The New Oldies: #4 Album of the Year 2023: Bruce Springsteen – Only the Strong Survive

Note: What happens when you leave the country in the middle of the countdown and forget to take your notes….. that’s what happened, thus it prevented the Countdown from continuing. Today we resume it.

Something seems to be missing these days. It seems that record companies, radio stations, and streaming services are pushing some the great established musicians to the background. As a result these veteran artists are not getting the attention they deserve. Enter the Top 10 Album Countdown: The New Oldies. The main point is simple – to make this list you must have at least 20 years of producing established music. The album by the artist must have been released between November 1st, 2022 and October 31st, 2023.

#4 Bruce Springsteen – Only the Strong Survive

Coming in at Number 4 on the 2023 New Oldies Countdown is Bruce Springsteen’s Only the Strong Survive. This is the 21st studio album by Springsteen. It was released in in November, 2022 and thus it qualified for the 2023 New Oldies Countdown.

Only the Strong Survive is an album of cover songs. It’s not the first time Springsteen has done a covers album as in 2006 he released We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions. While The Seeger Sessions focused on songs made popular by Pete Seeger, Only the Strong Survive goes in a completely different direction as we see Springsteen pay homage to the R&B and Soul greats. This wasn’t a surprise as I know Springsteen can cover this genre of music effectively as evidenced by This Little Girl, a song he wrote for Gary U.S. Bonds.

Springsteen pulls off the R&B covers flawlessly. Highlights include the title track (Jerry Butler), Night Shift (Commodores), and Someday We’ll be Together (The Supremes). Sam Moore (of Sam and Dave) also joins the Boss for a cover of Dobie Gray’s Soul Days. Springsteen can be intense at times, which is one of his admirable qualities. On Only the Strong Survive he seems looser and less intense – and it comes off fantastic on each of the tracks.

Springsteen has been on the record saying he has more material for a “Volume 2”. If it’s as good as this album, we have a lot to look forward to.