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''Western Stars'' is the nineteenth studio album by American singer-songwriter
Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...
, released on June 14, 2019, by
Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...
. It was produced by Ron Aniello, who worked with Springsteen on his two previous albums: ''
Wrecking Ball A wrecking ball is a heavy steel ball, usually hung from a crane, that is used for demolishing large buildings. It was most commonly in use during the 1950s and 1960s. Several wrecking companies claim to have invented the wrecking ball. An ...
'' (2012) and '' High Hopes'' (2014). The album was a chart success in the United States—where it became Springsteen's 20th top-10 album—and abroad. It was also met with widespread acclaim from critics, who found the music elegiac and evocative of the
American West The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the We ...
. A full performance of the album was filmed and released by
Warner Bros. Pictures Warner Bros. Pictures is an American film production and distribution company of the Warner Bros. Pictures Group division of Warner Bros. Entertainment (both ultimately owned by Warner Bros. Discovery). The studio is the flagship producer of ...
. The soundtrack of this movie (''Western Stars – Songs from the Film'') has an almost identical track list and was released in September 2019.


Background

Springsteen stated in April 2019 that the album was influenced by "Southern California pop music" of the 1970s, including artists such as
Glen Campbell Glen Travis Campbell (April 22, 1936 – August 8, 2017) was an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, actor and television host. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting ''The Glen Campbell Goodt ...
and
Burt Bacharach Burt Freeman Bacharach ( ; born May 12, 1928) is an American composer, songwriter, record producer and pianist who composed hundreds of pop songs from the late 1950s through the 1980s, many in collaboration with lyricist Hal David. A six-time Gr ...
. Upon announcing the album in April 2019, he called it "a return to my solo recordings featuring character-driven songs and sweeping, cinematic orchestral arrangements", with a press release characterizing it as about a "range of American themes, of highways and desert spaces, of isolation and community and the permanence of home and hope".


Marketing

"Hello Sunshine" was released on April 26, 2019, as the album's lead single, along with a music video. "There Goes My Miracle" was released as the album's second single on May 17. The album's third single, "Tucson Train", was released on May 30, along with a music video directed by Thom Zimny. A music video for the album's fourth single, "Western Stars", also directed by Zimny, was released on June 14. A limited edition 7" vinyl double A-side single, featuring "Western Stars" and "The Wayfarer", was released on Black Friday Record Store Day on November 29, 2019. ''Western Stars'' was released by Columbia on June 14, 2019. The following week, it debuted at number two on the US ''Billboard'' 200 with 66,000
album-equivalent unit The album-equivalent unit, or album equivalent, is a measurement unit in music industry to define the consumption of music that equals the purchase of one album copy. This consumption includes streaming and song downloads in addition to traditio ...
s sold, of which 62,000 were pure album sales. It is Springsteen's 20th US top 10 album. A documentary film, which marked Springsteen's directorial debut and features a full performance of the album, premiered at the
Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...
in September 2019, with a wide theatrical release in October 2019 along with an accompanying soundtrack for the film. Springsteen did not tour for the album and announced that he would shift focus towards recording a new studio album with the
E Street Band The E Street Band is an American rock band, and has been musician Bruce Springsteen's primary backing band since 1972. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014. For the bulk of Springsteen's recording and performing caree ...
in the fall of 2019.


