Future Hazy for 'The Boss'

N E W  Y O R K, Aug. 14 -- It was the last night of Bruce Springsteen’striumphant world tour — 16 sold-out months on the road with thereunited E Street Band. The Boss and his sidekicks, teary-eyed,held hands as the Madison Square Garden crowd screamed wildly.

“We’ll be seeing you!” Springsteen proclaimed after playingtheir last song — quite appropriately, “Blood Brothers.”

But when?

Where?

How?

On a live album? A new studio album? A DVD of the Garden shows?

Who knows? When it comes to Springsteen, who ever knows?

Known for Taking His Time

“Springsteen is certainly known for taking his time, changinghis mind frequently while he’s at it, and often doing the lastthing you’d expect,” says editor Chris Phillips of Backstreetsmagazine, which chronicles all things Springsteen.

“Judging by all the song debuts toward the end of the tour,he’s certainly got some great material.”

That material includes “American Skin [41 Shots],” the AmadouDiallo-inspired song that prompted the silliest Springsteencontroversy since Ronald Reagan interpreted “Born in the USA” asa paean to patriotism.

There were other new songs, too: the nightly show-closer “Landof Hope and Dreams,” and three rockers — ”Further On Up theRoad,” “Code Of Silence” and “Another Thin Line.”

Five songs, for most artists, is the start of a new album. ForSpringsteen, it could become the start of Tracks II — afollow-up to the boxed sets of rarities and unreleased gems that heput out (to great critical acclaim) in 1998.

No Word About What’s Next

Springsteen, through his publicist, has said nothing aboutwhat’s next. The lone hint about the future emanating from thenotoriously tight-lipped Springsteen camp came courtesy of LittleSteven Van Zandt, who took questions from fans on his web site.