Bruce Springsteen: “Working on a Dreamâ€Â (Columbia)

“Working on a Dreamâ€Â is Springsteen’s third album with both O’Brien and the E Street Band since 9/11, and like the previous two “The Risingâ€Â and “Magicâ€Â it is meticulously arranged and produced, from the elaborate strings on “Kingdom of Daysâ€Â to the carefully-clipped loop that “Good Eyeâ€Â is built upon.

And like those two albums, the songs here are both helped and hindered by such managerial precision, which helps keep the Boss from falling off the creative ledge, but sometimes lends the songs a stilted feel. Majestic, it seems, is easy to aspire to, but more difficult to achieve.

Nowhere is this more obvious than on the “Kingdom of Days,â€Â a love song with wonderfully tender lyrics that alone evoke affection and appreciation. Placed in the context of the music, however, the lyrics cannot hold up the dead weight of the stiff, leaden instrumentation and arrangement.

But it’s when Springsteen tries something unusual that “Working on a Dreamâ€Â becomes worthwhile. Overall, then, “Working on a Dreamâ€Â is not only a worthy album, but also an enjoyable one.

Franz Ferdinand: “Tonight: Franz Ferdinandâ€Â (Sony/Domino)

Spoon ripoffs? DFA-styled dancefloor excurions? Putting Damon Albarn in his place? Whatever is going on with Franz Ferdinand, it̢۪s a welcome, if not completely memorable, change of pace. Franz Ferdinand have discovered a newfound joy for keyboards, electric pianos and dirty lo-fi synths.

“Send Him Awayâ€Â breaks from its Paul Simon-y guitar ticks halfway through for an adventurous keyboard breakdown, “No You Girls Never Knowâ€Â uses dated, almost minimalist production values to give a dry padding for Kapranos’ tirade against girls who don’t know the power of their own actions, and the penultimate closer “Dream Againâ€Â dives into full-on synth-pop territory, using a simplistic digital drum beat and echoed keyboard plinks to craft a sweet little ballad that recalls Blur’s late-era electronic experiments at their best.

In the end though, the band just isn̢۪t as melodically inclined this time around, and it̢۪s a shame, too, because by and large, this still remains the band̢۪s most adventurous outing to date just not their most memorable.