Bruce Springsteen: His Best Albums – Part 4

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By Anthony “Zute” George

Before I rank what I think is Bruce Springsteen’s second-best album, in case you missed, The Rising came in at number five, while the life-changing Born in the USA came in fourth, The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle ranked third. Please keep in mind these are my personal choices. I do not pretend to speak from any musical expertise, it is just how I feel. Therefore, you can disagree with my top five, but to say that I am wrong is not something I care to discuss. I would not criticize anyone else’s personal list. So, without further ado…

Number Two: Born To Run

This album was released on August 25th, 1975. The first album from Bruce to receive both critical and commercial acclaim. The album peaked at number three on Billboard’s Top 200 charts, and the title track reached number twenty-three on the singles chart. But this is album is so much more than those numbers.

BTR is quite simply one of the greatest albums ever crafted; personally, I only think there is one better. The stories connected to the album are almost as good as the album itself. Feeling the pressure of having his first two albums tank on the charts (as ludicrous as that sounds), Bruce knew he had to pull out the stops for his new album. As a result, the crafting of this album was a grueling process, with the quintessential title track taking an astounding six months to record.

BTR also has plenty of outside influence to thank for its epicness; if that is not a word, it should be. This was a time where Mike Appel was going full throttle to get Bruce and his vision out there, and perhaps his best contribution to that was his influence on this album. Mike’s shark attack attitude was responsible for keeping two eventual outtakes off the album; two songs that he felt were way inferior to what was on the album, as well as convincing Bruce to keep Meeting Across the River on the album. Which is telling because BTR is perfect the way it is, each side with four tracks apiece, making for perfect symmetry. Might not have been that way without Mike’s ranting and raving.

BTR also marks the departure of the inconsistent, Vinni Mad Dog Lopez on drums, as well as the debut of Professor Roy Bittan and the tight drumming of The Mighty Max Weinberg, although Ernest Boom Carter provides the drums on the title track. BTR also saw a significant contribution from Little Steven Van Zandt, as he cracked the very complicated 10th Avenue Freeze-Out code. The phrase, it takes a village, may never ring truer in music than on this album.

The album plays like a roller coaster. Nonstop bombastic sounds of adrenaline-pumping rock n’ roll that will keep the heart rate up regardless of what you are doing. Thunder Road is the opening track, and it is hard to find a more beautiful song to open an album. The song begins solemnly, sort of like slowly climbing up that roller coaster hill. You know that something thrilling is coming, you are just not sure when. But when Bruce chants the answer to the question, what else can you do now? You are off.
The ride continues with Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out, a song with magical lyrics and a sound that is equivalent to walking outside as a gentle cool breeze hits your face. We get introduced to Bad Scooter & The Big Man, and before they bust the city in half, we learn that Bad Scooter is on the bad side and itching for a fight, I wonder who Bad Scooter, initials, BS, really is? Hmmm. What a marvelous track. Next up is Night, and Clarence Clemons, The Big Man, gets it started with a spectacular saxophone sound. Night never lets up on its rip-roaring ride and is an excellent lead into the fantastic Backstreets.

Out of all the songs on this album, I think Backstreets is the song that has gotten better with age the most. The more I listen to it, the more it climbs up my personal favorite list. Some of Bruce’s most excellent lyrics appear on this track; ‘Remember all the movies, Terry we’d go to see, trying to learn to walk how the heroes we thought we had to be,’ it does not get much more gripping than that. But it is the bombastic sound that really makes Backstreets go. All Springsteen fans wish that Backstreets was played more live. A great way to end side one.

The roller coaster ride continues, as the title track opens side two. BTR is one of those songs that you can never get tired of hearing. A whole book can be made just on the writing and recording of this track. How many people set out to write one of the greatest rock n’ roll songs ever, and actually pull it off? With lyrics like ‘I want to know if love is wild, girl I want to know is love is real,’ and my favorite line, ‘I’ll love you with all the madness in my soul,’ we learn that Bruce has a lot of love to offer, but he is undoubtedly unsure of what that actually means. When played live, absolutely nobody sits.

She’s the One is next, and it does not allow you to ease off the breaks; yep, we are still roaring down that roller coaster track. We learn about a girl with killer graces and secret places, themes that Bruce has written about extensively over the years. But on She’s the One, Bruce concentrates on those long Summer nights, and at the Jersey Shore circa 1974, they can be long and sticky. But Bruce tells us with just one kiss from someone you find attractive; you can be saved from the monotony and humidity that a Summer can entail. But can you really be saved?

Meeting Across the River brings this roller coaster ride to a sudden halt, as it presents like a gripping novel that you can sit down and really take a bite out of. MATR reminds me of a prelude to Atlantic City, and the whole melancholy, acoustic feel of the Nebraska album for that matter. At first glance, it appears to be out of place on the album. But, as Mike Appel knew, this song is a perfect change of pace, and a great avenue to be exposed to the great storytelling of Bruce. The tone and sound of the song allows you to really concentrate on the lyrics. The guy who was not invited to the capitalism party, and is trying to get his share, in not the legalist of ways, is one of many themes that Bruce has a knack to write about. It fits perfectly on BTR.

The last song on the album is the epic Jungleland. Where we are introduced to the Magic Rat and on those seedy streets that a dark city brings. Initially, Bruce set out to make The Magic Rat the main character of the whole album. Indeed, I could see this character in most of the scenarios throughout the album, as he clearly wanted to give love, even though he might not have been sure how. And exactly how does one find and give love if they are always on the run, and running into trouble? Musically, this song is a standout for Clarence Clemons, as his sax solo brings it all together. Ironically, this is a song of great tragedy, which could be said about Clarence’s life in some ways. You might not agree with that thought, but Clarence’s death was undoubtedly a tragedy. Thanks to Jake Clemons, The Big Man’s nephew, Jungleland is still a part of the concerts, but without Clarence, I doubt Jungleland would exist the way it does. And Bruce for that matter.

There are so many other attachments to Born to Run that I did not get into. This was the time that Jon Landau put his fingerprint on the Springsteen brand. Bruce also made the cover of Newsweek and Time Magazine simultaneously. There is also the story of how Bruce hated the album when he first heard it. But Mike Appel’s zaniness talked Bruce off the ledge and convinced him to not dump the album.

But the main thing is the music, and from start to finish Born to Run is a masterpiece. A mixture of excellent storytelling and musical arrangements. Bruce shreds marvelous vocals on this album that put it all together. And yet, there is one album that is even better than Born to Run.

Let’s Recap:

1. TBA
2. Born to Run
3. The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle
4. Born in the USA
5. The Rising

Next month: Number One. Just in time for Bruce’s 70th birthday.

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