The Boss made a real comeback with 2002's The Rising, so some newer fans might be suprised when they first listen to follow-up Devils and Dust and find that the classic E-Street Band sound is almost entirely missing. However, most Springsteen fans would have been expected exactly this kind of low-key approach, as it follows the pattern of quiet-loud-quiet that he has been releasing for well over 20 years (The River-Nebraska-Born in the USA-Tunnel Of Love-Lucky Town/Human Touch-Ghost Of Tom Joad-The Rising-Devils And Dust).

However, most of the talk before the album came out turned out to be slightly misplaced, as this is hardly a complete return to the style of Tom Joad,which was particularly sparse musically, with some songs barely audible. Devils and Dust is a lot more polished and certainly shouldn't alienate any fans of The Rising, although there is of course the sensitive subject issue of anal sex. Third track Reno has earned a lot of publicity, with Starbucks refusing to stock it and the CD earning a Parental Advisory sticker, because Springsteen describes a (fictional, we assume) trip to see a prostitute and details the prices she charges for even the most intimate of contact...

The album as a whole has been described as a cross between the sound of Nebraska and The Rising, and that's probably a good way to sum it up, as there are slow-burning songs like the title track alongside lively, catchy tunes like All I'm Thinkin About. Two of the new album's songs, The Hitter and Long Time Comin', were actually written and performed on The Ghost of Tom Joad tour. But not all the material dates back that far; the title track was written around the start of the war in Iraq, Springsteen said. "It works as a metaphor for all the music underneath it, the individual stories of people wrestling with their demons," he said of the title track.

Of course, there's no E-Street Band on this album, with Springsteen playing all the guitars and various other instruments, supported by producer Brendan O'Brien on bass and drummer Steve Jordan. This of course means that the sound is a lot less dense than on hits like Born in the USA and Born To Run, and it's almost better for it, with the subtleties of the song-writing coming through more strongly. While this is certainly a low-key return from The Boss, it is an album that his fans will treasure for a long time, and everyone else can just await the seemingly inevitable return of the E-Street boys next time around...