Best of Bruce

In conjunction with today's release of Bruce's latest album, High Hopes, I thought I'd breakdown my Top 10 Bruce albums:

10. The River- this is probably the album the most encapsulates every aspect of Bruce: the folk songwriter ("The River"), the rocker ("Ramrod"), pop-songsmith ("Hungry Hearth") and "Sherry Darling" is one of my favorites.

9. Magic - The Rising may have been the comeback album, but this is the more rocking album.

8. Wrecking Ball - His most ambitious album from the most productive decade of his entire career.

7. Born in the USA - For many people, this album IS Bruce Springsteen. And, why not? It is certainly his most commercially successful, with six hits ("Born in the USA", "Dancing in the Dark", "Cover Me", "I'm On Fire", "My Hometown", "Glory Days") and six songs that could have been hits, it's practically a greatest hits album.

6. The Wild, The Innocent, and the E-Street Shuffle - The follow up to Bruce's debut, the one managed to both delve deeper and darker while still managing to rock harder. "Rosalita" might be his first truly great rock song and "New York City Serenade" would become his first true epic.

5. Greetings From Asbury Park - Far from the much tighter songwriting he would employ in later years, the near stream of conscious quirkiness of this album established Bruce as a brilliant new songwriter.  The songs are some of the darkest, weirdest songs he would ever write; they're also some of the best.

4. Live 1975-1985 - This set encapsulates Bruce and the band's rise to stadium status.  It also comes as close as possible to recreating the feeling of a full on, three hour Bruce show without actually being there.


3. Darkness on the Edge of Town - The classic E-street band sound truly solidified on this album.  "Adam Raised a Cain" might be Bruce's most searing rock song.

2. Live at the Hammersmith Odeon '75- For years, Bruce didn't release this because he thought it was a terrible performance.  Sometimes his judgment sucks; it's an amazing performance that captures the E-street band when they're still young and hungry, coming out of the clubs just on the verge of superstardom. Not to mention, it has an EPIC version of "Kitty's Back"

1. Born to Run- Without a doubt, the most perfect rock album ever recorded.  If I could send one album into space to explain rock music to aliens, this would be it. Clarence's Sax solo in "Jungleland" is one of the most transcendent moments in all of rock music.