Critical reception

''Western Stars'' was met with widespread critical acclaim. At
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews and ratings from selected mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 84, based on 31 reviews. Reviewing for ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its cov ...
'' in May 2019,
Will Hermes Will Hermes (born December 27, 1960 in Jamaica, Queens, New York City) is an American author, broadcaster, journalist and critic who has written extensively about popular music. He is a longtime contributor to '' Rolling Stone'' and to National ...
said that, while several songs "straddle the classic and the cliché", the album's music "evokes country-tinged California pop from the Sixties and Seventies, sounding like nothing pringsteens done before". In ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cult ...
'',
Maura Johnston Maura K. Johnston (born May 28, 1975) is a writer, editor and music critic. A member of Boston College's journalism faculty, she has written for '' Rolling Stone'', '' The Boston Globe'', ''Pitchfork'', ''The Awl'', '' The New York Times'', '' S ...
applauded Springsteen for "transforming the enormous into the intimate" on the album, while ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...
''s Mark Beaumont said the "sumptuous, cinematic album is nothing short of a late-period masterpiece" for the musician. Writing for '' NME'', Thomas Smith regarded ''Western Stars'' as "majestic in its scale, but traditional in its subject matter and narratives … a wonderful thing." Pat Carty in ''
Hot Press ''Hot Press'' is a fortnightly music and politics magazine based in Dublin, Ireland, founded in June 1977. The magazine has been edited since its inception by Niall Stokes. History ''Hot Press'' was founded in June 1977 by Niall Stokes, who ...
'' described the album as a "heartbreaking yet life-affirmingly beautiful record - both elegiac and warm, a trick few others, if any, could pull off." Sam Sodomsky from ''
Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to t ...
'' said, "Springsteen returns with elegiac and wise songwriting conjuring the golden expanse of the
American West The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the We ...
; it’s his best studio album in years." In the opinion of
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
's
Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, oc ...
, "This isn't a piece of nostalgia on Springsteen's part, though. These references deepen a collection of songs that are sweet, sad, and searching, songs that feel finely etched on their own terms but gather a deep, lasting resonance when collected on this enchanting album." The songs were also regarded by
Alexis Petridis Alexis Petridis ( el, Αλέξης Πετρίδης; born 13 September 1971) is a British journalist, head rock and pop critic for the UK newspaper ''The Guardian'', as well as a regular contributor to the magazine '' GQ''. In addition to his mus ...
as "strong enough to withstand the treatment" and rarely reducing themselves to
pastiche A pastiche is a work of visual art, literature, theatre, music, or architecture that imitates the style or character of the work of one or more other artists. Unlike parody, pastiche pays homage to the work it imitates, rather than mocking it ...
s of "the grownup American pop of
Glen Campbell Glen Travis Campbell (April 22, 1936 – August 8, 2017) was an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, actor and television host. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting ''The Glen Campbell Goodt ...
's collaborations with
Jimmy Webb Jimmy Layne Webb (born August 15, 1946) is an American songwriter, composer, and singer. He has written numerous platinum-selling songs, including " Up, Up and Away", " By the Time I Get to Phoenix", "MacArthur Park", " Wichita Lineman", " Wor ...
or
Harry Nilsson Harry Edward Nilsson III (June 15, 1941 – January 15, 1994), sometimes credited as Nilsson, was an American singer-songwriter who reached the peak of his commercial success in the early 1970s. His work is characterized by pioneering vocal ove ...
's ecordingsof '
Everybody's Talkin' "Everybody's Talkin (Echoes)" is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Fred Neil in 1966 and released two years later. A version of the song performed by American singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson became a hit in 1969, reachin ...
' and ' I Guess the Lord Must Be in New York City'." Writing in ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', Petridis hoped Springsteen will "take more stylistic detours in the future", as "it adds up to an album that manages to be both unexpected and of a piece with its author’s back catalogue." Some reviewers had reservations about the album. In his " Consumer Guide" column,
Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...
deemed it a worthy effort and cited its highlights as "Tucson Train" and "Moonlight Motel". However, he believed Springsteen was trying to put across the message that "America used to be better", which the critic said brings to question in what manner will fans receive the musician's nostalgia for America's past: "How many of his faithful will blame it on the rich and how many on the young?" Ludovic Hunter-Tilney issued different complaints in his review for the ''
Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...
'', being especially critical of the record's
roots rock Roots rock is a genre of rock music that looks back to rock's origins in folk, blues and country music. It is particularly associated with the creation of hybrid subgenres from the later 1960s, including blues rock, country rock, Southern rock ...
and
orchestral pop Orchestral pop (sometimes called ork-pop for short) is pop music that has been arranged and performed by a symphonic orchestra. It may also be conflated with the terms symphonic pop or chamber pop. History During the 1960s, pop music on radio a ...
setting. "The combination of twanging western rock and orchestra has a confected, forced feel", he said, adding that "the effect is intended to dignify the lives of the hard-bitten individuals in his lyrics, but instead it sounds like they are being smothered by overbearing string and horn arrangements."


Track listing

The film version has the same track list, with the addition of the cover song " Rhinestone Cowboy".


