Working On A Dream
by Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band
  • Record Label: Columbia
  • Release Date: Jan 27, 2009
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. 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.
  2. NOW Magazine
    60
    Springsteen has trouble leaving well enough alone. No matter how small the song idea, he whips it up into a sweeping epic with lavish choral accompaniment and blustery solos all building to some grand final flourish.
  3. Boston Globe
    60
    It is a sonically adventurous album, with the E Street Band again accompanying him. But the songwriting far too often feels like an afterthought, canned and jarringly shallow.
  5. PopMatters
    60
    Working on a Dream is not only a worthy album, but also an enjoyable one.
  6. AllMusic
    60
    A large part of Springsteen's appeal has always been how the E Street Band has sounded as big and open as his heart, but Working on a Dream, like "Magic" before it, has a production that feels tiny and constrained even as it is layered with extraneous details.
  7. Blender
    60
    The end of the working day, the mark of Cain, to win, darling, we must pay--these phrases, variations on ones he's used previously, arise on his fifth studio album in seven years, until it seems his uncharacteristic prolific streak comes partly from lazy songwriting, maybe done with a set of Bruce Springsteen Lyric Magnets.
  8. No Ripcord
    60
    As an addition to a remarkable oeuvre, then, Working On A Dream has its worthwhile moments, but it's as a snapshot of a window of hope from an increasingly seasoned cultural commentator that it borders on the essential.
  9. Q Magazine
    60
    While mostly perfectly acceptable as individual songs, the 13 tracks don't really stack up as an album, not one that gets close to his best anyway. [Mar 2009, p.94]
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  10. cokemachineglow
    59
    This isn’t progress, it’s pleasant, capable, effortless stagnation; the dream’s already finished and we can’t, for the love of everything, recall what it was about.
  11. Pitchfork
    58
    Working on a Dream works hard on sound, but sleeps on actual songs.
  12. Tiny Mix Tapes
    50
    Like Magic, Springsteen’s last long-player, the best tunes here mine a curious retro-pop angle.
  13. Drowned In Sound
    50
    Unfortunately, the writing and production is as saccharine as the topics covered, either gossamer thin semi-ideas of tracks padded out, or bogged down by strings and a blinding sheen of instrumentation that does nothing to appeal to anyone beyond easy-listening FM aficionados.

Awards & Rankings

34
#34 Most Discussed Album of 2009

User Reviews

All reviews »
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
  1. Thenewone
    May 18, 2018
    9
    bueno álbum de Bruce Springsteen, not good as The Rising or Magic, on par with Devils & Dust but way better than Wrecking Ball.

    Highlight    bueno álbum de Bruce Springsteen, not good as The Rising or Magic, on par with Devils & Dust but way better than Wrecking Ball.

    Highlight

    Kingdom of days
    This Life
    Working on a Dream
    What love can do
    My Lucky day
    Life Itself    … Full Review »
  2. raciocinio
    Apr 29, 2018
    8
    Not Great as the first five albums (1973-1980) or Born In The U.S.A, The Rising (2002) and Magic (2007).

    But way better than    Not Great as the first five albums (1973-1980) or Born In The U.S.A, The Rising (2002) and Magic (2007).

    But way better than Nebraska,Tunnel of Love, Human Touch and Lucky Town also better than sucessor Wrecking Ball (2012).

    Highlight Tracks:
    Kingdom Of Days
    Working On A Dream
    This Life
    What Love Can Do
    My Lucky Day
    Queen Of The Supermarket    … Full Review »
  3. sicrano
    Mar 22, 2018
    8
    Isn't on par with the albums of 1973-1980, 1984, 2002 & 2007. but stand at the best album after these ones better than Nebraska, Tunnel OfIsn't on par with the albums of 1973-1980, 1984, 2002 & 2007. but stand at the best album after these ones better than Nebraska, Tunnel Of Love, & Both 1992 albums.

    A solid 8 Points almost 9 Points. An great album of 2009

    Highlights: Kingdom of Days, Working on a Dream, Queen of the Supermarket, Life Itself, My Lucky Day, What Love Can Do, This Life, Surprise, Surprise.    … Full Review »
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