Talk to Me (Bruce Springsteen song)
| Hearts of Stone | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes | ||||
| Released | October 13, 1978 | |||
| Recorded | Secret Sound Studios, New York City | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 34:48 | |||
| Label | Epic | |||
| Producer | Steven Van Zandt | |||
| Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   |
| Cherwell |  |
Hearts of Stone is the third album by New Jersey rock band Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, released in 1978. The album was written and recorded in collaboration with E Street Band guitarist Steven Van Zandt, as well as Bruce Springsteen.
Hearts of Stone has been called "the best album Bruce Springsteen never recorded", which is not quite accurate. Springsteen did pen the title track and the radio-friendly "Talk To Me", and is credited along with Southside Johnny Lyon and Steve Van Zandt on "Trapped Again", but Van Zandt takes solo credit for the remaining six tracks. More to the point, this record pointed the way to the kind of music the reincarnated "Little Steven" would begin making in the early 1980s. Van Zandt asked photographer Frank Stefanko to shoot the album cover art, after meeting Stefanko when they worked together with Springsteen on Darkness on the Edge of Town.
Although hailed by critics, when Johnny severely injured his hand and was unable to tour and promote it, the album did not sell well enough for Epic to renew the Jukes' contract. The group parted ways with its more famous Jersey Shore brethren for the next album, The Jukes, relying on songs written by members of the band.
The first two tracks on Hearts of Stone, the guitar-driven, syncopated raveup "Got To Find a Better Way Home" and the horn-powered "This Time Baby's Gone for Good", are classic Van Zandt compositions, heavily anchored in 60s soul. The bouncy third track belies its lyric; "I Played the Fool" makes very good use of bass and horns to carve a distinctive sound. The title track, Springsteen's main contribution, would perhaps have been a smash hit had it been released by its author, Springsteen. It is soulful, almost wan, as it details the ache of lovers who cannot be together. "Talk To Me", released as a single, provided a bridge to the Jukes' familiar sound from their first two records. It did not make the charts. Pointing the way to the sound they would embrace on their next record, the record's final track, "Light Don't Shine", is light on horns and relies more on detailed guitar, alongside a soft-voiced, reflective Johnny. This song would, ironically, prove to be something of an epitaph.
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