Boss Pissed At Bosses.

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN: Pissed Off

Bruce Springsteen says he was "pissed off" when he wrote the songs for his new album, Wrecking Ball. Previewing the release on Wednesday in Paris for the European press, he said, "My work has always been about judging the distance between American reality and the American dream... An enormous fault-line cracked the American system wide open, and its repercussions are just beginning to be felt." Springsteen says the title, Wrecking Ball, reflects the "flat destruction of some American ideals and values over the last 30 years. It seemed like a good metaphor."

Wrecking Ball, which comes out March 6th, features the last sax solo by the late Clarence Clemons. Springsteen recalls, "We were lucky to get him on 'Land of Hope and Dreams.' When the sax solo comes up, it's a lovely moment for me." Clemons died last June following a massive stroke. He was 69.

Steve Van Zandt says Springsteen and the E Street Band will likely open their rehearsals in Asbury Park, New Jersey to the public, something they traditionally do. Their first show is a March 9th radio broadcast at the Apollo Theatre in New York, and Van Zandt says, "You don't want to start with a live broadcast never having made it through the set. Even for us, that's a bit much -- although we do like challenges." The tour's officially starts on March 18th in Atlanta.

The Springsteen exhibit From Asbury Park to the Promised Land opens today (Friday) at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia and will run through September 3rd.

Sources: Telegraph (U.K.), Rolling Stone