Bruce Springsteen Albums Ranked

Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who is both a solo artist and the leader of the E Street Band. He received critical acclaim for his early 1970s albums and attained worldwide fame upon the release of Born to Run in 1975. During a career that has spanned five decades, Springsteen has become known for his poetic and socially conscious lyrics and lengthy, energetic stage performances, earning the nickname “The Boss”. He has recorded both rock albums and folk-oriented works, and his lyrics often address the experiences and struggles of working-class Americans. Springsteen has sold more than 135 million records worldwide and more than 64 million records in the United States, making him one of the world’s best-selling music artists. He has earned numerous awards for his work, including 20 Grammy Awards, two Golden Globes, an Academy Award, and a Tony Award (for Springsteen on Broadway). Springsteen was inducted into both the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999, received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2009, was named MusiCares person of the year in 2013, and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama in 2016. Here are all Bruce Springsteen albums ranked.

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10.Magic (2007)

“Magic is one of Bruce’s best records. It is an extremely strong suite of songs, not a weak one on here. Bruce is in excellent voice, the playing is great. Thematically, the record has a sense of feel, some anxiety of the times paired with a few great pop songs. Save for 2-3 tracks, this is a layered sound rock record. This review is written almost 9 years after the release and it is strange to consider why this was not a bigger hit. Perhaps it’s release in the fall, could see this as a summer release, with the pop songs I’ll Work For Your Love and Girls in Their Summer Clothes.”

9.Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. (1973)

“Bruce Springsteen can do no wrong. Every piece of his music is the best and Asbury Park is a pleasure to listen to as part of his early work.”

8.Tunnel Of Love (1987)

“I think this is one of Bruce’s best albums. You can just hear the breakup of his marriage in every song. I wonder if his ex-wife ever listens to it knowing it was written a.bout her. Some of the songs bring me to tears (but then I’m a newly divorced woman). Even if you are not interested in the background details, it is a beautiful album.”

7.The Wild, the Innocent & The E Street Shuffle (1973)

“These songs are bursting at the seams with the energy of youth when anything seems possible. Springsteen’s transcendent lyrics transform grimy urban street scenes into universal visions of hope and beauty. Each song seems a living thing, using a wide variety of intrumentation to paint vivid imagery in your mind. You can feel the heat and dust rising from the street during “The E Street Shuffle”(dig the funky guitar and brass). Hear the boardwalk sounds and young hearts beating in the romance of “4th of July Asbury Park (Sandy)” (courtesy of Dan Federici’s Accordion). A stinging guitar solo kicks off the cool rock/jazz of “Kitty’s Back” (Powerful guitar and organ solos take things to a fever pitch). Side two is my favorite of any album ever released! Beginning with the gorgeous cinema verite of “Incident on 57th Street” through the pull-out-all-the-stops, dream-come-true, redemption party that is “Rosalita” and ending with the stunning “New York Serenade” featuring strings and sensational piano by David Sancious. “Born to Run” would cement Springsteen’s status as one of rock music’s greatest writers but he has never equalled the incredible poetry, narratives and arrangements found on this release. The remastered sound is so crisp and clean it’s like hearing these songs for the first time!”

6.The Rising (2002)

“If one does not view Springsteen’s “The Rising” as music’s 9/11 inspirational/mournful catharsis, one could enjoy and appreciate the superb craftmanship of Springsteen’s work here and realize that it is a great pop record. Assigning this CD to the 9/11 pigeonhole only leads to the inevitable letdown- nothing can express the pain and tragedy of that day in a way that would completely satisfy, avenge, and release the enormity of the heartbreak and of the pent up emotion.”

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5.Nebraska (1982)

“My favorite Springsteen album, this record avoids a lot of his histrionics that are on his other records and is largely an acoustic folk record. No fancy guitar licks here, just Springsteen’s husky voice and a quiet picking throughout; though he does break out his electric on one song. It can be noted that this album is largely stark and sad in places, as the title track is based on a teenage boy and his girlfriend murdering innocent people, while the rest of the material is about life’s losers and people looking for a better way. Other artists have covered the material in here, namely Johnny Cash and The Band, and Eric Church even gives a nod to the title track in his song “Springsteen”. Highly recommended.”

4.The River (1980)

“The River is their sweeping double album (and 2-CD!) blockbuster which follow up on the themes and sounds of The E Street Band that highly showcase a robust set of mid-tempo rock, multidimensional solos stories of dissolution and hope in the working class, as well as of the struggle that is often dealt with. With a sweeping track set filled with both personal stories and personal outcomes abetted with high authority and solid performing, the tracks include Independence Day, Point Blank, the 8-minute plus Drive All Night, Ramrod,
Fade Away and the title track, while the rest also include more light-hearted or high rocking classic hits including Sherry Darling, I’m A Rocker, and Stolen Car. Another high mark for the album is the smash hit Hungry Heart, as it became Springsteen’s first Top Ten hit single, which combine a rollicking musical track with a soberer
the typical theme which has made it a Number One hit across the Atlantic.”

3.Born in the U.S.A. (1984)

“I saw him in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas for the Born in the USA tour. His album perfectly reflects the mood of nation at that time. Recession, Iran hostages, failed rescue efforts, and his song of Vietnam veterans returning home…. both patriotic and questioning the war. Quite a song.”

2.Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978)

“One of the few great explorations of the complicated, defiant and self-destructive impulses of the American male soul–that is not sexist, self-congratulatory junk. Sequenced with the care of a novel–the first five songs ask troubling questions about men and their relationship to woman, cars, adolescence, their parents and their own ambitions; the final five songs offer thorny resolutions that feel triumphant and even more troubling–this is a landmark in American pop culture. It can be only compared to other perfect works by other flagellant males exorcising the demons of their souls and this country: The Wild Bunch, Blood Meridian, Sabbath’s Theater, Raging Bull, Network and Blow Out.”

1.Born To Run (1975)

“After his first two albums, Bruce found his true sound and the result of that is Born to Run. Filled with eight unique, truly-Bruce songs, this is one album you can listen to from beginning to end and not be bored. Which is good, because that means you can play it again and rock out even harder.”