Human Touch

About

After the release of 1987’s <i>Tunnel of Love</i>, Bruce Springsteen got divorced, married Patti Scialfa, and left New Jersey for Los Angele. He also broke up the E Street Band, at least temporarily. That gave Springsteen some space to figure out who he wanted to be in the next phase of his career—and what kind of music he wanted to make. The genesis for <i>Human Touch</i> came during a dinner with E Street Band keyboardist Roy Bittan, who told Springsteen he’d written some music on his new home multi-synthesizer rig. Springsteen asked if he could listen to a cassette featuring Bittan’s tracks—and the next day, the Boss phoned his longtime keyboardist, telling him he’d written a hit. Bittan would be the only E Street veteran to appear on 1992’s <i>Human Touch</i>, an album that embraced the smooth, processed synthesizer sound popular in the early 1990, while also reaching back to the soul and R&B singers Springsteen had always idolized. The subject matter of the songs focused on Springsteen’s struggle to make his second marriage more successful than his first, but there were also quasi-confessional tracks—the result of Springsteen’s recent foray into therapy. The title track recounts the story of Bruce and Patti’s romance, “The Long Goodbye” explains why he’d left New Jersey, and the bass-heavy “57 Channels (And Nothin’ On)” is a playful ode to Elvis via cable television. None of this happened quickly: Springsteen kept writing and recording song, and blew past deadlines in his desire to create the exact right next record at this point in his career. .

via Apple Music

The Clerk says

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