In 1995, Bruce Springsteen released "The Ghost of Tom Joad," likely the grandest departure from any artist's catalog in recent memory.  The title track was hip enough for Rage Against the Machine to cover it, while Springsteen's voice is hard to hear at times on the album of quiet, elegant folk music.  With the release of "The Rising," Springsteen re-unites with the E Street Band and there's no mistaking a single word he sings.

I'll admit that I'm not a huge Springsteen fan, and own only this new album, "Ghost," and an .mp3 of "Born in the U.S.A.," the single from 1984 that still breathes fire every time I hear it.  The political fervor that can be found in that anti- and pro-America song, along with Max Weinberg's high-octane drums, is found throughout this disc, which isn't much like his earlier efforts that tend to be harder in their guitar nature.

For lack of a better phrase, this is a folk album, too.  Like many of his contemporaries, whether in his genre or not, Springsteen is "capitalizing" on September 11th.  But not in the way you'd think.  So much of what we've heard so far has been little more than a "dismal trivialization" as Kurt Loder wrote in his review of the album (Rolling Stone, issue 903).

"Empty Sky" and "Nothing Man" both call back the empty feeling everyone everywhere felt, like being buried in sand.  The freshly scraped New York City skyline, the scalded wall of the Pentagon and the scorched field in Pennsylvania were all completely foreign to us.  Our minds were elsewhere.

One of the many things that got us through this point in our lives was music. The lyrics that were children of September 11th have been good, and some have been horrible.  But with one listen of the second track on "The Rising," "Into the Fire," we hear a voice like none other, one that is distinctly American: "May your strength give us strength / May your faith give us faith / May your hope give us hope / May your love bring us love."

This is not a battle cry, rather, a hand reaching out for another hand. The entire album is about transcending not only the events of that Tuesday last year, but of humanity in general.  "Worlds Apart" brings in the haunting sound of qawwali, a vocal performance from the virtually unknown Sufi sect of Islam.  Springsteen did grow up in the North, but his childhood was not bereft of seeing the horrors of injustice.

My personal favorite track on the disc is the opener, "Lonesome Day," which starts out sweet, then, as you hear soft counting in the background, explodes like rising bread.  Another stand-out track is "The Fuse," with bone-chilling background vocals.

It should be noted that Steven Van Zandt made considerable guitar contributions to the album, along with producer Brendan O'Brien who plays the glockenspiel, hurdy gurdy and orchestra bells on several tracks.

Overall, this is the most solid rock album I've bought since I picked up U2's "All That You Can't Leave Behind" almost two years ago at a midnight release party.  This album represents celebration in and of itself, and each listen leaves you warm and almost uncontrollably giddy.