All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Los Angeles Times

It's the way Springsteen injects his American bible stories with the air of disbelief that makes Magic a truly mature and memorable album.

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100

Entertainment Weekly

Magic, his best record since "The River" in 1980. [5 Oct 2007, p.68]

100

Rolling Stone

Magic is, in one way, the most openly nostalgic record Springsteen has ever made.

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100

Mojo

The immediately obvious aspect of Magic is there hasn't been such a musically dramatic Springsteen album since "Born In The USA;" and like that album, this is a State of the Union address disguised as a pop record. [Nov 2007, p.88]

Delusions of Adequacy

Magic succeeds magnificently because it is the perfect balance of what we’ve come to love about an artist while venturing out to try new things.

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Sputnikmusic

It stands well alongside any classic Springsteen record you can mention.

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Uncut

It trades in giddying, irresistible, full-steam-ahead-and-damn-the-torpedoes rock'n'roll. But at its heart, it's essentially a thoughtful wander in search of personal and national innocence.

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Drowned In Sound

Magic is a strong record, riddled with sad emotion yet a noble intent to carry on.

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PopMatters

An album that resumes the glorious "Born in the USA" daze, of lighthearted girls on summer bicycles, and that hard guitar-and-sax sound.

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Billboard

A sleek machine that's practically pleading to be taken out on the highway.

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Boston Globe

As on much of Magic, Springsteen leaves the interpretive driving up to the fan, offering his most straightforward rock music in years.

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Hartford Courant

Springsteen's latest is very good, and a handful of tunes approach the level of urgency and raw desperation that made his earlier music so compelling.

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Amazon.com

Credit producer Brendan O'Brien for the wall of sound that backs 'Girls in Their Summer Clothes,' which sets the atmosphere for one of the great vocal performances by Springsteen.

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Observer Music Monthly

Magic is a record aimed squarely at radio, stadiums, open car windows and the solar plexus of guys who don't notice passing musical fashion. Magic sounds big. And it sounds great.

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The New York Times

Magic is, musically, one of the most upbeat, accessible records he has made, even as its themes and stories make it one of his most political.

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No Ripcord

This may be his best rock record since "Born In The USA" (I think I prefer "Lucky Town"), but that’s not saying much. Frankly I suspect his heart is in the quiet acoustic stuff, but it’s still great to hear him pick up the old Esquire once in a while.

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Blender

His rage is mostly disguised within the most anthemic music he's made since the '80s. [Nov 2007, p.143]

Slant Magazine

I'll grant you that Magic is uneven, but I cannot admit that it is anything other than constantly captivating.

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Paste Magazine

Magic doesn’t break any new sonic ground for Springsteen, but no one was calling for a reinvention. Magic offers what Bruce Springsteen does best: a handful of honest, hard-working tracks about life and how we live it.

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The Onion (A.V. Club)

Magic's songs tend to be as small in ambition as they are big in sound.

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Tiny Mix Tapes

Magic is a sturdy, sure-footed Bruce Springsteen album.

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Spin

More classic-sounding raveups like 'Last to Die'and 'Livin' in the Future'--a perfect hybrid of 'Tenth Avenue Freeze-out' and 'Cover Me'--work on their own merits, but we already know what these merits are. [Nov 2007, p.122]

Pitchfork

If Magic revisits the subject matter of previous career crests, it unfortunately recalls "The Rising" in its sound: Brendan O'Brien returns to the producer's seat, once again shuffling most of the E Street Band to the music's margins and focusing his attention squarely on the Boss.

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Prefix Magazine

Truly, the heavy strings and pasteurization O'Brien has effected on the last few Springsteen albums--"The Rising," "Devil's & Dust," and now Magic, the Boss's reported return to form with the amorphous E-Street Band--has robbed Springsteen of his still-youthful energy and blue-collar credentials, something that has always been key to the believability of his sometimes overly corny manner.

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All Music Guide

Magic is bright and punchy, a digital-age production through and through, right down to how each track feels as if it were crafted according to its own needs instead of the record as a whole.

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New York Magazine

Though his voice is strong and sincere throughout the album, most of the material has a certain karaoke-like vibe.

