Rolling Stone (5/13/99, p.64) - Included in Rolling Stone's "Essential Recordings of the 90's." Q (2/96, p.66) - Included in Q's 50 Best Albums of 1995. Q (3/00, p.124) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...a sister album to the earlier, similarly sparse Nebraska set, with evocative character study the order of the day." Melody Maker (11/18/95, p.37) - Bloody Essential - "...a series of fleeting glimpses into the harsh, desperate lives of America's modern-day migrants....12 fables...[that] illuminate how the outside forces of chance and fate shape personal destiny..." Musician (2/96, p.89) - "...Springsteen stakes a claim to being one of us. His songs have articulated the hopes and fears of this country's working class with such eloquence that, 20 years after he became the Boss, fans still look to him for empathic insights into populist concerns..." Village Voice (2/20/96) - Ranked #8 in Village Voice's 1995 Pazz & Jop Critics' Poll. Mojo (Publisher) (p.57) - Ranked #76 in Mojo's "100 Modern Classics" -- "Bruce channelled the haunted hungry ghosts of Steinbeck, John Ford and Guthrie..." NME (Magazine) (11/18/95, p.46) - 9 (out of 10) - "...Springsteen has not just purloined Steinbeck's character as a totem for the downtrodden, he has discovered the Nobel prize-winner's deep, hard-won compassion....With THE GHOST OF TOM JOAD, Springsteen has...re-established himself as a moving voice in a tradition of social documentary..."

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