The return of Bruce Springsteen

And on Sunday, the first U.S. leg of the “Wrecking Ball” tour launches at Philips Arena. Springsteen and the E Street Band will be on the American road through May, including multi-night stands in New York, New Jersey and Los Angeles, before heading to Europe.

Need a primer about what’s been going on in Springsteen World? The Boss, 62, wasn’t talking (except to Jimmy Fallon last week, a segment well worth tracking down online), but we’ve got you covered.

The recent past

For Springsteen fans, the last decade has witnessed a boon in productivity from the Boss.

In the 70s, he dropped four albums. The 80s also brought four studio releases, including “Born in the U.S.A.” and its astonishing sales of 15 million. The E Street-fractured 90s only saw three platters of new material, counting Springsteen’s grimly sparse “The Ghost of Tom Joad.”

But with his post-9/11 musical embrace with 2002’s “The Rising,” Springsteen and sometimes the E Streeters embarked on a six-album tear, with new work coming every year or two (See: “Devils & Dust,” “We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions,” “Magic” and “Working on a Dream”), usually followed by a tour.

In fact, the three-year stretch between 2009’s “Working on a Dream” and the new “Wrecking Ball” is the longest period this century between records. You know what that means: The more time Springsteen has to ruminate, the more he has to say about the state of the world.

The new record

“Wrecking Ball,” Springteen’s 17th studio album released March 6, is poised to unseat the unstoppable Adele for the No. 1 slot on the Billboard album charts (it landed at No. 1 in the U.K. this week). Final figures weren’t in at press time, but if early first-week sales of 200,000-plus hold, it would give Springsteen the eighth No. 1 album of his career.

The album is an interesting amalgamation of songs that go back a few years -- “American Land” was birthed in the mid-2000s Seeger Sessions period, “Land of Hope and Dreams” was first heard on the 1999 E Street reunion tour and the adrenaline-fueled title track was written in 2009 as a tribute to Giants Stadium before being demolished – and new, topical material.

It isn’t a true E Street Band record, though, as only Clarence Clemons, Steven Van Zandt, Max Weinberg and Mrs. Springsteen, Patti Scialfa, make occasional appearances.

But it’s a searing study of socio-economics (the contemplative recession ballad “Jack of All Trades” and the drum-loop heavy “Rocky Ground”) and uplifting arena-ready anthems (“We Take Care of Our Own” and the Celtic-tinged “We Are Alive”).

In short, the type of Springsteen album fans will absorb, quote and preach for years to come.

The tour

While some thought that last Friday’s special gig at the Apollo Theater in a New York, a 10th anniversary show for SiriusXM, would be a barometer of the upcoming tour, by all accounts, the concert was a unique one-off and not something likely to be duplicated (though what Springsteen show ever is?).

But, that said, the set list concentrated heavily on the new record (“We Take Care of Our Own,” “Wrecking Ball,” “Death to My Hometown,” “Jack of All Trades,” “Shackled and Drawn”), included some covers (“The Way You Do the Things You Do” and “Hold On, I’m Comin,’” likely Apollo specialties) and acknowledged the timeless faves (“Badlands,” “Mansion on the Hill,” “The E Street Shuffle” and “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out”).

Springsteen tours are legendary for their fluid set lists and chameleonic approaches and don’t expect this one to be any different.

Van Zandt recently told Rolling Stone, “If you come to five different shows, you're going to hear we've regularly changed about a third of the show every single night. So, by the time you come to five or six shows, you'll have seen at least three different versions of the show.”

So expect to hear a chunk of “Wrecking Ball” on Sunday, but who knows what covers or classics Springsteen might be moved to unleash?

The band

In 2008, original E Street organist/accordion player and longtime Springsteen comrade Danny Federici died from melanoma, a searing loss to one of music’s most enduring teams.

But as important as Federici’s quiet presence was to the band (he’s been replaced by Charles Giordano), the passing of the iconic E Street saxophonist Clemons last year for the first time made fans wonder, “What will Bruce do now?”

Replace him with a village, that’s what.

For this tour, Springsteen has assembled a horn section consisting of two sax players: Ed Manion, a player in Springsteen’s Seeger Sessions Band and a longtime member of the legendary Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, and, in a karmic touch, Clemons’ nephew, Jake, recently seen storming the stage at various Clemons tribute gigs.

Joining them will be trombonist Clark Gayton, also a Seeger Sessions graduate, and trumpeters Curt Ramm, who played on part of 2009’s “Working on a Dream” tour and ace session player Barry Danielian, known for his work with Billy Joel, Paul Simon, Spyro Gyra, Tower of Power and Blood, Sweat & Tears.

If the Friday Apollo concert is an indication, plan for several deserved moments of recognition for Clemons, particularly on his signature “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out.”

Concert preview

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band

7:30 p.m. March 18. $35-$95 (floor is general admission). Philips Arena, 1 Philips Drive, Atlanta. 1-800-745-3000,www.ticketmaster.com.