After a highly successful run on Broadway, Springsteen continues his storied and legendary career, sans his E Street Band, with what seems like a love letter to country stars of old, the American West and maybe most importantly, coming to grips with and expressions of mental health.

Right now there is nothing more for Springsteen to prove. In the music industry, Bruce has done it all; one of the most accomplished musicians of this lifetime and he’s still going because it’s the only thing he knows how to do and he absolutely loves it. After so many great albums (with and without the E Street Band) it’s another solid addition, though the replay value won’t be as high for me. I’ve essentially heard all I’ve needed to from Springsteen and for all of Western Stars heartfelt openness, the tragedies and the strengths, it isn’t a necessary must-have (save some of the tracks).

It’s a serviceable and justified entry. The stories are slightly less compelling as the ones outlined in his previous solo albums – namely the sorrowful, haunting and intense The Ghost of Tom Joad and Devils & Dust – but they are still chock-full of character and grit. It’s the usual tales of the hard working individual, honest values, trials and tribulations, overcoming, detailed observation and self-reflection we’ve come to expect from Bruce’s big book of songwriting 101, but with recent revelations about his personal life, it puts some real heartbreak on some of the narratives and delivers a perspective the most loyal of followers will shed a tear for. It’s quite possibly his saddest record since the folk classic, Nebraska, mixing in themes of mortality and depression from the aging star. That being said, and as much as I love me some of Bruce’s songwriting, I’ve always fell for his ear for composition and Westerns Stars delivers the embellishments in spades.

The orchestral swells of strings nestled throughout the record are magnificent and it just feels right to be on this particular record as well as the low country twang of the electric guitar and manifestations of 60’s country and pop music. He’s not trying to bring back the youthful energy and rawness of his early work with loud drums and noisy guitar solos – it’s not that kind of record; it’s an old soul kind of record. He’s a man clearly in his sunset years and the elegance and sadness of these arrangements provide a fitting backdrop to these bittersweet set of tracks at this stage in his life. Springsteen has rarely taken a misstep when it comes to composing the music to accompany his words – it was always balanced and fit the stories he was trying to tell.

Tracks like “Hello Sunshine”, “Western Stars”, “Sundown” and “Moonlight Motel” offer graceful melodies and a cinematic quality that strikes a chord between lavish and intimate. Western Stars though, is an album where the pieces are greater than the whole. While there are a handful of booming choruses and pretty instrumentation, some of the sparse and haunting acoustic tracks don’t do that much for me; same goes with some of the more cheery numbers. I’ve heard renditions of these tunes earlier in his career which were more captivating and energetic.

Like I said before, you can’t really expect something too different or experimental from Springsteen at this point. He has simply done it all. With this record, the sounds and words are beautiful and it’s full of balladry and an easy listen – a lone ranger’s soundtrack and the start of a new chapter for Springsteen. I’m glad that the man’s still making music and giving his fans something new to digest and add to their collections. It will certainly excite them.

Verdict: It’s a harmless yet exceptional record from the Boss. For those who have followed Springsteen since the 70’s, they’ll be pleased with this one’s intimacy and legend/fable-like storytelling from, quite frankly, a living legend.