Anticipation surrounding Bruce Springsteen 's 17th studio album is building, and The Boss added further fuel to the fire today by announcing the title and further details of the LP. Billboard reports that the legendary performer will be releasing 'Wrecking Ball' on Columbia Records; produced by Ron Aniello, it will include 11 songs - 13 if you shell out for the deluxe edition.
An impassioned statement on his official website, as to be expected from the team behind one of the ultimate heart-on-sleeve artists of the past half century, said "Bruce has dug down as deep as he can to come up with this vision of modern life, the lyrics tell a story you can't hear anywhere else, and the music is his most innovative of recent years. The writing is some of the best of his career and both veteran fans and those who are new to Bruce will find much to love on 'Wrecking Ball.'"
That statement came from Springsteen's manager Jon Landau, who also told the Rolling Stone that the forthcoming record was "big-picture piece of work. It's a rock record that combines elements of both Bruce's classic sound and his Seeger Sessions experience, with new textures and styles." Sounds good to us; the record will also be tinged with sadness as it'll be the first recorded without the E Street Band's saxophonist Clarence Clemons who died last summer - despite this it's believed the band will continue live.