Lucky Town is the tenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen. The album was released on March 27, 1992, the same day as Springsteen's ninth studio album, Human Touch. Lucky Town peaked at number three on the Billboard 200, with its lead single "Better Days" (a double A-side single with Human Touch's title track) peaking at number one on the U.S. Mainstream Rock chart and number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100. Lucky Town has since been certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for selling more than one million copies in the United States.
Contents
Background
Springsteen began working on Human Touch with the intention of releasing it sometime in 1990, but the project took longer than anticipated. He shelved the project in early 1991, resuming work in September of that year. Intending to record just one more song for the album ("Living Proof"), he ended up writing and tracking ten new songs instead. Once the sessions concluded, he decided to compile the ten new songs into a separate album, which became Lucky Town, and release it simultaneously with Human Touch. While most of the songs from the album have been performed rarely since the reunion of the E Street Band, "If I Should Fall Behind" was featured at every show during the 1999–2000 Reunion Tour and was included on the Live in New York City CD and DVD releases.
Themes
Compared to Human Touch, Lucky Town features a more stripped-down, folk-based sound and more personal lyrics. While Human Touch consists mostly of love songs, Lucky Town focuses on specific events in Springsteen's life. The opening track, "Better Days", expresses his desire for a fresh start following a difficult period in his personal life, including his divorce from his first wife. "Living Proof" was inspired by the birth of his first son, and "Local Hero" recounts an instance when he saw a photograph of himself in a store window, which the sales clerk described as a picture of "just a local hero". "Souls of the Departed" recalls "Born in the U.S.A." in its sonic structure and social commentary; the song was inspired by the Gulf War.
Critical reception
Upon its release, the album received generally positive reviews. Rolling Stone published a favorable combined review of *Lucky Town* and its companion album, *Human Touch*, but noted that the goals of the two records "would have been better realized by a single, more carefully shaped collection." In another mostly positive assessment, AllMusic wrote: "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."
Robert Christgau of The Village Voice called it a "ponderous, well-crafted disappointment, a shorter and by most accounts lighter piece of work than its more songful corelease Human Touch." Bill Wyman of the Chicago Reader compared it favorably to Human Touch, calling Lucky Town "obviously the superior work" and "a much more interesting beast, primarily because of the potency of the first three numbers [which] could have made a respectable anchor to a strong album." However, he added that "the record's illegitimate beginnings soon take their toll, and formula returns to the fore...What themes there are on the record - a sort of Catholic wonder and love of life alternating with the usual fears and worries of the characters in Springsteen's ongoing New Jersey gothic - never come alive." Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune later wrote that Lucky Town was "highly underrated...containing some of the strongest songwriting of Springsteen's career and ranks as one of his most completely realized albums."
In The Village Voice's annual Pazz & Jop critics' poll, Lucky Town placed at number 17, finishing well ahead of Human Touch, which ranked at number 80.
Track listing
All songs are written by Bruce Springsteen.
Unreleased outtakes
Eleven songs were written during these sessions, with "Happy" serving as the sole outtake; it was eventually released on the Tracks box set.
Personnel
Bruce Springsteen – guitar, lead vocals, keyboards, bass, harmonica, percussion
Additional Musicians
Gary Mallaber – drums
Roy Bittan – keyboards on "Leap of Faith" and "Living Proof"; keyboard bass on "The Big Muddy"
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 on "Better Days"
Ian McLagan – Hammond organ on "My Beautiful Reward"
Technical
Bruce Springsteen, Jon Landau, Chuck Plotkin – production
Roy Bittan – additional production on "Leap of Faith", "The Big Muddy", and "Living Proof"
Toby Scott – engineering
Greg Goldman, Robert "RJ" Jaczko, Randy Wine – assistant engineering
Bob Clearmountain – mixing
Bob Ludwig – mastering
Scott Hull, Dave Collins – digital editing