Leaving the E Street Band behind for this one, Devils & Dust is another loose concept album from Bruce Springsteen. D & D finds the Boss exploring the terrain of America's southwest and the souls who inhabit it - in much the same vein the of celebrated Nebraska and The Ghost Of Tom Joad. Put together musically by producer Brendan O'Brien, it's not as sparse as the albums it draws easy comparisons to, and at times has the feel of a Tunnel Of Love or even Human Touch.

By now, you've probably heard the sobering self-titled track, and to be honest it never gets better than that. But some of the tracks here come awfully close. "Reno" is a song that shocked the hell out of me at first, seeing as how it's a blunt and detailed account of a man screwing a whore in a bordello. Then again when I think about the first time I heard the songs off the harrowing Nebraska, it doesn't seem that far out of character. With passionate detail, Springsteen sings, "She poured me another whisky, said, 'Here's to the best you ever had.' We laughed and made a toast. It wasn't the best I ever had, not even close." Another fervent tale comes in the form of "Silver Palomino", a story of a 13 year old coping with the loss of his mother. "As I rise higher I can smell your hair. The scent of your skin, mother, fills the air. 'Midst the harsh scrub pine that grows, I watch the silver Palomino." "The Hitter" is a song that reminds me of Simon & Garfunkel's "The Boxer" but as always, Springsteen's song cuts harder and deeper, "Tonight in the shipyard a man draws a circle in the dirt. I move to the center and I take off my shirt. I study him for the cuts, the scars, the pain, man nor time can erase. I move hard to the left and I strike to the face." All the rest of Devils & Dust is just as compelling, which seems the most apt way to describe the man they still call The Boss: compelling.