• High Hopes - A song originally recorded by the Havalinas and covered by Bruce in 1996, it appears here re-recorded with the entire touring complement of the E Street Band - horn section, backup singers, and Tom Morello. Morello played with the band on Bruce's last tour leg through Australia because Steve Van Zandt was in Norway filming his TV show. The song is rollicking and energetic as hell, and sounds like they just stuck the E Street Band in a room and told them to have fun. Good use of Morello's particular musical style, too, and sets the table for his involvement in the rest of the album.
  
• Harry's Place - Originally written for The Rising, Harry's Place is a standout of the album. Fun bit of trivia: Harry's Place single-handedly sets the new record for most "fucks" dropped by Springsteen on an album.
  
• American Skin (41 Shots) - Originally written by Bruce after the shooting of Amadou Diallo in 1999, 41 Shots made its premiere on the E Street reunion tour, and reappeared in E Street setlists after the shooting of Trayvon Martin in 2012. The High Hopes version was put together using various instrumental tracks, including Tom Morello on guitar and a sax solo from the late Clarence Clemons.
  
• Just Like Fire Would - A cover of a song by the Australian band The Saints, Bruce played it during the first show of his Australian tour last year and it was a hit, so it got recorded and made the album. One of the most fun to listen to songs on the album - energetic as hell, and recorded around the same time that High Hopes was, so it has the same full-band feel.
  
• Down in the Hole - Another track that was originally intended for The Rising, Down in the Hole features organ playing from Danny Federici and sax from Clarence Clemons, and might be the last time that we hear the Born to Run-era E Street Band together on a studio album.
  
• Heaven's Wall - Not much to say about this one. Solid, I think it came from a potential gospel album that Bruce was considering.
  
• Frankie Fell in Love - A fun uptempo fratrocker in the vein of Sherry Darling - not TOO special on the album, but fun, and I can't wait to hear how it sounds in a huge-rear end stadium.
  
• This is Your Sword - Another one from the scrapped gospel album. It's a bit weird to hear Springsteen get so explicitly religious, but I don't hate it.
  
• Hunter of Invisible Game - Absolutely beautiful. Another religious-y one, but goddamn does it work.
  
• The Ghost of Tom Joad - Morello's time to shine. He trades off a verse with Bruce (The first time this has ever happened on a Springsteen album unless you count Michelle Moore's rapping on Rocky Ground from Wrecking Ball), and absolutely tears it up with his guitar. If you've heard any of the live performances of it with Morello, you know what to expect, but goddamn does it sound good. Originally released in 1995, I personally think this is now the definitive version.
  
• The Wall - Federici's organ-playing shows up again on this beautiful elegy to Vietnam veterans. Probably the most emotionally powerful song on the album.
  
• Dream Baby Dream - Mesmerizing and hypnotic (that might be redundant, but it's worth emphasizing), this is a great cover (the original version was by Suicide). Great way to close out the album, an opportunity to take a deep breath and reflect.
  

BrooklynBruiser fucked around with this message at 00:22 on Jan 17, 2014