There is a darkness to Bruce Springsteen’s new record. His first studio record in three years and the first since he turned 60 in September of 2009. The hope that is usually found in even his darkest records is rarely seen, and it’s absence creates the perfect atmosphere for a mood record for the ages. This darkness is pushed way beyond the edge of town.

“Wrecking Ball” is a group of songs that were written in 2009 and 2010, before the Occupy movement shook up America. When you’d expect a Bruce Springsteen album released on an election year to be a strong political record where Bruce shows his views and gives the country a vision of hope, he instead shifts his gears to the insecurity in the public after the 2008 economic meltdown.

 He also covers the topic of the large gap between the morally corrupt 1% and how they thrive and continue to spend frivolously while everyone else is scared that they won’t be able to put food on the table.

This theme is shown most prevalently in the Woody Guthrie-based “Shackled And Drawn,” which includes the lines “Gambling man rolls the dice, workingman pays the bill/ It’s still fat and easy up on banker’s hill/ Up on banker’s hill, the party’s going strong/ Down here below we’re shackled and drawn.”

His Occupy-like attack on the rich in favor of the working man is a glimpse into his folk singer heroes of Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, and Bob Dylan while showing what he has always stood for.

Musically, Wrecking Ball is the most diverse album Springsteen has ever made, chiming heavily into folk and gospel music to provide layered arrangements that mesh well with the lyrics and Bruce’s raspy groans and screams.

Not saying that he doesn’t rock out in typical Springsteen fashion, which is well provided for in tracks such as the soaring anthem “We Take Care Of Our Own”, the slow-building love song “You’ve Got It,” and the horn fueled “Wrecking Ball.”

This album is easily one of the most hyped music releases of the year, with Columbia Records’ marketing department launching an attack just as powerful as Bruce does on the record. The full set of songs were streaming over the internet days before the release on multiple websites, it’s getting good placement in the iTunes store, and it will probably be a big hit at record stores across the nation.

The clear highlight is the working-class meditation “Jack Of All Trades,” with Bruce delivering an amazingly nuanced and melancholy vocal over a slow piano melody with delicate horns, eventually exploding into an astonishing Tom Morello guitar solo at the end. Other highlights include the Woody Guthrie meets Stomp work spiritual “Shackled And Drawn” and the Irish march of “Death To My Hometown.”

What it all comes down to is that every Bruce Springsteen record is a magical one. This record is both a great start for new fans and a welcome addition to the collection of devoted “Bruceheads.”

A special edition is available both on iTunes and on CD, which includes two extra songs including a revamped version of the Seeger Sessions cut “American Land”. Wrecking Ball is not to be missed, a monumental event for all rock fans to adore. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band arrive in Los Angeles on the Wrecking Ball tour for two shows at the Sports Arena on April 26 and 27.