The Ghost of Tom Joad
| The Ghost of Tom Joad | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
||||
| Studio album by Bruce Springsteen | ||||
| Released | November 21, 1995 | |||
| Recorded | March–September 1995 Thrill Hill Recording |
|||
| Genre | Folk, folk rock | |||
| Length | 50:16 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Producer | Bruce Springsteen, Chuck Plotkin | |||
| Bruce Springsteen chronology | ||||
|
||||
| Singles from The Ghost of Tom Joad | ||||
|
||||
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   |
| Entertainment Weekly | B– |
| Robert Christgau |  |
| Rolling Stone | |
The Ghost of Tom Joad is the eleventh studio album, and the second acoustic album, by American recording artist Bruce Springsteen. The album was released on November 21, 1995, through Columbia Records. The album was recorded and mixed at Thrill Hill West, Springsteen's home studio in Los Angeles, California.
Following the 1995 studio reunion with the E Street Band and the release of Greatest Hits, Springsteen's writing activity increased significantly. He wrote and recorded the album between March and September 1995. The album consists of seven solo tracks and five band tracks.
The Ghost of Tom Joad debuted at number 11 on the US Billboard 200 chart, with 107,000 copies sold in its first week. The album won the 1997 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album.
The Ghost of Tom Joad received mostly favorable reviews. Mikal Gilmore of Rolling Stone called it "Springsteen's best album in ten years," and considered it "among the bravest work that anyone has given us this decade." However, it reached only number 11 on the Billboard 200, breaking a string of eight consecutive Top 5 studio albums in the U.S for Springsteen.
The album is mainly backed by acoustic guitar work and the lyrics on many of the tracks are a somber reflection of life in the mid-1990s in America and Mexico. The character of Tom Joad entered the American consciousness in John Steinbeck’s 1939 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Grapes of Wrath, set against the economic hardships of the Great Depression. This spawned a film version starring Henry Fonda, which in turn inspired folk singer Woody Guthrie to pen "The Ballad of Tom Joad".
...
Wikipedia