High Hopes is the eighteenth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen, released on January 14, 2014, by Columbia Records.

Work on the album started on December 9, 2012, when Springsteen called Aniello to discuss some unfinished demos of older songs.

"[4] While in Australia, with Tom Morello replacing Steven Van Zandt—who was off filming Lilyhammer—the band spent its off time recording new music, with no specific plans for a new album.

"The Ghost of Tom Joad" was the first single from the 1995 album of the same name and had been performed many times, often featuring Morello on guitar and trading vocals with Springsteen.

"Harry's Place" was written in 2001 for The Rising;[8] "Heaven's Wall", "Down in the Hole" and "Hunter of Invisible Game" date from 2002 to 2008.

[10] In 2005, Springsteen closed out shows on his solo Devils & Dust Tour performing the song on a pump organ.

In April 2014, Springsteen released American Beauty, a four-track EP of songs that did not make the final cut of High Hopes.

[12][13] On January 12, 2014, the television series The Good Wife featured snippets of three songs ("High Hopes", "Hunter of Invisible Game" and "The Ghost of Tom Joad") during the episode.

Springsteen and the E Street Band, with Tom Morello but without Steven Van Zandt (who was filming Lilyhammer), performed "High Hopes", "Heaven's Wall" and "Just Like Fire Would".

[17] High Hopes got a mixed reception from critics, with Metacritic giving it 67 / 100, based upon 37 reviews, a "generally favorable" response.

[20] At Rolling Stone, David Fricke found that the "cumulative effect of this mass of old, borrowed, blue...is retrospect with a cutting edge".

"[23] At The Independent, Andy Gill also noted the lack of "thematic unity" but lauded how "Tom Morello has re-invigorated old material".

[26] Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune noted "the singer's desire to update his sound", and praised "Just Like Fire Would", "Hunter of Invisible Game", and "The Wall", but described the album as "otherwise ho-hum".

Club, David Anthony said that "Springsteen splashes his brightest colors against a canvas, crosses his fingers, and hopes they mesh.

"[21] Jessica Hopper of Spin said that "the small tragedy of the uneven High Hopes [is] that it doesn't play like a Springsteen album.

Rather, it’s the unusual surfeit of so-so songs that undercuts the album" which "lacks a sorely missed sense of scope and unity".

[31] Jesse Cataldo of Slant Magazine saw Springsteen "[aligning] himself with a long tradition of folksingers" in tuning into "the deeper inequalities that inspire" the songs.

"[24] USA Today's Edna Gundersen's review ran under the headline, "Grab-bag material could hurt Springsteen's 'High Hopes'".