that I was ecstatic to hear Bruce ace those high notes at 2:25 and 2:56. It was my biggest concern going into listening, and I’m thrilled that my favourite part of Western Stars is intact on this live release. Oh, and obviously it’s been fantastic to hear that tremendous Beatles-esque coda retained and played so well too.

Now, I like the intimacy of “Somewhere North of Nashville” on the album, but it was really nice to hear it not sound like it was straight out of the recording booth on this album, even if it was otherwise virtually unchanged from how it sounds on Western Stars. Though, saying that, I must mention the piece of guitar playing by Patti Scialfa from 0:48 – 0:54 – it’s not otherworldly, but it’s lovely to listen to. It won’t surprise me at all though to see it go unmentioned in favour of “Stones”. I’d read high praise about this one prior to listening, and it’s definitely just. Once more – and not for the last time – that orchestra shine and Springsteen sings so powerfully despite his fragile vocals. If you want a prime example of both blending together to create magic in the night, 2:33 – 2:51 will do just that. That being said, it was the additional vocals of Patti alongside Bruce that struck me when playing this, as I couldn’t help but think back to what Bruce said before “Chasin’ Wild Horses”. This song is their acceptance for any failings that have occurred during their marriage and their openness in singing about it together is a strong statement that they’re not running and hiding from these sins anymore. The most stunning moment of the song occurs from 3:48 onwards with one of the finest violin instrumentals ever played on a Springsteen song. It’s a testament to the quality of the musician playing it that I initially presumed it was Soozie Tyrell.

I’m not sure why, but in the twenty-four hours or so before this live album was released, I got really excited at the thought of listening to the live version of “There Goes My Miracle”. It had definitely grown on me in contrast to early listens, but I’d still not reached the point of truly liking it – I still have my issues with “moonlight, moon-bright“. Regardless, I suppose I had high hopes that this version would be the turning point.

So, this isn’t amazing, and that’s mainly because of Bruce being unable to replicate his booming vocals in the studio version. However, because of that I feel there’s a raw beauty in Bruce trying to sing as loud as possible in hopes of “telling the world” about his miracle. In regards to the instrumentals and backing vocals of the band, though, this is arguably better than the album version. I’m also willing to argue that the following track is better than its album counterpart, as for the first time I found myself enjoying “Hello Sunshine”. I feel that this is more upbeat in every area and consequently, a lot more enjoyable. The most prominent aspect of this is what I liked the most about it, and that’s the pitter patter of drumming, however I also found myself liking the emphasis Bruce was putting on “sunshine“, as it once again implied to me that these lyrics are real to him.

With a voice that is almost completely gone, Bruce closes the album-proper with a heartwarmingly intimate “Moonlight Motel” that brings together all of the themes sung about beforehand and ties them up in a fitting farewell to what has come beforehand in his forty+ year career. I expect I’ll need to listen to this a couple more times before I’m one hundred percent used to Patti’s additional vocals, but I can definitely understand and also appreciate her joining Bruce for the “it’s kids and bills and bills and kids and the ringing of the bell” line. Bruce has said in recent press that the Western Stars film is something of a love letter to his wife, and when considering comments made about “Moonlight Motel” being a sequel to “Thunder Road” – another love letter – we get with this version of the song a beautiful personal context of Springsteen and Scialfa’s lives. If it was the closer of this live album, it would be as perfect as it is on the studio record.

Thankfully though, we get one more track and in classic Springsteen fashion it’s another cover performed to a scary level of excellence. Western Stars was described as Springsteen’s tribute to the Southern California pop records of the 1960s that he grew up with and listened to with his mother, so this cover of “Rhinestone Cowboy” is incredibly fitting in that regard. We can even note the influence of the song on the album and songs such as “Tucson Train” and “Hello Sunshine” when Bruce sings the lyric, “Well, I really don’t mind the rain, and a smile can hide all the pain, but you’re down when you’re ridin’ the train that’s takin’ the long way“. There’s one lyric in particular, however, that really stood out to me (and probably stood out to you as well) and that’s when Bruce sings “I know every crack in the dirty sidewalks of Broadway“. There’s such a defiance in his voice when he sings it and it genuinely made me throw my fist in the air shouting “Yeah!“. Bruce has recently said how Western Stars was the finale of his own trilogy after his autobiography “Born to Run” and Springsteen on Broadway, so it’s more than right for him to sing about both a musician in the search for fame and the spotlight shining on them when they find it.

In contrast to the discomfort I felt listening to certain songs back in June, I spent the majority of this grinning away at the freedom Springsteen sings with and his band plays with, delighted at the multiple moments of pure essence in every song. Western Stars most certainly shines bright with a live setting, and even though Bruce has made this film to avoid touring the album and give these songs at least one live outing, let’s hope it isn’t the last time we’re hearing them played in front of an audience!

Rating: 8/10

Thanks for reading my review of Bruce Springsteen’s Western Stars: Songs From The Film! If you’re a regular reader, I expect you’ll be aware about the review of the next Archive Series release (Number 48!) coming next Friday. If you’re a new reader, though, and would like to check out more of my Springsteen write-ups before November 1st, you can check them out here.