Human Touch (studio album) by Bruce Springsteen

A muddled record with flashes of brilliance. Human Touch, Cross My Heart and I Wish I Were Blind are excellent, but there's a lot of filler on here, too. 57 Channels is an oddity that never quite reaches liftoff, and Real Man is as lousy a song as The Boss ever cut. Mixed bag from an otherwise great artist.

Often regarded as the nadir of Springsteen's discography, Human Touch is actually a really good record that cannot be overlooked. While the production is hit or miss depending on your tastes, the songs themselves are just excellent.

Recommended.

A Side: Roll of the Dice
B Side: I Wish I Were Blind

From llibnanoon 12/01/2020 15:58

Springsteen begins the 90's with this keyboard driven rocker. Rating (80.36)

Human Touch is my least favourite Bruce album
It is way over long
- the album in general did not require 14 songs
- and some of the songs seem overlong - even the amazing title track feels like it could have shaved off a minute or so ?

The album contains the only Bruce song that I hate, the horrendous "real man" - sorry!
And real world and long goodbye seem to have been taken from an early 80's B movie soundtrack.
Also I read somewhere that nothing dates a song more than the inclusion of technology - this is clearly apparent in the weak "57 channels "

That said there are some great songs - cross my heart, with every wish, I wish I were blind and the (if not a little long) title track.

The question begs, should Human Touch and Lucky town have been stripped down and been one album ??
I would say yes
- Lucky town is a far superior record and could possibly shave a few weaker tacks.
- Human Touch could easily be stripped of its few good tracks for inclusion on the combined effort.
This combined album would've made one hell of a great Bruce Springsteen record - possibly one of his finest ?

It had been a four and a half year gap between, tunnel of love, and his new release, 2 albums on the same day, human touch, and, lucky town. Maybe Springsteen had been inspired to release two records by guns'n'roses, who had done same thing the year before with their, use your illusion, LP's. The sound of human touch, is really a more rocking version of the, tunnel of love, with a strong soul influence. It is probably Springsteen's weakest album. For one, it's overlong, and secondly, there are too many throwaway tracks. Real man, all or nothing at all, and, the long goodbye, are easily the worst songs he had ever released on an album before. Springsteen clearly isn't inspired here. Though having said that, at least half of the record is brilliant. The title track, soul driver, 57 channels, and, with every wish, are all excellent songs, as are the soul influenced, man's job, and the beautiful, I wish I were blind. Real world, and, roll of the dice, are also very good. Springsteen should have edited the album a bit, or alternatively could have replaced the weaker tracks with other outtakes such as, sad eyes, happy, and, part man,part monkey. Out of all Bruce's records, this is easily the least essential. It's companion album, though, lucky town, was much better, it was snappier and shorter with stronger songs. Human touch, was a huge disappointment.

From zags7000 06/11/2015 23:00

The only Springsteen album that I wouldn't revisit.

From junodog4 05/29/2013 18:18

Not as lazy as Lucky Town, but way more inconsistent. After a long string of great albums, he was bound to stumble.

Actually pretty ambitious lyrics on some tracks but will you listen to them? The music feels like it should be played in background and you can listen but not hear.