Oh, beautiful for spacious skies, amber waves of grain, and some seriously kickass music.
The United States has been the muse for thousands of songs, whether they be celebratory, critical, or somewhere in between.
Today, in honor of our independence, I’m listing off some of my favorite albums that are unmistakably American. Continue reading
I’m a late comer to the Bruce Springsteen fandom. Just two years ago, I largely dismissed the Boss, until Born to Run (the single) caught my attention, followed by the album it led. Since, I’ve been getting into his catalog one album at a time, which usually followed me dismissing that album before conceding that it is, in fact great (see: Born in the USA). That trend has, to date, only moved forward. But I recently found his debut for four dollars, and took a gamble. And if there’s one thing you can count on, it’s that a bet on the Boss is a good bet.
Not long ago, I referred to the streak of Born to Run to Nebraska as “The Only Springsteen Albums That Matter.” This was a reference to the Boss’s later catalog in general, but it held its snobby fingers out to Born in the USA in particular and said, “yeah, I’m talking to YOU.” Continue reading
I’m cheating a little bit on this one–when I went through my Bruce-buying spree a couple months ago, I accidentally ordered the CD version of this. But never fear: a proper LP is on its way. But until then, the music’s the same.
And after Darkness on the Edge of Town, Springsteen returned to the studio with the E-Street Band and emerged with a massive 83 minute double offering that transcended everything he had done before.
According to tradition, after the release of 1975’s Born to Run and the superstardom and legal battles that ensued, The Boss spent some time soul searching, trying to find himself, as he put it, “stripped away [of] all of your celebrity and left…with all your essence.” What resulted was an album free of commercial ambition (or singles) and the super-ensemble that raced through his breakthrough. In its place was a collection of songs that is at once intensely personal and endlessly relatable. After all, who hasn’t woken up with an urge to get in a car and drive until your weariness and cynicism disappear from your rear view mirror? And while it’s admittedly much darker than the anthem-filled Born To Run (and also, free of saxophone), there is a peace in the album’s escapism that transcends its darkness and brings a sort of lightness to it.