The Star Ledger (Newark, NJ)
Sunday, September 14, 2003

"Light of Day: A Tribute to Bruce Springsteen" (Various Artists)
(Two-CD set, Schoolhouse)***

You may have heard Bruce Springsteen's "My Hometown" a thousand times, but you'll still probably feel like you're listening to something new if you check out the new version of it on this two-CD, 37-track tribute album.

It's by Jason Ringenberg, best known as the frontman for the country-rock band Jason & the Scorchers. He sings it in such a forlorn way you feel the sense of loss in the lyrics more than you did in the more stoic original.

That's what great covers do: underscore an aspect of the original, while staying true to the overall spirit. A few other covers rise to that standard on this album, and most are solid enough to be enjoyable. The album will help out some good causes, too: proceeds will go to Kristen Ann Carr Fund (supporting research for the form of cancer known as sarcoma, and psycho-social services for sarcoma victims) and the Parkinson's Disease Foundation.

Some of the tracks have been released previously, though most are new. Numbers range from Springsteen classics (Cowboy Mouth's punk-tinged "Born To Run," Dan Bern's straightforward acoustic "Thunder Road") to obscurities (Nils Lofgren's warm, relaxed "Man at the Top," Dion's doo-wop take on "Book of Dreams"). Among the most radical reinterpretations are a funky, pop-flavored "Badlands" by Joe D'Urso & Stone Caravan and Steve Wynn's electrified "State Trooper," enhanced by spooky guitar sounds and other horror-house effects. Crazysloth's adrenaline-charged "Candy's Room" and Marc Broussard's soulful "Back in Your Arms" have new arrangements, but stay close to the spirit of the originals.

The Mystic Knights of the Sea (featuring Georgia Satellites members Dan Baird and Rick Richards) turn in a fiercely rocking "Johnny 99," while Elvis Costello and Jennifer Glass rethink "Brilliant Disguise" and "Bobby Jean," respectively, as country ballads. Pete Yorn embraces the streetwise romanticism of "New York City Serenade," while Graham Parker has fun with "Pink Cadillac." "Stolen Car," by Patty Griffin, and "Something in the Night," by Matthew Ryan, are almost frighteningly intense and desolate.

Joe Grushecky & the Houserockers contribute a vibrant, unplugged version of "Light of Day," the same song they covered in more conventional hard-rock form on the 1997 tribute, "'One Step Up/Two Steps Back: The Songs of Bruce Springsteen." This new version is more notable, partly because it's more different. In general, this album, too, represents one step up from the less frequently surprising and ultimately less fulfilling "One Step Up/Two Steps Back."

More information is available at the Web site, www.lightofday.org.

-- Jay Lustig