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 The Junior TwinJan 02, 2009
LUCKY TOWN & HUMAN TOUCH both released the same day. I had just relocated to Texas and soon heard of a new Bruce release. I quickly stopped and picked up both albums on casette tape since thats what was in cars those days. Both were and are top notch Springsteen, true no E. St Band but maybe he needed a break to spark the flame of creativity. On my daily commute these albums took me right back to the jersey shore and I was home again though 2,000 miles away. who else can write so much good music that he has to release 2 albums the same day? Both are as good as most of his work, not his best but still very good.
 Strictly mediocre (but not without it's moments).Oct 11, 2008
It's 1992. Bruce has dissolved the E Street Band, moved to L.A., and gathered a group of sessions musicians (plus Roy Bittan) as his new backing band (known as "The Other Band", but never actually officially named), and then released two albums on the same day: "Lucky Town", which is the flip-side of 1987's "Tunnel of Love" and a fairly good record, and "Human Touch", which is, well, not great. Frankly, it's his weakest, most inconsistent album.
The Other Band took and still takes it's share of criticism. That's understandable, but not completely fair. True, they're not E Street, but who is? They actually do an okay job, and while I'm not especially familiar with the following tour's history, from how I understand it there was a very noticeable improvement towards the end of the 1992-1993 tour when compared to the beginning. At any rate, this album's shortcomings can only partially be blamed on them (especially since "Lucky Town" features them but is a much better release). It's the songs themselves that are the real culprit.
"Human Touch" doesn't start out bad. In fact, it starts out great. The kick-off track is also the title track, and it's a classic, almost like a song thrown away during the recording of "Tunnel of Love". All fans should be familiar with this one, and it leaves a decent first impression. Unfortunately, the title track ends, and things start to go downhill.
The rest of the album is made up of primarily second-rate pop rock. It's catchy enough, and it makes for a nice easy listen while driving, but it's all so empty. Still, there's some bright(er) moments. "With Every Wish" is a relatively more emotional song, one I really like. "57 Channels" is an attempt at social satire, and you'll either love it or hate it. "Roll of the Dice" is ridiculously fun and catchy (but it's also just about as generic as Bruce gets). "Man's Job" and "I Wish I Were Blind" are very good (and it's probably not a coincidence they ended up next to each other), and "Soul Driver" isn't bad either.
Unfortunately, songs like "Gloria's Eyes", "All Or Nothin' At All" (granted, a guilty pleasure, not unlike "...Dice"), and "Real Man" epitomize how weak this album can be. Oh sure, they sound nice on the surface, but the writing is just lazy. "Real Man" in particular is just awful, probably the worst song he's ever released.
HT ends with the traditional "Pony Boy", and while it sounds out-of-place somewhat, it's nice enough.
Now, 1980's "The River" featured plenty of party rock numbers that didn't feature much emotional content. That in and of itself isn't a bad thing; sometimes you just gotta rock out. The difference there was that that album was intentionally parodoxial, and was evened out with some of Bruce's best, most emotional & essential songs. Plus, all the party rock there was just plain better than it is here. Indeed, it's not like every past Springsteen song has had (or needed to have) deep emotional content, but they were never as "phoned-in" as most of the songs on HT are.
At the end of "Human Touch", you're just not left with much. It's not a complete waste, but the bright spots are few and far between. Springsteen would really have been better off only releasing "Lucky Town", as that album is easily the better of the two. As it stands, "Huamn Touch" is a nice CD to play in the car once in awhile, and if all you want is some early-90's rock, this will fit the bill better than a lot of what you'll come across, but it's biggest legacy is that it's a reminder of one of Springsteen's lesser periods, though it's not without some charm.
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 Bruce is BossMay 28, 2008
Bruce couldn't make a bad CD if he tried - he's the BOSS!! Great Price too!
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based on 3 reviews
