Steven Van Zandt: 'I absolutely love new Bruce Springsteen album'

Little Steven Van Zandt has said that Bruce Springsteen's new album Wrecking Ball is one of his most "vital" records.

The E Street Band guitarist talked with The Huffington Post about Wrecking Ball and revealed that the LP ranks among his favourites.

"I will tell you this: I love the album. I just absolutely love it, I think you're going to love it and I think everybody else is too," Van Zandt told the website. "The fact that a guy at his level of success, at his age, is still making records this vital and this relevant and this good, makes me just doubly proud to be his friend."

He continued: "I would love him anyway as a friend if he wasn't doing anything, but it really makes me particularly proud to know him, that he would be this engaged, doing something this wonderful at this stage in the game."

Wrecking Ball features a pair of songs familiar to Springsteen fans. The musician first performed 'Wrecking Ball' during his 2009 concerts at Giants Stadium in New York City, while 'Land of Hope and Dreams' has been a staple of Springsteen's live sets for over a decade.

'American Land' - which Springsteen frequently played on his 2008 tour - also features on Wrecking Ball as a bonus track.

Wrecking Ball is released on March 5.

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Watch Bruce Springsteen perform 'American Land' at Hyde Park below: