Personnel: Bruce Springsteen (vocals, guitar, bass); Sam Moore, Bobby King, Bobby Hatfield (vocals); Tim Pierce (guitar); Mark Isham (trumpet); Ian McLagen (piano); David Sancious (organ); Roy Bittan (keyboards); Randy Jackson (bass); Jeff Porcaro (drums, percussion); Kurt Wortman (drums); Michael Fisher (percussion); Patti Scialfa (background vocals).

Producers: Bruce Springsteen, Jon Landau, Chuck Plotkin, Roy Bittan.

Recorded at A&M Studios, Los Angeles, California.

Personnel: Bruce Springsteen (vocals, guitar); Bobby "Blanco" King, Bobby King (vocals, background vocals); Patti Scialfa, Sam Moore (vocals); Tim Pierce (guitar); Mark Isham (trumpet); Ian McLagan (piano); David Sancious (organ); Roy Bittan (keyboards); Kurt Wortman (drums, dumbek); Jeff Porcaro (drums, percussion); Michael Fisher (percussion).

Audio Mixer: Bob Clearmountain.

Recording information: A&M Studios, Hollywood, CA; Ocean Way Recording Studios, Hollywood, CA; Oceanway Studios; Record Plant; Record Point; Soundworks West; Westlake.

Editors: Dave Collins ; Scott Hull.

Photographers: Harvy Gruyaert; Pamela Springsteen; Annie Leibovitz; Barbara Carr; David Rose.

Arranger: Bruce Springsteen.

Bruce Springsteen has always been steeped in mainstream pop/rock music, using it as a vocabulary for what he wanted to say about weightier matters. He has always written generic pop as well, but Human Touch was the first album to consist entirely of this kind of minor genre material, which he seems capable of turning out endlessly and effortlessly. Having largely jettisoned the E Street Band, Springsteen enlisted some sturdy minor talent to play and sing, among them ace studio drummer Jeff Porcaro, Sam Moore of Sam & Dave, and Bobby Hatfield of the Righteous Brothers. It's pleasant enough stuff, and easy to listen to, but it is not the kind of record Springsteen had conditioned his audience to expect, and its release brought considerable disappointment. Though at nearly 59 minutes it was the longest single-disc album of his career, and though it contained several songs that could have been big hits -- the "Tunnel of Love" soundalike title track, which actually made the Top 40, "Roll of the Dice," an AOR radio favorite, and "Man's Job" -- Human Touch was an uninspired Springsteen album, his first that didn't at least aspire to greatness. ~ William Ruhlmann

Bruce Springsteen has always been steeped in mainstream pop/rock music, using it as a vocabulary for what he wanted to say about weightier matters. And he has always written generic pop as well, though he's usually given the results away to performers like Southside Johnny and Gary U.S. Bonds. Sometimes, those songs have been hits -- think of the Pointer Sisters' "Fire" or Bonds's "This Little Girl Is Mine." Occasionally, Springsteen has used such material here and there on his own albums; some of it can be found on The River, for example. But Human Touch was the first Bruce Springsteen album to consist entirely of this kind of minor genre material, material he seems capable of turning out endlessly and effortlessly -- the point of "I Wish I Were Blind" is that the singer doesn't want to see, now that his baby has left him; "57 Channels (And Nothin' On)" is about TV; "Real Man" finds the singer declaring that, while he may not be an action hero like Rambo, he feels like a real man in his baby's arms. And Springsteen, having largely jettisoned the E Street Band (keyboardist Roy Bittan remained), enlisted some sturdy minor talent to play and sing, among them ace studio drummer Jeff Porcaro (one of his final recording sessions), Sam Moore of Sam and Dave, and Bobby Hatfield of the Righteous Brothers. It's pleasant enough stuff, and easy to listen to, but it is not the kind of record Springsteen had conditioned his audience to expect, and its release brought considerable disappointment. The reaction was exacerbated by the drawn-out release schedule that by 1992 had become common to superstars: This simply wasn't the record Springsteen fans had waited four and a half years to hear. Though at nearly 59 minutes it was the longest single-disc album of his career (which is not even counting the fact that a second whole album was released simultaneously), and though it contained several songs that could have been big hits -- the "Tunnel of Love" soundalike title track, which actually made the Top 40, "Roll of the Dice," an AOR radio favorite, "Man's Job," and even "Soul Driver," which belongs on the next Southside album -- Human Touch was an uninspired Bruce Springsteen album, his first that didn't at least aspire to greatness. Springsteen may have put out the more substantial Lucky Town at the same time in recognition of the relatively slight nature of the material here. ~ William Ruhlmann

After a five year recording hiatus following the emotionally eloquent TUNNEL OF LOVE (and a subsequent world tour), Springsteen returned in 1992 with the tandem release of HUMAN TOUCH and LUCKY TOWN. Though released separately, both albums signalled the singer's more mature preoccupation with introspective, complicated themes of desire, despair and regret. The albums were also Springsteen's first without the full E Street Band. HUMAN TOUCH and LUCKY TOWN marry Springsteen's popular persona of fist-waving, stadium rocker with the more reflective, rootsier sound the singer favored on NEBRASKA.

Of the two albums, HUMAN TOUCH is the more successful in this endeavor; songs like "Roll of the Dice" and "Real Man" are vintage, hell-raising Springsteen whereas the haunting "With Every Wish" and the roiling undercurrent of "57 Channels (And Nothin' On)" travel more uncertain avenues. "Human Touch" is pretty melodic pop and "Cross My Heart" generates pure sexual heat, gyrating with a bluesy guitar groove. HUMAN TOUCH and LUCKY TOWN may never be revered in same way as some of his other releases, but both albums are immensely satisfying as a double shot farewell to the raucous rebelliousness of Springsteen's youthful rock and roll years.

Rolling Stone (4/30/92, p.56) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...his guitar playing is plentiful and gripping....the fascinating progress of one of the most compelling artists of our time....Beginning with the pulsing title track, which stands among Springsteen's best work, the fourteen songs on HUMAN TOUCH explore the movement from disenchanted isolation to a willingness to risk love and its attendant traumas again..."

Q (1/93, p.73) - Included in Q's list of the 50 Best Albums Of 1992.

Q (5/92, p.87) - 5 Stars - Indispensable - "...Springsteen navigates a classical landscape of the heart, as mythical and ghostly as the blasted topography of gospel music..."

Musician (5/92, p.87) - "...the songs seem at once personal and universal....fascinating for the fresh musical ground it covers..."