''Human Touch'' is the ninth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

by American singer-songwriter

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...

. The album was released on March 27, 1992, the same day as ''

Lucky Town ''Lucky Town'' is the tenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen. The album was released on March 27, 1992, the same day as Springsteen's ninth studio album ''Human Touch''. ''Lucky Town'' peaked at number three on the '' ...

''. It was the more popular of the two, peaking at number two on the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart, and lead single "

Human Touch ''Human Touch'' is the ninth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen. The album was released on March 27, 1992, the same day as ''Lucky Town''. It was the more popular of the two, peaking at number two on the US Billboard 2 ...

" (double A-side single with ''Lucky Towns " Better Days") peaking at number one on the

Mainstream Rock Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada. Format background Mainstream rock stations represent a cross between classic rock, active rock and alternativ ...

and number 16 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 charts. "Human Touch" has since been certified Platinum by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA) for over one million copies sold in the US, and was nominated for Best Rock Vocal Performance at the

1993 Grammy Awards The 35th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 24, 1993 and recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. The nominations were announced on January 7, 1993. The evening's host was the American stand-up comedian Garry Shand ...

Background

Not long after Springsteen broke up the

E Street Band The E Street Band is an American rock band that has been the primary backing band for rock musician Bruce Springsteen since 1972. In 2014, the E Street Band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. For the bulk of Springsteen's recordin ...

in October 1989, pianist

Roy Bittan Roy J. Bittan (born July 2, 1949) is an American musician best known as a long-time member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. Nicknamed "The Professor", Bittan joined the E Street Band in 1974. He plays the piano, organ, accordion and synth ...

played Springsteen three instrumental songs he had written: "Roll of the Dice", "Real World" and "Trouble in Paradise". Springsteen later added lyrics to the songs, and liked them to the point where he began writing and recording more songs. With the E Street Band gone—except for Bittan, who played keyboards and co-produced the album—Springsteen assembled a band of studio musicians in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, mostly using the services of

Randy Jackson Randall Darius Jackson (born June 23, 1956) is an American record executive, television presenter and musician, best known as a judge on ''American Idol'' from 2002 to 2013. Jackson began his career in the 1980s as a session musician playing b ...

on bass guitar and

Jeff Porcaro Jeffrey Thomas Porcaro (April 1, 1954 – August 5, 1992) was an American drummer. He is best known for being the co-founder and drummer of the rock band Toto, but is also one of the most recorded session musicians in history, working on hundr ...

on drums. A wide variety of background vocalists were used, including

Sam Moore Samuel David Moore (October 12, 1935 – January 10, 2025) was an American singer who was best known as a member of the soul and R&B duo Sam & Dave from 1961 to 1981. He was a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the Grammy Hall of Fame (f ...

Bobby Hatfield Robert Lee Hatfield (August 10, 1940 – November 5, 2003) was an American singer. He and Bill Medley were the Righteous Brothers. He sang the tenor part for the duo and sang solo on the group's 1965 recording of "Unchained Melody". Early li ...

, and

Bobby King Bobby King (born July 28, 1944, in Lake Charles, Louisiana, United States) is an American gospel-style, R&B and soul singer. He formed a singing duo with Terry Evans in the early 1970s. The album was originally set for a spring-summer 1991 release date, having been pushed back from early 1991, but was once again halted when Springsteen began recording ''

'' later that year. Springsteen ultimately decided to release both albums on the same day, with ''Human Touch'' released on March 27, 1992—more than two years after starting the project. Porcaro was asked by Springsteen to join the band for the subsequent tour, but declined because he was engaged with his own band Toto. Porcaro died a few months later of a heart attack in his garden.

Critical reception

''Human Touch'' debuted and peaked at No. 2 on the ''Billboard'' 200 selling 246,000 copies during its first week. The album was met with a generally mixed critical reception. ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' gave the album 4 stars and noted that the songs "explore the movement from disenchanted isolation to a willingness to risk love and its attendant traumas again." The review also stated that the title track "stands among Springsteen's best work." However Bill Wyman of ''

The Chicago Reader The ''Chicago Reader'', or ''Reader'' (stylized as ЯEADER), is an American alternative newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. The ''Reader'' has been ...

