I've listened to Springsteen only since Born in the USA (funny how many people miss the point behind that song...) but have since grown to appreciate him as another troubador for the rest of us.

I live in Youngstown, the town in the song on the album by the same name. It is a working class town devastated by the exit of the steel mills in the 70s and 80s, much like Springsteen sings about his hometown on Born in the USA. He sings it because he knows it. And it shows. He may not know Youngstown but he's pretty darn close to the reality of many living here.

He played here on his acoustic tour in support of this album (sadly, I din't have the connections to get tickets; ironically, the 'common man' doesn't really count when it comes to Springsteen tickets). Stranger yet (similar to Born in the USA being used as a political campaign song), radio stations here played it with pride! Guess they didn't listen to the lyrics.

Anyhow, Springsteen is a voice crying out in the wilderness of America, speaking for those whose voices are rarely heard and, if they are, they are generally heard as part of some political agenda or other. He gives voice to the homeless, to migrant workers, to released convicts trying to keep straight and to a whole host of other characters who really make up the American landscape.

It sounds stark only if you haven't been paying attention to what is going on beneath the surface in this country. While it is not overly joyous, there are moments of beauty and poetry to be found, even in the midst of this apparent bleakness. Springsteen, as always, captivates and tells stories that put you there; you can see, hear and even taste the characters he is singing about.

While there are more instruments present here than in Nebraska, it is still relatively bare and buoys the lyrics quite nicely.

On an aside, this album finds its roots in the book called Journey to Nowhere: The Sage of the New Underclass by Dale Maharidge (sadly, currently out of print) which begins in Youngstown and traverses the road and the rails to Texas. If you've read the book, you'll find the inspiration behind this album. Both are gripping and excellent.

If there were any justice in this world, this album would've sold the 11 million copies that Born In The U.S.A. did, due in no small part to its widely misunderstood title track. Alas, as Springsteen proposes on this album, there is no justice. While Springsteen's best-known and best-selling music may always remain his early songs filled with cars, girls, and the dreams of youth, and while that may be the image that most people have of the man, this album is undoubtedly the work of a mature genius. Not since the early Bob Dylan records has the seamy underbelly of the American life been explored so thoroughly and heart-breakingly in popular song. Influenced, obviously, by John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath (actually, the movie adaptation, as one sees in the linear notes) as well as other literary and news items focusing on immigrants, the working class, and the downtrodden - as well as drawing upon previous songsters who have explored this territory, such as Dylan and Woody Guthrie - The Ghost of Tom Joad is a set of story songs, done in the heart-breaking and plaintive way that only Springsteen could do them. The stories are mosly set in California, often near the Mexican border, and involve the deeds of illegal aliens and other working class heroes involved in America's secret economy. Musically, this album is bleak and involved mainly Springsteen alone on acoustic guitar and occasionally punctuated with harmonica, as on his Nebraska album; however, a few songs feature other players, including some intriguingly subtle keyboard work that fits the mood so well you hardly know it's there. Springsteen sings these songs in the slurring drawl that they deserve, paying little heed to pitch or meter, and they can be hard to understand at times. This album doesn't make for easy listening. One cannot play this as background music, driving music, or at a party like one can many of The Boss's records with The E Street Band: this is definitely an album that you must devote your full attention to. It is one of the few records that truly deserves to be listened to when you're alone at night in your room with the lights off. Be prepared to cry, be prepared to feel your heart ache - be prepared to be moved. One of the true masterpieces of American rock music, and a criminally overlooked record which I hope some day will receive the praise it is due.

I should explain that I'm not a fan of the "Born in the USA" Bruce - not because he hit the Top 10, but because the songs were just a bit .. pop oriented. I used to be somewhat of a fanatic, spellbound by his poetic phrasing and the raw beauty of the music. "Greetings" was ambitious, but flawed. "The Wild & Innocent" is, in my opinion, one of the most underrated albums in rock; it's a masterpiece through and through. The fact that casual Springsteen fans have probably never heard "New York City Serenade" and "Incident on 57th Street" is a shame.

"Born to Run" is maybe one of the two or three greatest rock albums of all time, but the Wall of Sound does show its age a little. Too bad "Meeting Across the River" never got played on the radio. "She's the One" and "Backstreets" are classic, as well.

"Darkness" was a good album ("Racing in the Street", the title track), but not quite a masterpiece. "The River" is my favorite Springsteen album to LISTEN to, but that doesn't make it his best; it's not. I like the frat rock of "Ramrod", "Sherry Darling" and the ballads of "Wreck on the Highway" and "I Wanna Marry You"; a good collection of tunes.

"Nebraska" is one of the greatest musical recordings, period. What a bold move by Bruce - to release a demo tape of acoustic songs recorded in his home, with him in a rocking chair? It paints such a vivid portrait of desolation. I read someone's review that said he could only listen to it once or twice a year; I agree. It's definitely not USER FRIENDLY! LOL. Still, it's a brilliant and haunting record that stays with you in the way movies like "Three Seasons" or "Cinema Paradiso" do - slow and drawn out, but oh my. "Highway Patrolman" and the title track are stunning songs. "Mansion on the Hill" is amazing, as well.

"Born in the USA"... It's not a BAD record, just too "pop" for my taste. In fairness, maybe I heard TOO much of the record; play the Hell out of something and it loses its appeal. "No Surrender" is a nice little tune. They're all quite catchy. Thing is, I think of the album and I start to see Michael Jackson all over again - the whole 80's thing. Again, it might just be that radio played it to death.

"Tunnel of Love" I didn't like. The only songs I liked were "One Step Up" and "Valentine's Day". I don't get why most Bruce fans rank this as one of his best. To each his own, I guess.

