release date: Aug. 25, 1975
format: cd (1988 remaster)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,18]
producer: Bruce Springsteen, Mike Appel, Jon Landau
label: CBS Records - nationality: USA
Tracklist: 1. "Thunder Road" (4,5 / 5) - 2. "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" (3,5 / 5) - 3. "Night" (4 / 5) - 4. "Backstreets" (5 / 5) - 5. "Born to Run" (5 / 5) - 6. "She's the One" (4 / 5) - 7. "Meeting Across the River" (3,5 / 5) - 8. "Jungleland" (3,5 / 5)
[ full album ]
3rd studio album by Bruce Springsteen originally released on Columbia Records. The r&b and folk rock elements are tuned down, and instead there's much more focus on rock and what has become a term as heartland rock, which basically is a blend of more traditional American genres of folk, country, r&b, roots rock with electrified and energetic harmony-based pop / rock. New Springsteen producer, Jon Landau, helps building layers on the music, which complete the major difference from his previous two albums. The songs are more simple constructs, although, they're perhaps even more orchestrated. Several songs from the album have become staples at Springsteen concerts: "Thunder Road", "Backstreets", She's the One" and the title track, which became Springsteen's first (and perhaps biggest) million-dollar selling single hit.
Although, early familiar with the title track, I didn't listen to the album in its entirety until after Darkness on the Edge of Town.
The album is by most critics considered his breakthrough album and one of his best ever. Naturally, the album is enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".
[ allmusic.com, Rolling Stone Album Guide, Sputnikmusic 5 / 5, Uncut, Mojo 4 / 5 stars ]
1975 Favourite releases: 1. Bruce Springsteen Born to Run - 2. Patti Smith Horses - 3. Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here