'' gave the album a very harsh review, calling it "the worst piece of xpletiveyou can imagine coming from a talent on Springsteen's level." Out of the album's 14 tracks, Wyman said there was only "one passable Springsteen song, 'The Long Goodbye.' The lyrics don't make much sense...but it has a bruising musical onslaught that covers up a lot." Though his initial review was more positive,

Greg Kot Greg Kot (born March 3, 1957) is an American music journalist and author. From 1990 until 2020, Kot was the rock music critic at the ''Chicago Tribune'', where he covered popular music and reported on music-related social, political and busines ...

of ''

The Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN radio and WGN tel ...

'' later wrote that "in retrospect, ''Human Touch'' tried to re-create the stadium-rocking aura of an E Street album, with session musicians unsuccessfully replacing the road-tested band."

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

later described the album as "generic pop" and "his first that didn't at least aspire to greatness." The album is generally disliked by Springsteen fans, and in 2012 was ranked last among Springsteen's albums by the online magazine ''

Nerve A nerve is an enclosed, cable-like bundle of nerve fibers (called axons). Nerves have historically been considered the basic units of the peripheral nervous system. A nerve provides a common pathway for the Electrochemistry, electrochemical nerv ...

''. Regarding the bad reputation of ''Human Touch'' and ''Lucky Town'' among his fans, Springsteen said: "I tried it riting happy songsin the early '90s and it didn't work; the public didn't like it."

Track listing

All music and lyrics by

, except where noted

Unreleased outtakes

Springsteen's first album without the E Street Band featured numerous outtakes, many of which have been released. A cover of "

Viva Las Vegas ''Viva Las Vegas'' is a 1964 American rock and roll musical film directed by George Sidney, written by Sally Benson, choreographed by David Winters, and starring Elvis Presley, Ann-Margret, Cesare Danova, William Demarest and Nicky Blair ...

" was released as a B-side and on ''

The Essential Bruce Springsteen ''The Essential Bruce Springsteen'' is a compilation album by Bruce Springsteen, released on November 11, 2003. The collection is part of a series of ''Essential'' sets released by Sony Music Entertainment, Sony Music. It includes songs from vari ...

'', "Chicken Lips and Lizard Hips" was released on a children's album, and "30 Days Out" was also a B-side. "Part Man, Part Monkey", a track originally recorded during the ''Tunnel of Love'' session and performed on that tour, was re-recorded and released as a B-side and on '' Tracks'' along with other outtakes such as "Trouble In Paradise", " Sad Eyes", "Leavin' Train", "Seven Angels", "My Lover Man", "When the Lights Go Out", "Over the Rise", "Goin' Cali" and "Loose Change". "Trouble River" was released on '' 18 Tracks''. Springsteen also recorded "Red-Headed Woman", a tribute to his wife

Patti Scialfa Vivienne Patricia Scialfa ( ; born July 29, 1953) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. Scialfa has been a member of the E Street Band since 1984 and has been married to Bruce Springsteen since 1991. In 2014, Scialfa was inducted into t ...

and a song performed often, eventually released as a live version on the ''

MTV Unplugged ''MTV Unplugged'' is an American television series on MTV. It showcases recorded live performances of popular music artists playing acoustic instrument, acoustic or "unplugged" variations of songs. The show aired regularly from 1989 to 1999. F ...

'' album, " Secret Garden", which would later get re-worked with the reunited E Street Band in 1995 for ''

Greatest Hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...

'', and "All the Way Home", a song Springsteen gave to

Southside Johnny John Lyon (born December 4, 1948), known professionally as Southside Johnny, is an American retired singer-songwriter who fronted the band Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes. Southside Johnny has long been considered the Grandfather of "t ...

and one that Springsteen would not release until 2005's ''

Devils & Dust ''Devils & Dust'' is the thirteenth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen, and his third acoustic album (after ''Nebraska'' and ''The Ghost of Tom Joad''). It was released on April 25, 2005, in Europe and the following ...

