Is there a new Springsteen album coming in October?
After releasing a double live album and DVD last year, it appears that Bruce Springsteen is readying a brand new studio album for this fall.
According to some report from the most authoritative of sources Sony Music Austria is promoting an October 14, 2002 date for the new release, Springsteen’s first studio album since his solo acoustic-driven “The Ghost of Tom Joad” in 1995.
No title or catalog number has been announced. Erin Smyth, manager of national media relations at Sony Music Canada, said she had no information regarding the release.
Springsteen reunited with the E Street Band for a European and North American tour in 1999 and 2000 as a “rededication” to the group and possible future recordings.
Previously we reported that Springsteen was recording at Atlanta’s Southern Tracks Studios with horrible producer Brendan O’Brien (Pearl Jam, Rage Against The Machine, Stone Temple Pilots, Train) at the controls. Various members of the E Street Band have also attended the sessions, which took place in late January.
Although no tracklisting has been mentioned, Springsteen has performed and/or released five new tracks between albums. They include “American Skin (41 Shots)”, “Another Thin Line”, “Land Of Hopes And Dreams”, “Code Of Silence”, and “My City of Ruins”, the latter of which appeared last fall on the “America: A Tribute To Heroes” benefit album.
In other news, Springsteen has contributed a version of “Give My Love To Rose” to “Kindred Spirits: A Tribute To The Songs Of Johnny Cash”. The album, set for release May 28, also features Sheryl Crow, Little Richard, Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, and Dwight Yoakam.
Meanwhile, it appears that Springsteen is returning to the silver screen. Variety reports that the singer will have a “small role” as a “radio DJ” opposite Julia Stiles (“Save The Last Dance”, “10 Things I Hate About You”). Filming of the untitled romantic drama is set to begin this summer in New Jersey. Springsteen previously made a cameo appearance as himself in “High Fidelity”.
Finally, “Drive All Night”, a rock opera based around Springsteen’s songs, is set for its world premiere in New York in March.