Personnel


Musicians

*
Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...
– vocals, acoustic guitar,
glockenspiel The glockenspiel ( or , : bells and : set) or bells is a percussion instrument consisting of pitched aluminum or steel bars arranged in a keyboard layout. This makes the glockenspiel a type of metallophone, similar to the vibraphone. The ...
, synth strings, banjo,
percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...
, electric guitar, B3, piano, orchestral samples, celeste, organ solo,
12-string guitar A twelve-string guitar (or 12-string guitar) is a steel-string guitar with 12 strings in six courses, which produces a thicker, more ringing tone than a standard six-string guitar. Typically, the strings of the lower four courses are tuned in ...
,
Mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which pushes a length of magnetic tape against a capstan, which pulls it across a playback head. ...
*
Patti Scialfa Vivienne Patricia Scialfa ( ; born July 29, 1953) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. Scialfa has been a member of the E Street Band since 1984 and has been married to Bruce Springsteen since 1991. In 2014, Scialfa was inducted into ...
– vocals (tracks 2, 8, 9, 11), vocal arrangement (tracks 2, 8, 9, 11) * Ron Aniello
upright bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar ...
, piano, electric guitar, percussion,
vibraphone The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist ...
, bass guitar, synth strings, orchestral samples, acoustic guitar, drums, B3, celeste, loops,
synth A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...
, background vocal * Charlie Giordano – accordion (track 5), piano (track 9) *
David Sancious David Sancious (born November 30, 1953) is an American musician. He was an early member of Bruce Springsteen's backing group, the E Street Band, and contributed to the first three Springsteen albums, and again on ''Human Touch'' (1992), '' Trac ...
– piano (track 2), B3 (track 6) *
Matt Rollings Matt Rollings is a Grammy Award-winning American composer, keyboard player and record producer. Known mainly for playing in Lyle Lovett's Large Band, Rollings has worked with many artists, not all country. Matt won the 'Best Traditional Pop Voca ...
– piano (tracks 3, 4, 8, 13) *
Jon Brion Jon Brion is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and composer. He performed with the Excerpts, the Bats, 'Til Tuesday and the Grays before becoming an established producer and film score composer. Brion has ...
– drums (track 13),
timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionall ...
(tracks 10, 11), electric guitar (track 4), Moog (track 4, 5, 11),
Farfisa Farfisa (Fabbriche Riunite di Fisarmoniche) is a manufacturer of electronics based in Osimo, Italy, founded in 1946. The company manufactured a series of compact electronic organs in the 1960s and 1970s, including the Compact, FAST, Professiona ...
(track 5), celeste (track 13) * Gunnar Olsen – drums (tracks 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11) *
Matt Chamberlain Matthew Chamberlain (born April 17, 1967) is an American session musician, drummer, producer and songwriter. Biography Life and career Chamberlain was born in San Pedro, California on April 17, 1967. He began learning how to play the drums ...
– drums (track 2, 4, 12) * Marc Muller –
lap steel The lap steel guitar, also known as a Hawaiian guitar, is a type of steel guitar without pedals that is typically played with the instrument in a horizontal position across the performer's lap. Unlike the usual manner of playing a traditional a ...
(track 4),
pedal steel The pedal steel guitar is a console-type of steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings to enable playing more varied and complex music than any previous steel guitar design. Like all steel guitars, it can ...
(tracks 6, 7, 12) * Rob Lebret – electric guitar (track 4),
baritone guitar The baritone guitar is a guitar with a longer scale length, typically a larger body, and heavier internal bracing, so it can be tuned to a lower pitch. Gretsch, Fender, Gibson, Ibanez, ESP Guitars, PRS Guitars, Music Man, Danelectro, Sc ...
(track 4) * Marty Rifkin – pedal steel (track 9) *
Greg Leisz Gregory Brian Leisz ( ; born September 18, 1949) is an American musician. He is a songwriter, recording artist, and producer. He plays guitar, dobro, mandolin, lap steel and pedal steel guitar. Biography Leisz grew up in the garage band cul ...
– pedal steel (track 13) * Lenny Castro –
conga The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest). ...
(tracks 4, 5), tambourine (tracks 4, 11), shaker (tracks 5, 11) * Toby Scott – loop (track 3),
programming Program, programme, programmer, or programming may refer to: Business and management * Program management, the process of managing several related projects * Time management * Program, a part of planning Arts and entertainment Audio * Programm ...
(track 3) * Soozie Tyrell – background vocal (tracks 2, 8, 9), violin (track 9) * Michelle Moore – background vocal (tracks 4, 11) * Curtis King – background vocal (track 4) * Cindy Mizelle – background vocals (track 4) * Matthew Koma – background vocal (track 11) * Curt Ramm – trumpet (tracks 2–5, 8, 11),
flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B, though some ...
(track 2) * Barry Danielian – trumpet (tracks 3–5, 7, 8, 11) *
Clark Gayton Clark Gayton is an American multi-instrumentalist, musician, composer and musicians' rights advocate. Biography Born as Carver Clark Gayton Jr. to Carver Clark Gayton and Mona Marie Lombard, Clark Gayton is a professional musician (trombone, ...
– trombone (tracks 5, 8, 11) * Dan Levine – trombone (tracks 3, 4) * Ed Manion – saxophone (track 5) * Rachel Drehmann –
French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most ...
(tracks 2–4, 7, 10) * Leelanee Sterrett – French horn (tracks 2–4, 7, 10) * Alden Banta –
bassoon The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuos ...
(tracks 3, 4) * Andrew Sterman –
alto flute The alto flute is an instrument in the Western concert flute family, the second-highest member below the standard C flute after the uncommon flûte d'amour. It is the third most common member of its family after the standard C flute and the ...
(tracks 3, 4) * Charles Pillow –
oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. A ...
(tracks 3, 4) * Luis Villalobos – violin (track 6, 10) * Avatar Strings (tracks 1, 7, 8, 10, 12): ** Rob Mathes – conductor,
arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchest ...
** Sandy Park – contractor ** Lisa Kim (
concertmaster The concertmaster (from the German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (U.K.) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (or clarinet in a concert band). After the conductor, the concertmaster is the second-most signif ...
), Hyunju Lee, Joanna Maurer, Sharon Yamada, Annaliesa Place, Suzanne Ornstein, Liz Lim, Jung Sun Yoo, Emily Popham – violins ** Robert Rinehart, Vivek Kamath, Desiree Elsevier –
viola The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the violi ...
s ** Alan Stepansky, Nathan Vickery –
cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, ...
s * Stone Hill Strings (tracks 2–4, 6, 11): ** Scott Tibbs – conductor ** Sandy Park – contractor ** Lisa Kim (concertmaster), Hyunju Lee, Joanna Maurer – violins ** Shmuel Katz, Rebecca Young – violas ** Alan Stepansky – cello


