Bruce Springsteen
?Working on a Dream? (Sony)

The 18th and latest album from Springsteen with the E Street Band starts with an acoustic guitar romp, ?Outlaw Pete.? A few songs later, it rocks to the ?Born in the USA? stomp of ?My Lucky Day.? Then it slows down to the wry balladry of ?Queen of the Supermarket.?

But just when you think it?s over comes the cocksure strut of ?Good Eye.? Springsteen, who?s turning 60, has just trumped the competition with revitalizing music. It?s also his first in the Obama era and, despite contrary titles like ?Tomorrow Never Knows? or ?The Last Carnival,? hope springs forth from his usual vignettes about losers and renegades.

Darkness still lay on the edge of town but the hardworking singer-songwriter keeps the faith: ?When the sun comes up tomorrow/ it?ll be the start of a brand-new day? (a line from a birthday song in the album. The Boss hasn?t made a more optimistic record in ages and as the world stands on the precipice of a global crisis, ?Working on a Dream? is alive with music that can survive the worst of times.

U2
?No Line on the Horizon? (MCA)

A decade and a couple of albums into the 21st century, the only Irish band that matters delivers a new record that sounds a lot like the things U2 can?t leave behind.

It hardly matters that three producers? Steve Lillywhite, Brian Eno and David Lanois? sonic architects who helped shape the band?s recording career, came on board.

Conceptually, the three-pronged configuration holds exciting possibilities, three heads being better than one. Unfortunately, ?No Line on the Horizon? feels more of a retrospective rather than a bold move forward. Half of the tracks carry the weight of Lillywhite-era bottom-heavy early ?80s rock; the other half and spaces in between are laced by Eno/Lanois? studio-sculpted electronica.

Still, the aching throb of ?Magnificent,? with its vintage Motown bass line, raises goose pimples. The Edge?s multi-tracked surf guitars in ?Moment of Surrender? plumb late ?80s shoegazer territory. Similarly, the extro to ?Unknown Caller? has the grandeur of the Allman Brothers Band?s ?In Memory of Elizabeth Reed.? Somehow they offset Bono?s little boy lost/resurrected big hero fixation. Is it ego or is it fading memory to title a song ?I?ll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight??

As the old critique went, U2 may be on a holding pattern for its latest offering. These aging warriors should heed their own call to ?restart and reboot.? Meanwhile, the tide is turning, and it?s time to move on to higher ground.

Death Cab For Cutie
?Narrow Stairs? (Warner)

The winding, tricky stairway to stardom, taken a step at a time, launched pop-rockers Death Cab for Cutie from indie obscurity to the top of the charts. It was a slow climb, one ear-bending album released every two years since 1998, with chief songsmith and keyboardist Ben Gibbard supplying his emotive lyrics to the stirring sonics his band mates whipped out for the college-bred set.

Prior to its mainstream breakout, DCC staked its claim as plaintive chroniclers of the lovelorn. ?Narrow Stairs? comes out after the unexpected breakthrough in 2006 of its major label debut, ?Plan.?

The band?s game plan is simple: maintain intoxicating melodies, write intriguing lyrics and keep the rock as ?lite? as possible. The hooks are extra strong in ?I Will Possess Your Heart,? a stalker?s song if ever there was one. ?No Sunlight? filters new wave by way of the Beach Boys and it?s a reflection on global warming.

?Your New Twin-Sized Bed,? however, is an embarrassing attempt at cute pop for grown-ups.

Two records on a major label and DCC has remained a captivating band.

Linkin Park
?Road To Revolution? (Warner)

This greatest hits album culled from the group?s previous recordings comes with a DVD of a live performance in the UK. From the sound of its best studio stuff, Linkin Park simply repackaged the less nasty bits of doom/death metal and hardcore rap, then polished the Frankenstein pairing with the sheen of grab-you-by-the-lapel hooks.

The jams with Jay-Z are a hoot, though, and the new rock ballad ?From the Inside? should be killer karaoke material in a parallel universe.

The accompanying DVD is cool but fails to up the ante on the more propulsive ?Live In Texas? from five years ago. One step back from the revolution, two steps forward from ignominy for Fred Durst and his ilk? Rap metal circa ?90s may be the next wave in recycled new music.