Icon. Legend. What other possible adjectives are there to describe Bruce Springs and his E. Street Band? Since the musical artist's first albums in 1973, Springsteen's shadow has shown over rock music and that is how it should be.
While not everything he has touched has been perfect, there should be no doubt as to what Springsteen's intentions were. He wanted to make good songs for his adoring fans. He knew he was lucky to have them and he did not want to fail to entertain.
His first four albums were all from the 1970s. All are worth a listen. But which one is the best and which one is the least (though still better than most other musical artists)? Here is an opinion.
Ranking all of Bruce Springsteen's albums from the 1970s
No. 4 - Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. (1973)
Perhaps the best two songs from Springsteen's debut album were ones he had to quickly write after his record label, Columbia Records, rejected the initial offer. Clive Davis was Columbia's president at the time and he did not hear a single on the album. Springsteen wrote "Blinded by the Light" and "Spirit in the Night" and recorded both on September 11, 1972. "Blinded..." was never a hit for Springsteen, but Manfred Mann's Earth Band covered the song (badly), and their single hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100.
Overall, this album is a bit too gruffy even for the Boss as the record was recorded at low-budget 914 Sound Studios in Blauvelt, New York. Of course, no one at the time could have known Springsteen would become a rock icon. Spending much money on the recording would not have made sense. Still, Springsteen formed a unique sound due to his voice and lyrics.
The album had been split into five band songs and five solo songs, though clearly, Springsteen would become the dominant force with the group over the years. His lyrics would become less wordy as well as he realized he wasn't so much a folk singer as a rock star. The album reached number 60 on the Billboard album charts, the lowest-charting record in Springsteen's career.
No. 3 - The Wild, the Innocent and the E. Street Shuffle (1973)
Recorded nearly a year after his debut record though both were released in the same calendar year, this album sounds like it came several years later. Overall, the songs seem much more confident and muscular. Bruce Springsteen and his band are not afraid to go all out either as there are only seven songs on the record but four of them lasted more than seven minutes. This is not a jam-band album, though; just a rock band playing the tune out to fruition.
This record did not chart much better than Springsteen's debut - the album only reached number 59 - but this did grow the blooming Springsteen legend, especially with his live performances. The length of the songs allowed that to happen and Springsteen became a legend in large part because of what he did live and without this set of songs that does not happen as easily.
There was only one single released in the United States from the album, the brilliant "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)," which would become a staple of the band's shows for eternity. To be clear, however, there are no bad songs on the record. While you may not hear any of them, likely even "Rosalita" on the radio, the fact that there is no pop to music makes the album stronger.
Rolling Stone magazine has named this record among the top 150 albums ever made, as much because of its importance in the Springsteen oeuvre as the quality compared to other records from the artist. While every Springsteen album sounds terrific on vinyl, this one is a must-buy because the record is a journey but in only a few tracks.
No. 2 - Born to Run (1975)
This album is where Bruce Springsteen's popularity exploded. The album reached number three on the Billboard album charts and produced his first truly iconic song, "Born to Run." The track showed the artist's talent for writing lyrics that harkened back to the good old days while the person might still be in the midst of that era. Few artists ever could take a simple idea of driving a car fast and turning that into childhood memories the listener loves even though the moment in the song may not directly relate to them.
Few artists have ever been able to form a connection with their audience the way Springsteen does either. He managed to create that rapport in just three albums and maintain that over the next four decades. But the music and the artist are worth the devotion as well.
Like his first two records, this album was also recorded partly at 914 Sound Studios but after the sessions bogged down the band moved to the Record Plant in Manhattan and there was a new focus on the songs themselves and the new vitality. Simply moving where the tracks were being recorded may have taken what was just an OK record and made the entire album nearly perfect.
The record also is not overly stuffed with tracks. There are only eight. That is partly the genius behind early Springsteen albums, though. Each song has more importance and one is able to pay more attention to each great song because one does not have to make it through 14 songs or more. And there are no bad tracks on the record beginning with opener "Thunder Road" to epic closer "Jungleland."
No. 1 - Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978)
For the first time, Bruce Springsteen took the characters of his narratives national instead of just remaining along the Jersey shore. From the powerful, full sound of Born to Run, the artist wanted a stripped-down record. While still very much a rock album, and there are some elements of punk involved, there are more Americana principles both in the lyrics and the instrumentation. The characters are hard-worn by life but not ready to give up.
This is a theme that Springsteen would become well-known for and still continues. Possibly his best-known song, "Born in the USA," is partly about a protagonist whose brother was lost due to the war in Vietnam. Many conservatives have misunderstood this to be a pro-American hymn when it is anything but.
Such is the case with many of the tracks from Darkness on the Edge of Town, especially the amazing "Badlands." One reason that the album was inspired by the novels of John Steinbeck and the films of John Ford is that the characters in those books and films are much the way Springsteen feels about American life: Things are not as easy as some think they should be and one has to fight to survive.
To be sure, of all four of Springsteen's first four albums, this may be the least easy to listen to because of the themes. Musically, it's fully formed, however, and strong. He would leave some of the hardness behind in the 1980s where while his popularity grew he also became a bit more poppy. At least, after 1980's The River, that is.