DeGraves may be the quintessential exaggerator, but in at least one criticism he was spot on: Magic is not the five-star record, the equal to Born to Run, that Rolling Stone claims. What made Born to Run and other Springsteen classics so special was their ability to combine memorable melodies and rousing performances with unique and epic structures that could be both deconstructed by critics and slurred from the mouths of fist-shaking punters. Magic is not this, and that ability to step outside of structure – to explode into soaring anthems – seems to be a relic of Springsteen’s past.

This isn’t to suggest that Springsteen phase II has forgotten his musical roots. The songs on Magic are the most genuinely nostalgic of his career, evoking the straight ahead rock and political mindfulness of Born in the USA with ‘Radio Nowhere’, the soul grooves of ‘Tenth Avenue Freeze Out’ on ‘Livin’ in the Future’, and generally updating typical Springsteen lyrical fare to our modern world, one shadowed by unjustified war and political uncertainty. It is the way that Springsteen restrains and dissects these classic recreations that is the most interesting aspect of Magic. Where once songs would seemingly peak only to jut to unexpected codas, now the tunes are content to run a linear path, moving seamlessly, but predictably, through each section.

To adjust to this stylistic change both Springsteen and band have been forced to adapt. In Springsteen’s case the consistency of the tracks has been greatly improved and from top-to-tail – barring the near repetition of some vocal ideas: the rising melodies of ‘Long Walk Home’, ‘I’ll Work for Your Love’ and ‘Gypsy Biker’ – is devoid of filler, something that even the best examples of Springsteen’s back catalogue struggle to claim. And in regards to the E-Street band, their wings have been clipped via shorter instrumental sections, forcing more concise performances that as a whole are highly effective – the interesting exception being Clarence Clemons’ sax solo in ‘Radio Nowhere’, which is so brief and unnecessary that it has the appearance of tokenism.

Holistically, these changes are neither conclusive improvements nor degradations of the past collaborations of the pair, the important aspect being that both band and songwriter have found a way to recreate their past without obviously pitching towards the glory days. And in certain regards, Magic manages to veer into unexplored territory, with the string-heavy ‘Your Own Worst Enemy’ evoking elements of ‘Eleanor Rigby’ in its instrumentation and Spector’s famed Wall of Sound in its bridge section. The album’s final two tracks ‘Devil’s Arcade’ and ‘Terry’s Song’ also secure Magic’s contemporary relevance, the slow-burn of ‘Devil’s Arcade’s emotive conclusion echoing the best and most dynamic work of indie rock’s current fascination with epic song structures.

The one area of the record in which Springsteen may have actually eclipsed his past is in the catchiness of his melodies. While the vocals, and the performances in general, never quite capture the electricity and aggression of the mid ‘70’s E Street model, the older Springsteen has devised melodies and one line choruses that resonate for long after the album has ceased spinning. Highlights of this include the charismatic ‘I’ll Work for your Love’ and the haunting verses of ‘Gypsy Biker’, where Springsteen, in typical excellence, manages to sell lines and concepts that are now well-trodden radio rock clichés.

While DeGraves may be correct in his argument that Magic does not match up to Springsteen’s best, judged in the singular it is a very strong record. The conciseness of the songwriting may indeed be a blessing as it limits the moments of corniness that sneak into even the best of the band’s work (for those doubters revisit ‘Thunder Road’s knee-slapping: “Well I got this guitar/
And I learned how to make it talk” … Yee Hah!) and its lack of career-matching highlights is at least tempered by the more consistent offerings. Judged by his own catalogue or the standards of the contemporary music world, Magic is a great record and while it mightn’t be five-stars, it’s pretty close.