tommasz's Full Review: Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen
The Greatest Album Ever Recorded? Perhaps it's because you always have a special fondness for the music of your teen years, but there are precious few albums that have as much influence on me as this one did. I don't know why exactly, but at that time in 1975 Bruce just spoke to me in a way no musical artist ever did. But it wasn't just me, there were lots of ears eager for this refreshing change.
It wasn't his first recording (it was actually his third), but on this one he finally brought together the elements that would define his sound for years to come. In his own description of it, it combined the sound of Phil Spector, the words of Bob Dylan and the voice of Roy Orbison. His earlier work was certainly lyrically dense but decidedly not radio friendly (read short). This time he managed to tell his stories as well as write the kind of hooks that radio demands. Critic Jon Landau would make an abrupt career change and join Bruce, remarking "I have seen the future of rock and roll". And rock certainly needed something, something big; Springsteen delivered.
For those who only know Bruce from his sparse acoustic work, like "Ghost of Tom Joad", may find it hard to imagine how important this recording was. In a time when Disco ruled the dance clubs and the radio playlists, this album not just a breath of fresh air, it was a hurricane! It has all the right elements: cars, girls, and love (lost and found). But it was more than that, much more. The cars weren't something you bragged about, like the Beach Boys might have. In the world of "Born To Run" they were the means to escape, "out back, if you're ready to take that long walk", "chrome-wheeled, fuel-injected and steppin' out over the line." You didn't have a car to ride around town in, you had one to grab your girl and get the hell out. That's if you still had a girl, in "Thunder Road" and "Born To Run" it seems like Bruce is trying to convince the girls to join him. In "Backstreets", it's long over, in "Jungleland", she's stopped caring.
A recurring image here is the not-quite-a-loser who never seems to be a winner either. Sometimes he has a job ("Night"), sometimes not ("Meeting Across The River"), but always with a dream. All it'll take is one big score or being in another town. The overall cast of characters is much smaller than his earlier work, which was populated with a bunch of misfits. Perhaps his narrowing of focus was a part of the magic.
Buy this. The CBS/Sony CD is excellent (I bought it and I have the original vinyl). Listen and find out for yourself. Now that Disco is rising from the dead and alternative is anything but, it's time.
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