Bruce Springsteen Only the Strong Survive 2LP

TAS Rated 4.5/5 Music, 4.5/5 Sonics in the March 2023 Issue of The Absolute Sound!

Analog Planet Rated 9/11 Music, 9/11 Sonics!

Only the Strong Survive is the 2022 album from Bruce Springsteen, and his first new studio album since 2020's Letter to You. The album is a collection of soul music gems that celebrates the legendary songbooks of Gamble and Huff, Motown, Stax and many more.

Only the Strong Survive features vocals from Springsteen and instrumentation primarily from his longtime producer Ron Aniello. The album also features guest vocals from Sam Moore, as well as contributions from The E Street Horns, full string arrangements by Rob Mathes and backing vocals from Soozie Tyrell, Lisa Lowell, Michelle Moore, Curtis King Jr., Fonzi Thornton and Dennis Collins.

"I wanted to make an album where I just sang," Springsteen explained. "And what better music to work with than the great American songbook of the Sixties and Seventies? I've taken my inspiration from Levi Stubbs, David Ruffin, Jimmy Ruffin, the Iceman Jerry Butler, Diana Ross, Dobie Gray, and Scott Walker, among many others. I've tried to do justice to them all - and to the fabulous writers of this glorious music. My goal is for the modern audience to experience its beauty and joy, just as I have since I first heard it. I hope you love listening to it as much as I loved making it."

The joy of an album like Only The Strong Survive is we get turned on to great songs that we might have missed initially, as well as fine interpretations of legendary favorites.

Whether he's grooving with Sam Moore on Dobie Gray's 'Soul Days' or conjuring the faux heartbreak of William Bell's Stax gem 'Any Other Way,' the Boss sounds in his element, doing something deep and meaningful to him, touching down in his past and luxuriating in every moment.