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The Guardian

Producer Brendan O'Brien expands the band's basic sound, applying a contemporary gloss that may not always be to the music's advantage, since it permits only occasional unobstructed glimpses of the individual musicians.

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The Phoenix

Chalk up at least some of this disconnect to Brendan O’Brien’s production, which is often so slicked down and smooshed together that it doesn’t just airbrush the band’s jagged edges, it sandblasts them.

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Q Magazine

Magic's problem is that the two Bruces don't sit together comfortably. [Nov 2007, p.132]

New Musical Express

Six years on he sounds like a man not getting nearly enough cuddles.

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NOW Magazine

Setting a song called 'Livin' In The Future' to the tune of 'Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out' indicates that Springsteen's sense of humour may be returning, but the fact that Miami Steve didn't tell him 'Girls In Their Summer Clothes' sounds a little too much like 'The Kids Are Alright' suggests it's not quite back to the good old days yet.

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Dot Music

Sometimes it's almost too much "classic Springsteen"; too many songs seem like retreads.

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cokemachineglow

Magic manages to creep into a flat din, and tact is lost to nostalgia.

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Village Voice

Magic, a maddeningly uneven record that often sounds like legends coasting, most apparently on 'Living in the Future' and 'Last to Die.'

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Stylus Magazine

Little on Magic outright falters, which is why it's hard at first to explain how unappealing it is.

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Austin Chronicle

Magic still, mundane, too.

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Urb

All of these lyrics have already been said before and said more creatively, but what’s even worse is that they’ve all been said by him more creatively.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this album is 8.6 (out of 10) based on 98 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Ray Z gave it a10:
Rich S. and Chris K. need to give this some more listens. I do agree that the first half of this disc is the weaker half but from "summer clothes" on, this could be the best set of songs he has ever put together. I have been an avid fan since 1980 and have seen this man perform concerts that a lot of these younger bands should ever hope to come close to. But back to the record. Too many people spend their time comparing discs instead of just giving merit to whats right in front of them....This one ranks right up there with the rest!

Rich S. gave it a3:
Another Disappointment! Will he ever make another great rock album. If you made a Springsteen greatest hits (2 or 3 CD's) none of these cuts would be on it. Lyrics don't come close to previous E-Street CD's. Musically, you can name a previous song sound like.almost every cut on this CD. Sound recycled. Bought it the first day it was out on my way to work (High Hopes) now it's in the record cabinet collect dust which is where most of his recent stuff is. Oh well, maybe the next one ... kind of like watching Ali - you always thought the next one would be the one - because he was so great. Key word: was. Let Dyal do the folk, save the world stuff.... Let's Rock & Roll!

Chris K gave it a5:
I wish Bruce would stick with folk ... his rock sits too hard on the ears. I really wanted to love this record, and instead it doesn't even make my top ten of the year.

Linc J. gave it a9:
I'm close to giving this a "10". I'm a huge fan of the earliest Springsteen, as in the first 4, and still loved the next 3 after that (ending with "Born In The U.S.A." in '84). After that there have been amazing tracks, but they were all on albums that were pretty spotty (add them up and they make an incredible "lost in the woods" mix CD though). This is his best in 23 years. It is that great. What an amazing return to form.

Chad S. gave it a9:
"Girls in Their Summer Clothes" is Bruce Springsteen's best song since 1993's "Streets of Philadelphia". Morrissey could've written it, or Tom Pernice. This is a great love song, epic in scope like "Born to Run". I think of California when I hear this song. The other major track is, of course, "Radio Nowhere". Bad Religion, anyone? Springsteen sounds like he's in his twenties again, but it's definitely 2007 and not 1975.

BJ K gave it a10:
In today's corporate run media (in the U.S.), any artist who gets political is going to get more than his fair share of bad reviews. Take the score you see and add 10 points for corporate media bias. After 32 reviews that puts the Boss up to 86, not 76. In my opinion, this is at least as good as the 9/11 inspired Rising which has a composite of 82.

Mark B. gave it a9:
Not my favorite Bruce album but it's growing on me. As with all Bruce records, they sound the best in concert with the band. Long Walk Home sums up my feelings better than any speech by a politician. Basically, it's going to take a long time to recover from what's happened in the last six years. The guy is on a mission to entertain and he's as serious as a heart attack. God love him!

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