''. *"Red Headed Woman" *"Secret Garden" *"All the Way Home"

Personnel

– guitar and lead vocals, bass guitar on "57 Channels (And Nothin' On)" Additional Musicians *

– bass guitar *

– drums, percussion (except on "With Every Wish") *

– keyboards *

– harmony vocals on "Soul Driver", "Real World" and "Man's Job" *

– harmony vocals on "Human Touch" and "Pony Boy" *

David Sancious David Sancious (born November 30, 1953) is an American musician. He was an early member of Bruce Springsteen's backing group, the E Street Band, and contributed to the first three Springsteen albums, and again on '' Human Touch'' (1992), '' Tr ...

–

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created ...

on "Soul Driver" and "Real Man" *

Bobby King Bobby King (born July 28, 1944, in Lake Charles, Louisiana, United States) is an American gospel-style, R&B and soul singer. He formed a singing duo with Terry Evans in the early 1970s.Tim Pierce Tim Pierce (born 1958 in Albuquerque) is an American session guitarist. He has worked for artists such as Joe Cocker, Crowded House, Goo Goo Dolls, Michael Jackson, Beth Hart, Roger Waters, Alice Cooper, Johnny Hallyday, Phil Collins, and th ...

– second guitar on "Soul Driver" and "Roll of the Dice" * Michael Fisher – percussion on "Soul Driver" *

– harmony vocals on "I Wish I Were Blind" *

Mark Isham Mark Ware Isham (born September 7, 1951) is an American musician and composer. A trumpeter and keyboardist, Isham works in a variety of genres, including jazz and electronic music, electronic. He is also a prolific and acclaimed composer of Film ...

– muted trumpet on "With Every Wish" * Douglas Lunn – fretless bass guitar nonpareil on "With Every Wish" *Kurt Wortman – drums and dumbeck on "With Every Wish" Technical: *

Jon Landau Jon Landau (born May 14, 1947) is an American music critic, manager, and record producer. He has worked with Bruce Springsteen. He is the head of the nominating committee for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and received that institution's Ahme ...

Chuck Plotkin Charles Richard Plotkin (born September 8, 1942) is an American record producer, film producer, audio engineer and mixing engineer, best known for his work with Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan. Recording engineer Plotkin has recorded, enginee ...

–

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

Toby Scott Toby Warren Scott is an American record producer, engineer and sound mixer. In addition to serving as an engineer on 18 Bruce Springsteen albums and numerous live performances, Scott has also recorded artists including Bob Dylan, Natalie Merchant ...

–

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

* Robert "RJ" Jaczko – additional engineering and assistant engineering * Greg Goldman, Randy Wine, Tom Hardisty,

Clif Norrell Clif Norrell is an American record producer, recording engineer, music mixer, and musician. He has worked with many prominent artists including Bruce Springsteen, R.E.M., Jeff Buckley, No Doubt, Rush, Faith No More, Shania Twain, Mick Jagger, D ...

, Craig Johnson, Buzz Burrows – assistant engineering *

Bob Clearmountain Bob Clearmountain (born Chiaramonte, January 15, 1953) is an American mixing engineer and record producer, best known for his work with major acts, including Bruce Springsteen, The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Roxy Music, Pretenders, and Bryan A ...

– mixing *

Bob Ludwig Robert Carl Ludwig (born December 11, 1944), is a retired American mastering engineer. He mastered recordings on all the major recording formats for all the major record labels, and on projects by more than 1,300 artists, including Led Zeppeli ...

– mastering * Scott Hull, Dave Collins – digital editing * Sandra Choron – art direction * Victor Weaver – typography design * David Rose – cover photography, interior photography *

Annie Leibovitz Anna-Lou Leibovitz ( ; born October 2, 1949) is an American Portrait photography, portrait photographer best known for her portraits, particularly of celebrities, which often feature subjects in intimate settings and poses. Leibovitz's Polaroid ...

, Harvy Gruyaert – interior photography

Singles

Singles were released in both U.S. and UK/Europe, unless otherwise indicated: *A ^ Charted as double A-Side with "Better Days" when released in the United States.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

*
Audio and lyrics
{{Authority control Bruce Springsteen albums 1992 albums Albums produced by Jon Landau Albums produced by Chuck Plotkin Albums produced by Roy Bittan Columbia Records albums Albums recorded at A&M Studios