Western Stars is definitely a better written album. I think WS was his most consistent album since Tunnel of Live. But there's something about the sincerity of the emotions and the power of the arrangements on "Letter to You" that keep this album from sounding like a just string of Bruce's favorite cliches.
That being said, I'm really enjoying it.
The way I see it, these songs are dispatches from his current mindset. Trying to make sense of his personal experience, losing friends, he retreats to his past and the church of rock and roll. Springsteen has always written about himself, but always through the form of creating characters to help explain his personal state. Here, he's in conversation with us. A logical evolution following his Broadway stint. And that change in his form really is exciting.