Bruce Springsteen is one of those rare artists where his whole body of work maintains such a creative arc that there are many albums within it which could be seen as essential. With five years having passed since his last official release, 1987’s unusually subdued and melancholic “Tunnel of Love”, Springsteen made the decision to release two albums on the same day. Despite the cover colour schemes being similar, the two records themselves couldn’t have been more different. To be fair, that was undoubtedly the plan in Springsteen’s head, and whatever the sales might say, he had yet to make an artistic misstep since his breakthrough with “Born To Run” a full seventeen years earlier. But happily for the theme of this article, Springsteen gave this writer one to love and one to consign to the metaphoric Room 101.

Can’t Live With It: “Human Touch” (1992)

Springsteen himself noted that he wanted to make a “happy record”, and certainly the run of albums that followed “Born To Run” all have a heart of darkness, whichever way you look at it – even though the all-conquering “Born in the USA” was widely assessed as being a tub thumping American Dream flagship, the most cursory look at the lyrics of any one of its tracks would soon have put paid to that notion.

He spent a lot of time in the writing and recording process, got some stellar names in the supporting cast (e.g. Sam Moore of Sam and Dave, and Bobby Hatfield of the Righteous Brothers), and appeared to predominantly aim for a modern take on the old soul songs that had so inspired him as a youngster.

But – and this seems perhaps unique in the entire Springsteen canon – he apparently forgot to put the effort into writing any lyrics that had any sort of depth at all. Oh, and most of the songs had dull musical forms, a stark contrast after the melodic thrust of “Tunnel of Love”, which contained some of his best tunes (‘Tougher Than The Rest’, ‘All That Heaven Will Allow’, ‘Brilliant Disguise’, etc). Springsteen’s impassioned vocals suddenly sounded more like bluster. Even the guitar solos, which were frequent, were uninspired and often unnecessary. It just all felt, at best, a bit out of time, with its already dated phased guitar sounds; and at worst, the majority of the record sounds shoddy and clunky.

There were exceptions, even here, with the title track being a fine piece of work, albeit possibly overlong at six minutes plus. And there were moments when it felt like he was trying to rein himself in and provide some shading … the acoustic notes of ‘With Every Wish’ and ‘Pony Boy’, for example. But even those feel undercooked compared to the similar likes of ‘Cautious Man’ or ‘When You’re Alone’ from previous album “Tunnel…”. Perhaps it’s harder to make a happy record than a sad, angry or intense one…but he almost immediately proved the potential for some positivity by recording “Lucky Town”.

Can’t Live Without It: “Lucky Town” (1992)

It is every bit probable that Springsteen’s original plan was to release “Human Touch” as a standalone. Something happened, thankfully! The received wisdom is that Springsteen went back into the studio to record ‘Living Proof’, a celebratory tribute to his newly born son, with the intention of adding it to “Human Touch”. Instead, a whole album came tumbling out of him, and this was quickly recorded, and the decision then made to release the two sets on the same day.

What is extraordinary is the quality of the songs on “Lucky Town”. There really isn’t a dud song on here, and the best are absolutely as good as anything he’s ever written. ‘Better Days’ roars the album in on a wave of something like optimism, albeit with a healthy dose of middle-aged reality. It’s a cracking tune, too. The slower songs provide some of his most touching work; the supremely romantic ‘If I Should Fall Behind’ nonetheless acknowledges the challenges ahead for newlyweds. ‘Living Proof’ itself may have sonically fitted into “Human Touch”, but it is streets ahead in its lyrical reach, and fits much better here. ‘Book of Dreams’ is just a wonderful old-fashioned melody, and for extra proof, just check out ’50s icon Dion’s version (from Springsteen tribute album “Light of Day” – well worth tracking down as a whole if you haven’t yet heard it). Dion gives it the full doo-wop approach, and the song just flies. ‘My Beautiful Reward’, meanwhile, closes out the album with a yearning melody and lyric that has the romantic escapism of ‘Born To Run’ and ‘Thunder Road’ updated with a dose of maturity.

Then there is the rockier stuff, such as the twangy ‘new country’ title track, the bluesy ‘The Big Muddy’, the murky ‘Souls of the Departed’; all these have an edge that “Human Touch” could only dream of.

“Lucky Town” can take its place as one of the lesser-appreciated Springsteen albums that can hold its own with his greatest works. Also in that league, one might add the aforementioned “Tunnel of Love”, “Devils and Dust”, “Ghost of Tom Joad”, and, for my part, “Magic” and lost gem “The Promise”.

There have been suggestions that the two albums might have been blended into one that would be greater; indeed, the same argument that is often applied to The Beatles’ “White” album. However, I don’t think there is a song on “Human Touch” that could have competed, so leave them as they are, and let “Lucky Town” into your heart.