Being this album the first I ever had, I can review it with a certain amount of insight.

When I first listened to it I thought it was amazing, yet as I dug deeper into Bruce's discography my opinion changed. He and Jon Landau approached this album with the wish of satisfy both Bruce's classic followers and the young public who were still unaware of him. In this sense the album succeeds admirably, although in order to achieve this goal the production and arrangements were not as sharp as they had been in the past - there's a noticeable lack of instrumental passages, for example, and the songs are catchier than they had been in the past, with the possible exception of The River album.

Now with the songs:

-Born in the USA. Misinterpretted much on purpose for the right-wing, the lyric is actually about a Vietnam veteran who comes home to realize the country has all but forgotten about him. The production is up to par this time, the rhythm section rocks wildly (Mighty Max's drumming is one of the best in the album) and the singing excellent.

-Cover me. A little disco-sounding track though the guitar manages to save it. A little short.

-Darlington county. The first weak song in the album, too catchy and once again without a good instrumental part (Clarence's solo is very very short).

-Working on the highway. Not the best song around but enjoyable, mainly cause of the rockabilly rhythm. Good lyric (the kind Bruce would never write again) and cool bass line. This time the studio version wins over the one on stage.

-Downbound train. One of my favorite songs on the cd, generally underrated. The guitar and gloomy organ fit perfectly with the lyric's atmosphere. One advice for those new to the English language: never try to learn how to spell or pronounce it by listening to this or any other song on the album.

-I'm on fire. Beautiful and short ballad, that paints in your mind the image of a cowboy riding through the night.

-No surrender. Not a bad song but the instrumental section ruins it by featuring a lot of voices instead of a good guitar solo, the kind the Darkness album has.

-Bobby Jean. Written as a thinly-veiled farewell to Steve Van Zandt, who left the E Street Band prior to the album's recording. One of the best songs on the album, lyrically as well as musically.

-I'm going down. Plain repetitive. I have lost track of how many times the title is said by Bruce. A longer song with far less 'going down' and a good instrumental part would make this a winner instead of the lame filler that is.

-Glory days. Beautiful organ and interesting lyric, one more time failed to be met by some good instrumental section.

-Dancing in the dark. The lowest point on the cd though the lyric is pretty good. This is Bruce nearly going disco.

-My hometown. The other ballad on the album has Bruce singing about the race-related riots in the 60s and how later his hometown was worn down by crumbling economy. Very understated musically and one of the best songs on the cd though the live version puts the original to shame.

Despite my mixed feelings about this album, it was the last great cd Bruce would release before his troubled personal life made his standards slip with the Tunnel Of Love album. But that is another story.

3/5.
Being this album the first I ever had, I can review it with a certain amount of insight. When I first listened to it I thought it was amazing, yet as I dug deeper into Bruce's discography my opinion changed. He and Jon Landau approached this album with the wish of satisfy both Bruce's classic followers and the young public who were still unaware of him. In this sense the album succeeds admirably, although in order to achieve this goal the production and arrangements were not as sharp as they had been in the past - there's a noticeable lack of instrumental passages, for example, and the songs are catchier than they had been in the past, with the possible exception of The River album. Now with the songs:

-Born in the USA. Misinterpretted much on purpose for the right-wing, the lyric is actually about a Vietnam veteran who comes home to realize the country has all but forgotten about him. The production is up to par this time, the rhythm section rocks wildly (Mighty Max's drumming is one of the best in the album) and the singing excellent. -Cover me. A little disco-sounding track though the guitar manages to save it. A little short. -Darlington county. The first weak song in the album, too catchy and once again without a good instrumental part (Clarence's solo is very very short). -Working on the highway. Not the best song around but enjoyable, mainly cause of the rockabilly rhythm. Good lyric (the kind Bruce would never write again) and cool bass line. This time the studio version wins over the one on stage. -Downbound train. One of my favorite songs on the cd, generally underrated. The guitar and gloomy organ fit perfectly with the lyric's atmosphere. One advice for those new to the English language: never try to learn how to spell or pronounce it by listening to this or any other song on the album. -I'm on fire. Beautiful and short ballad, that paints in your mind the image of a cowboy riding through the night. -No surrender. Not a bad song but the instrumental section ruins it by featuring a lot of voices instead of a good guitar solo, the kind the Darkness album has. -Bobby Jean. Written as a thinly-veiled farewell to Steve Van Zandt, who left the E Street Band prior to the album's recording. One of the best songs on the album, lyrically as well as musically. -I'm going down. Plain repetitive. I have lost track of how many times the title is said by Bruce. A longer song with far less 'going down' and a good instrumental part would make this a winner instead of the lame filler that is. -Glory days. Beautiful organ and interesting lyric, one more time failed to be met by some good instrumental section. -Dancing in the dark. The lowest point on the cd though the lyric is pretty good. This is Bruce nearly going disco. -My hometown. The other ballad on the album has Bruce singing about the race-related riots in the 60s and how later his hometown was worn down by crumbling economy. Very understated musically and one of the best songs on the cd though the live version puts the original to shame. Despite my mixed feelings about this album, it was the last great cd Bruce would release before his troubled personal life made his standards slip with the Tunnel Of Love album. But that is another story. 3/5.