![]() This may be an inherently impossible task, as one of the defining qualities of his songs are those single lines that cut to core of something burning on your mind or in your soul at the present time, so the favorite songs are constantly flipping through depending on what life’s doing to you (or what you’re doing to life!) Each album he's put out has some really strong stuff on it, and The Rising, Devils and Dust, Magic and Wrecking Ball are worth it from top to bottom.įinally, his latest album has 3 songs on it that he wrote in the 1970s, so if you're looking for old school Bruce, check it out. But I'm not sure if any artist has ever put out two consecutive albums as strong as Born to Run and Darkness.Īnd don't write off his post-'85 stuff. In terms of albums, I've always loved The River and Nebraska they solidified me as a Springsteen fan, just before the atomic bomb of Born in the USA dropped. Further on Up the Road (Live in Dublin version). My favorites now won't be my favorites tomorrow. Though it feels strange putting The River at #5 as it’s such a good album. The Wild, The Innocent and The E Street Shuffleħ. Racing in the Street (“Some guys they just give up living and start dying little by little, piece by piece/Some guys come home from work and wash up and go racing in the street”)ġ. Darkness on the Edge of Town (“Tonight I’ll be on that hill ‘cause I can’t stop/I’ll be on that hill with everything that I got”)ĩ. It was tempting to go up to top-20 songs, but perhaps less is more in these rankings so I worked to whittle it to my top-10.ģ. Still, I know his first seven albums rather well, they’re all great (well, his debut on the whole is “good”) and I consider him one of my favorite musical acts. An album that makes the world fall into place, that feels like an extension of yourself and that verbalizes all those things you didn’t know how to say.Admittedly, I’m a bad fan in that I completely abandoned him after ‘85, and I wasn’t even born till ‘92. I do hope that everyone has an album that is for them what The Wild is for me. I’m quite obviously very passionate about Bruce Springsteen, so I don’t expect everyone to listen to The Wild and feel as vehemently as I do. ![]() In my opinion, the greatest achievement about The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle is that it makes you a little more optimistic about life, slightly more inclined to see the humor in every misfortune and the excitement in even the most mundane of places. It ameliorates everyday life, looking at reality through rose-colored glasses. Its poetic and gorgeous but at the same time familiar and relatable. Its magic. The piano intro into “Incident on 57th Street,” the effortless transitions between the final three song suite, the storytelling of “4th of July, Asbury Park,” the triumphant return in “Kitty’s Back.” So many parts of the album are breathtakingly eloquent and honest. Its so much more than a musical endeavor. I think the album was created solely out of artistic vision- to somehow put into words the most indescribable of human experiences. The album wasn’t tailored to the demands of a record company- it only has seven songs on both tracks, most of which are over eight minutes. ![]() You can hear it in each of the songs, an earnest desire to make the world understand his dream. He’s still desperate and hopeful and determined and hungry. Greetings in Asbury Park (his first album) had achieved moderate success, and the pressure was on for Springsteen to follow it up with a work that solidified his tentative status as a rock’n’roll star. The Wild was made during a pivotal moment in Springsteen’s career. Music critic Rush Evans perfectly summarized The Wild‘s simultaneous cult following and unpopularity, saying it was the “most overlooked album … to those who know its seven richly vivid songs, it is recognized as an innovative masterpiece.” The Rolling Stone Album Guide said it was “cinematic in its sweep” and densely poetic with “vignettes of urban dreams and adolescent restlessness.” It was ranked number 132 on Rolling Stone‘s list of 500 greatest albums of all time, and received a five-star rating from this publication as well as from AllMusic and Goldmine. Most people couldn’t yet recognize Springsteen’s hallmark contrast of youthful idealism and disillusionment. The album wasn’t a hit commercially, as Springsteen was still relatively unknown and as he had little experience creating albums ( The Wild was only Springsteen’s second). The long, rambling songs weren’t exactly conducive to being played on the radio. Released in September of 1973, The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle was released 2 years before Springsteen wrote his name in the stars with Born to Run. “He’s singing, singing, singing, singing”
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