Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ - Springsteen, Bruce (CD 1984)

Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J., Bruce Springsteen's first album, was released in 1973. The album is not one of Springsteen's best, but that doesn't mean that its not a great album. The style of writing in many of the songs on this album is much different than any of the following writing that Bruce did in his career. In many songs on this album, especially the opening track, "Blinded by the Light," Springsteen sounds like a poor man's Dylan. In fact, he was labeled as the "next Dylan" by his record company, much to his dismay. In fact, this appellation may be why he stopped writing in this Dlyanesque fashion. But let's get back to the album . . .

In the opening track,"Blinded by the Light," Bruce probably sounds as close to Dylan as he ever will in his entire career. "Madmen, drummers, bummers, and Indians in the summer with a teenage diplomat," is the first line of the song and album. This is just a prelude to the tongue-twisting, rhyming, and mainly nonsensical lyrics of this song. But is has a good rhythm and melody, and on the whole is a pretty good song, even if it may be the most meaningless song Bruce ever wrote.

The second track, "Growin' Up," is my favorite song from the album. It is a great anthem for a teenager, such as myself, struggling trough young adulthood. The lyrics in this song, as we will come to expect from Bruce are magnificent. The actual music is great, too. And if you like this song as well, check out the version on Live, 1975-1985. It is much better than the album version.

A few years ago, "Mary, Queen of Arkansas" was voted worst Bruce song ever written by a Backstreets magazine poll. However, I do not agree with this poll at all. Although this song is not one of my favorites, I enjoy hearing it every once in a while. (I was thrilled to hear Bruce play it at the Garden this summer.) It is a very emotional song. It takes time to understand, because it is more complex than many of the songs on this album. But I think that if you listen to it a few times and really listen, you will like it too.

I think that "Does this Bus Stop at 82nd Street?" is an underrated song. I have been listening to it a lot lately, and it has great lyrics that sound a lot like "Blinded by the Light." It is a fun song, and I only wish that it was a little bit longer than it is (two minutes).

"Lost in the Flood" is Bruce's first epic anthem, a variety of song that he will explore deeply in his career to come. This song is pretty good, but isn't as good as Bruce's best epic, "Jungleland."

In that same Backstreets poll that I spoke of before, "The Angel" was voted Bruce's second worse song. I think that it might be his worst. It is basically filler in this album. I tend to lump "For You" in this filler category, although it is a much better song than the preceding one.

"Spirit in the Night" is one of Bruce's jazzy-sounding songs, like "The Fever." It is a pretty good song, although not really a favorite of mine. "It's Hard to be a Saint in the City" is a great closing song for the album. The lyrics are really good, especially when Bruce compares himself to Brando.

This album is simply a must-have for big Bruce fans, like myself. There are a few classics on this album and most of the other songs are good, too. I recommend that you go out and get it.