Working On A Dream
by Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band
  • Record Label: Columbia
  • Release Date: Jan 27, 2009
User Score
7.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 104 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 82 out of 104
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 104
  3. Negative: 10 out of 104

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  1. SimonS
    Feb 4, 2009
    6
    "Working on a Dream" is quite a pleasant album - something you'd play in the car on a long drive. The songs are amiable enough and are quite unassuming. Unfortunately, the lyrics no longer pull you into the song the way they used to and the production is very clinical and sterile which doesn't fit the as-good-as-live sound of the E-Street Band. Not a bad album as such, but when "Working on a Dream" is quite a pleasant album - something you'd play in the car on a long drive. The songs are amiable enough and are quite unassuming. Unfortunately, the lyrics no longer pull you into the song the way they used to and the production is very clinical and sterile which doesn't fit the as-good-as-live sound of the E-Street Band. Not a bad album as such, but when you get the urge to play a Boss album, you may not find yourself reaching for this one.… Expand
  2. CRL
    Jul 30, 2011
    6
    I'm a teenager and I love Springsteen, but this just had something missing. There were a couple really good songs, especially My Lucky Day and The Last Carnival, but they were surrounded with somewhat moving yet almost generic soft-rockish songs.
  3. Zanessa250QI
    Apr 4, 2016
    6
    ......................................................................................................................A Very step back of "The Boss", but "Wrecking Ball" 2012 is even worse.......
  4. VerminDeathstack
    Feb 1, 2009
    4
    Was this album put together so quickly because really it
  5. JohnM
    Feb 19, 2009
    4
    I've enjoyed a ton of Bruce's music and his concerts are spectacular, but this album is just a failure. Bruce doesn't have stories to tell or much to say personally, so empty tropes end up filling the songs instead. Which is why a bonus track ("The Wrestler") written for a movie crushes everything else here and reminds you of how great he can be. This has none of the I've enjoyed a ton of Bruce's music and his concerts are spectacular, but this album is just a failure. Bruce doesn't have stories to tell or much to say personally, so empty tropes end up filling the songs instead. Which is why a bonus track ("The Wrestler") written for a movie crushes everything else here and reminds you of how great he can be. This has none of the catharsis of The Rising or the anger of Magic, whatever flaws those albums had otherwise. It's a car with no engine.… Expand
  6. SusanK
    Feb 14, 2009
    4
    There are maybe 3 good songs on this album. The rest are OK to to embarassing. It's been a downbound train since The Rising.

Awards & Rankings

34
#34 Most Discussed Album of 2009

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
72

Generally favorable reviews - based on 29 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 29
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 29
  3. Negative: 1 out of 29
  1. Entertainment Weekly
    100
    Springsteen's topical concerns have subsided for now, washed away by a high tide of positive personal feelings.
    Read full review
  2. Rolling Stone
    100
    Working on a Dream is the richest of the three great rock albums Springsteen has made this decade with the E Street Band--and moment for moment, song for song, there are more musical surprises than on any Bruce album you could name.
    Read full review
  3. Spin
    60
    Bliss isn't the Boss' bag. Without anything to push against, one of rock's most eloquent lyricists is in the awkward position of having little of interest to say.
    Read full review
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