Lucky Town

Lucky Town is the tenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen. The album was released on March 27, 1992,^[4] the same day as Springsteen's ninth studio album Human Touch. Lucky Town peaked at number three on the Billboard 200, with lead single "Better Days" (double A-side single with Human Touch's title track) peaking at number one on the US Mainstream Rock and number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. Lucky Town has since been certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for over one million copies sold in the US.

Lucky Town
Studio album by Bruce Springsteen
Released	March 27, 1992[1]
Recorded	September 1991 – January 1992
Studio	Thrill Hill (Colts Neck), A&M (Hollywood)
Genre	Americana[2] roots rock[2]
Length	39:38
Label	Columbia
Producer	Bruce Springsteen, Jon Landau, Chuck Plotkin, Roy Bittan [notes 1]
Bruce Springsteen chronology
Human Touch (1992) Lucky Town (1992) In Concert/MTV Plugged (1993)
Singles from Lucky Town
"Better Days" Released: March 9, 1992 "Leap of Faith" Released: October 12, 1992 "If I Should Fall Behind" Released: December 15, 1992[3] "Lucky Town" Released: March 29, 1993

Background

Springsteen was working on Human Touch, which he intended to release sometime in 1990, but the project took him longer than he thought. He shelved the project in early 1991 and came back to it in September of the same year. Intending to record one more song for the album ("Living Proof"),^[5] he ended up with 10 new songs. Once he completed the sessions, he decided to put the 10 new songs on a separate album, which became Lucky Town, and to release it at the same time as Human Touch. While most of the songs from the album have received few performances since the reunion of the E Street Band, "If I Should Fall Behind" was played at every show during the 1999–2000 Reunion Tour and was included in the Live in New York City DVD and CD release.^[6]

Themes

Compared to Human Touch, Lucky Town has a more stripped down, folk-based sound and is more personal in its songs' lyrics. Human Touch consisted of mostly love songs, while Lucky Town focuses on more specific events in Springsteen's life.^[7] The opening track "Better Days" expresses his desire to start over after some rough patches in his life (his divorce from his first wife).^[7] "Living Proof" is about the birth of his first son and "Local Hero" is about a time that he saw a picture of himself in a store window, which the salesgirl said was a picture of "just a local hero".^[8] "Souls of the Departed" recalls "Born in the U.S.A." in its sound and social commentary. The song was inspired by the Gulf War.^[9]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[10]
Chicago Tribune	[11]
Christgau's Consumer Guide	[12]
Entertainment Weekly	B[13]
NME	7/10[14]
Pitchfork	6.8/10[15]
Q	[16]
Rolling Stone	[17]
Tom Hull	B−[18]

Upon release the album received generally positive reviews. Rolling Stone gave the album a positive review (a combined review with its companion album, Human Touch), but thought that the aims of the two albums "would have been better realized by a single, more carefully shaped collection."^[17] In a mostly positive review, AllMusic said of the album: "While Human Touch was a disappointing album of second-rate material, Lucky Town is an ambitious collection addressing many of Springsteen's major concerns and moving them forward."^[10]

Robert Christgau of The Village Voice called it a "ponderous, well-crafted disappointment, a shorter and by most accounts lighter piece of work than its more songful corelease Human Touch."^[19] Bill Wyman of the Chicago Reader compared it favorably to Human Touch, calling Lucky Town "obviously the superior work" and "a much more interesting beast, primarily because of the potency of the first three numbers [which] could have made a respectable anchor to a strong album." However, he added that "the record's illegitimate beginnings soon take their toll, and formula returns to the fore...What themes there are on the record - a sort of Catholic wonder and love of life alternating with the usual fears and worries of the characters in Springsteen's ongoing New Jersey gothic - never come alive."^[20] Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune later wrote that Lucky Town was "highly underrated...containing some of the strongest songwriting of Springsteen's career and ranks as one of his most completely realized albums."^[21]

In The Village Voice's annual Pazz & Jop critics poll for the year's best albums, Lucky Town placed at number 17 in the voting,^[22] way ahead of Human Touch which finished at number 80.^[23]

Track listing

All songs are written by Bruce Springsteen.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Better Days"	4:05
2.	"Lucky Town"	3:24
3.	"Local Hero"	4:02
4.	"If I Should Fall Behind"	2:57
5.	"Leap of Faith"	3:22
6.	"The Big Muddy"	4:04
7.	"Living Proof"	4:44
8.	"Book of Dreams"	4:20
9.	"Souls of the Departed"	4:16
10.	"My Beautiful Reward"	3:55

Unreleased outtakes

Eleven songs were written during these sessions with the song "Happy" being the only outtake; it was eventually released on the Tracks box set.^[24]

Personnel

• Bruce Springsteen – guitar, lead vocals, keyboards, bass guitar, harmonica, percussion

Additional Musicians

• Gary Mallaber – drums
• Roy Bittan – keyboards on "Leap of Faith", "The Big Muddy" and "Living Proof"
• Patti Scialfa – backing vocals on "Better Days", "Local Hero" and "Leap of Faith"
• Soozie Tyrell – backing vocals on "Better Days", "Local Hero" and "Leap of Faith"
• Lisa Lowell – backing vocals on "Better Days", "Local Hero" and "Leap of Faith"
• Randy Jackson – bass guitar on "Better Days"
• Ian McLagan – Hammond organ on "My Beautiful Reward"

Technical

• Bruce Springsteen, Jon Landau, Chuck Plotkin – production
• Roy Bittan – additional production on "Leap of Faith", "The Big Muddy" and "Living Proof"
• Toby Scott – engineering
• Greg Goldman, Robert "RJ" Jaczko, Randy Wine – assistant engineering
• Bob Clearmountain – mixing
• Bob Ludwig – mastering
• Scott Hull, Dave Collins – digital editing
• Sandra Choron – art direction
• Victor Weaver – typography design
• David Rose – cover photography, interior photography
• Pam Springsteen – interior photography

Charts

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for Lucky Town Chart (1992) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[25] 6 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[26] 2 Canadian Albums (RPM)[27] 3 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[28] 7 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[29] 4 Italian Albums (Musica e Dischi)[30] 2 Japanese Albums (Oricon)[31] 5 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[32] 6 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[33] 2 Spanish Albums (AFYVE)[34] 2 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[35] 3 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[36] 2 UK Albums (OCC)[37] 2 US Billboard 200[38] 3 Zimbabwean Albums (ZIMA)[39] 4

Year-end charts Year-end chart performance for Lucky Town Chart (1992) Position Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[40] 26 Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[41] 33 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[42] 65 French Albums Chart[43] 80 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[44] 45 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[45] 33 UK Albums (OCC)[46] 96 US Billboard 200[47] 79

Certifications

Certifications and sales for Lucky Town

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[48]	Platinum	70,000^
Austria (IFPI Austria)[49]	Gold	25,000*
Canada (Music Canada)[50]	2× Platinum	200,000^
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[51]	Gold	28,642[51]
Germany (BVMI)[52]	Gold	250,000^
Japan (RIAJ)[53]	Gold	110,000[54]
New Zealand (RMNZ)[55]	Gold	7,500^
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[56]	Platinum	100,000^
Sweden (GLF)[57]	Platinum	100,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[58]	Gold	25,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[59]	Gold	100,000^
United States (RIAA)[60]	Platinum	1,000,000^
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Notes

1. Additional production on "Leap of Faith", "The Big Muddy" and "Living Proof"