Lucky Town
Lucky Town | ||||||||||||
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Studio album by Bruce Springsteen | ||||||||||||
Released | March 31, 1992 | |||||||||||
Recorded | September 1991 – January 1992 at Thrill Hill Recording and A&M Studios | |||||||||||
Genre | Rock | |||||||||||
Length | 39:38 | |||||||||||
Label | Columbia | |||||||||||
Producer | Bruce Springsteen, Jon Landau, Chuck Plotkin | |||||||||||
Bruce Springsteen chronology | ||||||||||||
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Lucky Town is the tenth studio album by Bruce Springsteen. The album was released on March 31, 1992, the same day as the Human Touch album.
Contents
Background
Springsteen was working on Human Touch, which he intended to release sometime in 1990, but the project took him longer than he thought. He shelved the project in early 1991 and came back to it in September of the same year. Intending to record one more song for the album ("Living Proof"),[1] he ended up with ten new songs, which became Lucky Town. Once he completed Lucky Town, he decided to release both albums at the same time. While most of the songs from the album have received few performances since the reunion of the E Street Band, "If I Should Fall Behind" was played at every show during the 1999-2000 Reunion Tour and was included in the Live in New York City DVD and CD release.[2]
Themes
Compared to Human Touch, Lucky Town has a more stripped down, folksy sound and is more personal in terms of its songs' lyrics. Human Touch consisted of mostly love songs, while Lucky Town focuses on more specific events in Springsteen's life.[3] The opening track "Better Days" expresses his desire to start over after some rough patches in his life (his divorce from his first wife).[3] "Living Proof" is about the birth of his first son and "Local Hero" is about a time that he saw a picture of himself in a store window. When he went to buy it, the clerk told him it was a picture of a "local hero."[4] "Souls of the Departed" recalls "Born in the U.S.A." both in terms of its big music sound and its scathing social commentary. The song was inspired by the Gulf War.[5]
Reception
Professional ratings | |
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Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Chicago Tribune | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Rolling Stone | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Upon release the album received generally positive reviews. Rolling Stone gave the album a positive review (a combined review with its companion album, Human Touch), but thought that the aims of the two albums "would have been better realized by a single, more carefully shaped collection."[8] In a mostly positive review, Allmusic said of the album: "While Human Touch was a disappointing album of second-rate material, Lucky Town is an ambitious collection addressing many of Springsteen's major concerns and moving them forward."[6]
Track listing
Songs and lyrics written by Bruce Springsteen except (*) music by Roy Bittan.
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Better Days" | 4:08 |
2. | "Lucky Town" | 3:27 |
3. | "Local Hero" | 4:04 |
4. | "If I Should Fall Behind" | 2:57 |
5. | "Leap of Faith" (*) | 3:27 |
6. | "The Big Muddy" (*) | 4:05 |
7. | "Living Proof" (*) | 4:49 |
8. | "Book of Dreams" | 4:24 |
9. | "Souls of the Departed" | 4:17 |
10. | "My Beautiful Reward" | 3:55 |
Unreleased outtakes
Eleven songs were written during these sessions with the song "Happy" being the only outtake and eventually released on the Tracks box set.[9]
Personnel
- Bruce Springsteen – guitar, lead vocals, keyboards, bass guitar, harmonica, percussion
- Gary Mallaber – drums
- Roy Bittan – keyboards on "Leap of Faith", "The Big Muddy" and "Living Proof"
- Patti Scialfa – backing vocals on "Better Days", "Local Hero" and "Leap of Faith"
- Soozie Tyrell – backing vocals on "Better Days", "Local Hero" and "Leap of Faith"
- Lisa Lowell – backing vocals on "Better Days", "Local Hero" and "Leap of Faith"
- Randy Jackson – bass guitar on "Better Days"
- Ian McLagan – organ on "My Beautiful Reward"
- Anton S. Trees – assistant engineer
- Scott Hull – digital editor
- Sandra Choron – art direction
- Alexander Vitlin – stills photographer
- James Wright – wardrobe
- David Rose – cover photography
Charts
Peak positions
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Year-end charts
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Certifications
Region | Certification | Sales/shipments |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA)[29] | Platinum | 70,000 |
Austria (IFPI Austria)[30] | Gold | 25,000 |
Canada (Music Canada)[31] | 2× Platinum | 200,000 |
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[32] | Gold | 28,642[32] |
Germany (BVMI)[33] | Gold | 250,000 |
Japan (RIAJ)[34] | Gold | 110,000[35] |
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[36] | Platinum | 100,000 |
Sweden (GLF)[37] | Platinum | 100,000 |
United Kingdom (BPI)[38] | Gold | 100,000 |
United States (RIAA)[39] | Platinum | 1,000,000 |
*sales figures based on certification alone |
References
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External links
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- Pages with reference errors
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- Certification Table Entry usages for Australia
- Certification Table Entry usages for Austria
- Certification Table Entry usages for Canada
- Certification Table Entry usages for Finland
- Certification Table Entry usages for Germany
- Certification Table Entry usages for Japan
- Certification Table Entry usages for Spain
- Certification Table Entry usages for Sweden
- Certification Table Entry usages for United Kingdom
- Certification Table Entry usages for United States
- 1992 albums
- Bruce Springsteen albums
- Albums produced by Jon Landau
- Albums produced by Chuck Plotkin
- Columbia Records albums
- English-language albums