A good friend of mine, who used to be a big Springsteen fan and whose opinions on rock albums I heartily respect, just sent me this brief write up on this album:
“I’ve been listening to Bruce Springsteen’s new album Letter to You and on first listening most of the songs sounded like something I’d heard before or even, at worst, something being played by a Springsteen covers’ band. With repeated plays, however, and casting aside my prejudices built up against Springsteen’s largely overblown and self-important music over the past twenty years and more, the songs and the band come into their own. The E String Band sound almost as good as they did in the '70s and '80s, with the suffocating over-production of his albums from The Rising in 2002 onwards now thankfully absent. Yes, it’s still a big booming sound but the album sounds refreshingly live, explained by the fact that it was recorded as just that in only five days. Three of the songs even date back to before his first album Greetings from Asbury Park in 1973. It’s been frustrating waiting such a long time, but I’ve finally been taken back to the '70s and '80s when the intensity, pure exhilaration and uplifting nature of Springsteen's music meant so much to me.”