Bruce Springsteen Essentials

Bruce Springsteen was on his third album by the time he found just the right combination of bravura lyricism, passionate singing and heartland rock with 1975’s “Born to Run”, a thrilling mini-epic that cast a damning eye over the “runaway American dream”. And once the New Jersey native had the world’s attention, he wasn’t going to let it go. His unabashed nostalgia for early rock and soul informed his early ’80s hits like “Hungry Heart” and “Dancing in the Dark”, while the ragged glory of 1984’s “Born in the U.S.A.” was powerful yet popular enough to function as both patriotism and protest, depending on the listener. But despite his stadium bonafides, Springsteen has always been game to drop down to a whisper to inhabit the devastating starkness of ballads like “Atlantic City” and “I’m On Fire”. He has also managed to graduate from decade to decade without losing cultural relevance—or his thirst for marathon live shows. As the ’90s ushered in a renewed appetite for down-to-earth authenticity, he answered with 1994’s Oscar-winning “Streets of Philadelphia” and other portraits of everyday empathy. His talent for rousing widescreen release was confirmed again on 2002’s “The Rising”, and a decade later on “Wrecking Ball”. The Boss even saluted classic soul and R&B all over again on “Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)” and other loving covers from his 2022 album Only the Strong Survive.