Technical

* Ron Aniello, Bruce Springsteen –
production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...
* Rob Lebret, Ross Petersen, Toby Scott, Ron Aniello –
engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...
* Brett Rouche, Greg Koller, Alec Dixon, Rob Lebret, Ross Petersen, Chris Steffen – additional engineering * James Brown – additional engineering (track 9) *
Tom Elmhirst Tom Elmhirst (born 8 June 1971) is a British mix engineer. He has worked with artists including Adele, Beck, David Bowie, Cage the Elephant, Lady Gaga, Residente, and Amy Winehouse, among many others. Elmhirst has received numerous accolades ...
mixing ** Joe Visciano – assistant *
Bob Ludwig Robert C. Ludwig (born c. 1945) is an American mastering engineer. He has mastered recordings on all the major recording formats for all the major record labels, and on projects by more than 1,300 artists including Led Zeppelin, Lou Reed, Quee ...
mastering * Toby Scott – production coordinator * Shari Sutcliffe – musician contractor * Kevin Buell – guitars and technical services * Michelle Holme – art and design * Kalle Gustafsson ( Trunk Archive) – cover photography *
Danny Clinch Danny Clinch (born 1964) is an American photographer and film director. Biography Born in Toms River, New Jersey, Clinch graduated from Toms River High School East in 1982. After attending Ocean County College, he attended the New England Sc ...
– additional photography


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications


Film

It was announced on July 23, 2019, that Springsteen would world premiere his co-directed film, ''Western Stars'', at the
2019 Toronto International Film Festival The 44th annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from 5 to 15 September 2019. The opening gala was the documentary film '' Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band'', directed by Daniel Roher, and the festival closed with a ...
. The film marks the first directing credit for Springsteen and was co-directed by his longtime collaborator Thom Zimny. The film features Springsteen and his backing band and orchestra performing the music from the album to a live audience. The live performances were filmed during two nights in April 2019 in a historic barn on the artist's property, the outdoor sequences were filmed at Joshua Tree National Park.
Cameron Bailey Cameron Bailey is a Canadian film critic and festival programmer, who is the CEO of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). Biography Born in London, England to parents from Barbados,
Warner Bros. Pictures Warner Bros. Pictures is an American film production and distribution company of the Warner Bros. Pictures Group division of Warner Bros. Entertainment (both ultimately owned by Warner Bros. Discovery). The studio is the flagship producer of ...
released the film on October 25, 2019. The companion soundtrack for the movie, titled ''Western Stars – Songs from the Film'', was released on the same day by Columbia Records.


Charts


References


External links

* {{Authority control 2019 albums Bruce Springsteen albums Columbia Records albums Albums produced by Ron Aniello Country pop albums Orchestral pop albums Pop rock albums by American artists Country rock albums by American artists