I wasn't really into the "Human Touch"/"Lucky Town" duet, but a few songs surfaced that I found quite nice: "My Beautiful Reward", "If I Should Fall Behind" and "Pony Boy" is ... cute. I heard a live, acoustic version of "Real World" before it was released, with Bruce alone on piano. It was VERY powerful! The version that was released was too polished.

I know.. I'm here to review "The Ghost of Tom Joad" and I've spent the last 14yrs of my life babbling on about EVERY Springsteen record. I guess I did that only to show why I think this record stands with his best work. It's, what .. January of 2000 and I'm just NOW listening to this record? That's because ALL I heard was how depressing it was and how Bruce sang in a monotone voice - that every song was the same. I didn't want that. I liked the serious Bruce, yes - but melody is important to me. The reviews made it sound like this album was him just reading the yellow pages. Ohhh, it's not. Listen to the keyboard provide the right atmospheric touch. Listen to the guitar and how poignant it sounds. This is SUCH a beautiful collection of songs! Even if you're not into the plight of the migrant worker or the guy at "the rendering plant", Springsteen paints pictures - better than most. He's a true artist, but his brush is his way with words. He makes us FEEL these songs. Like "Nebraska", it is an album that has been haunting me. I doubt I'll listen to it much (too depressing), but he has a gift that few musicians carry - the ability to get inside your soul and touch you.

These may not be songs to dance to or scream out at the local bar, but they're infused with great beauty - especially "Balboa Park", "Straight Time", "Dry Lightning" and "Highway 29". Bruce, if you're reading this, stay clear of the top 40 and indulge your Muse; you have quite the gift.

Note: I'd like to go on the record as saying that my favorite "unreleased" Bruce songs are: "The Promise" (the original version), "If I Was the Priest" and "The Preacher's Daughter".

Another bit of proof that Springsteen is a true artist.

He hasn't simply stolen characters from Steinbeck and others; he turned them into modern day men and women, melded and welded them into his own vision, made them a part of his ongoing observations of America.

"The highway is alive tonight, but nobody's kiddin' nobody about where it goes...where it's headin' everybody knows," Springsteen sings on the title track. That's a real downer, coming from a guy who used to use the Highway as a metaphor for hope. But these aren't the young "Born To Run" Jersey kids, who wanted to hit the road to find their fortune. The characters on TOM JOAD have been thrown on the road, displaced and hunting for a meal or a job. They want to get off the road but, as the Joads found in GRAPES OF WRATH, nobody wants you to stop at their place.

As with so many of his recent records, Bruce delivers one absolutely flawless vocal. "Highway 25" sounds like "Streets Of Philadelphia" or "Secret Garden," but is, thematically, cut from the same cloth as NEBRASKA. Like so much of NEBRASKA, it sounds like the courtroom confession of a killer, in this case a man who doesn't quite believe he let himself fall so far off the path. At the beginning of the song he works in a shoe store. He flirts with a customer, and before he knows it they are in "a small town bank...well, I had a gun. You know the rest."

There's so much more I could say--about Bruce's evolving use of symbolism and metaphor, about how cars and the road and rivers are used over and over in ways that shape character and event, about how he uses songs to write novels, and all the other pompous Critic-Talk--but what's the point. You get it.

This is a GREAT album, great on a level that most popular music never even approaches.

Frankly, I think the best of Springsteen--BORN TO RUN, THE RIVER, NEBRASKA, and THE GHOST OF TOM JOAD--are the kind of things Dylan always strived for, but only achieved on infrequent occasions.

I don't consider Springsteen the new Dylan. I consider Dylan the old Springsteen.

I would put this on the top of my all time greatest albums...and definitely one of Bruce's top albums. This record is not for the folks who like light hearted rockin tunes like "Ramrod" or "Cadiallac Ranch"...this is something completely different and very intimate. Bruce was at a crossroads when he made this record...46 years old, just had a mini reunion with the E street Band for a couple of tracks on the greatest hits...but he was struggling to find "his rock voice" at that time....his singing style suggests this on Joad. Instead of doing the commerically obvious choice (reunite the band, record and tour) he chose to follow his muse...and no matter what you think of the actual record, you have to respect that. Springsteen chose to talk about America's poor through the voices of Mexican immigrants, veterans, lonely souls. This album is rich with the soil of america's past and conects Steinbecks world to the present day America. Its a deep and scary record....its truly amazing how Springsteen steps inside each characters world....he may be a millionare, but you would never know it listening to this CD.

The songs:
Title cut is amazing, connecting the world of Steinbeck to now...still poor in America and getting worse (thanks Dubbya!)

2. Straight Time: the character in this song is trying to find whats lost...and how sometimes the things that make us happy are not healthy things....ex con deals with the real world and trys to walk the straight line...amazing lyrics!

3. Highway 29- an affair gone terribly wrong...sung by a ghost...i think

4. Youngstown- America during Reagan (and now) industry and out sourcing...jobs gone....amazing song.

5. Sinaloa Cowboys, brings you into a world that not many of us know exsisted...Mexican immigrants

6. The line, again a beautiful character study...life is not so black and white, Bruce tells us threw this border patrol widower.

7. Balboa park, again the work of immigrants, Mexican boys selling themselves for money and drugs....hard life, dark song.

8.Dry Lighting, talking about men and women, one of my favorites on the CD

9. The new timer, riding the rails....

10. across the border, is there salavation in the mix?

11. Galvaston Bay, Vietnam vets vs Vietnamise immigrants...brilliant.

12. my best was never good enough....lighter fair than the rest of the cd but I guess he had to end on somewhat of a light note.

There really isn't enough room to really go into track by track, bottom line is I bought the CD when it first came out and I was floored....Bruce really makes you feel the lives of this characters....its really his best work, yes I love to rock out to the E street band too, but thats not what this CD is about...everyone should own this...amazing thanks Bruce!