379 - Bruce Springsteen - Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.

[csberry]

Bruce puts all of himself into these songs. There is no denying his conviction when delivering the lyrics. His husky voice is like Atlas; it has a easy strength in the uptempo songs and takes on a dense-weight of the world in the slow songs. On this debut album, Bruce is definitely an optimistic child of Dylan that prefers a robust instrumentation that harkens back to a 1950's big R&B/rock-n-roll band.

I liked this album more than Tunnel of Love. I appreciate Bruce's musical decisions more after this listen. However, I'm just not in synch with this music. I itch to skip "Mary Queen of Arkansas" in a way I might not want to do with a similar track by Richard Thompson.

Songs I knew I liked: None

Songs I didn't know but now like: "Growing Up" and "Spirit in the Night"

Songs I can go the rest of my life without hearing again: "Blinded By the Light" and "Mary Queen of Arkansas" I must confess that while I think it is a good song, I really have no interest at all in ever hearing "Lost in the Flood" ever, ever again.