Bruce Springsteen Devils & Dust 2LP

The seeds for Bruce Springsteen's 2005 album, Devils & Dust, were sown nearly a decade prior when the singer-songwriter launched his first-ever solo acoustic tour (1995-96). "I was so excited after playing on that tour, I'd get off the stage and go write, then I put those songs on the shelf for a while, until I had a chance to revisit them."

The visit was completed with a 12-song album, Springsteen's first release of all-new material since his September 11-themed, double-platinum-certified The Rising in July 2002. Two of the album's songs, "The Hitter" and "Long Time Comin'," were actually written and performed on The Ghost Of Tom Joad tour. But not all the material dates back that far; the title track was written around the start of the war in Iraq, Springsteen said. "It works as a metaphor for all the music underneath it, the individual stories of people wrestling with their demons," Springsteen said of the title track. "A lot of it is set in the west, in what feels like a rural setting. It's about people working through their confusions, sometimes well and sometimes tragically."

Springsteen opted to record without the E Street Band for Devils & Dust. The core group was Springsteen on guitar and other instruments, producer Brenden O'Brien on bass and drummer Steve Jordan. In keeping with his pattern of recording, the album is a quieter, more acoustic affair than The Rising.

Pedal steel guitar, harmonica and violin fill in the sparse, rootsy arrangements. Springsteen, who said his vocal range expanded with age, provides some higher pitched vocals on the track "All I'm Thinking About."

2006 Grammy Award Winner for Solo Rock Vocal Performance "Devils & Dust"!