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

To be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, at least 25 years must have passed since your first album was released. Bruce Springsteen was inducted last year. What? "Born to Run" didn't come until 1975 or so. That's because he put out music before that landmark album, namely, the amazing "Greetings from Asbury Park N.J." For those longing for more of the young, loose, folksy Bruce of the 1970s, this is your album. Included is the song made famous by another band, "Blinded by the Light." That's only one of the remarkable songs he plays. From the anguished, mournful "Mary Queen of Arkansas" to the jaunty, spirited "Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?" Bruce gives us the blue collar heart and soul that made him one of the greatest musicians of the post Beatles era. And this album reflects a much younger and less jaded time in Bruce's life. His lyrics roll around in strange symbols that magically manage to rhyme despite their huge complexity. Like a good sci-fi movie, you don't understand half of what they're saying and just let the flow over you. "Mad men, drummers, bombers, and Indians in the summers with the teenage diplomat. In the dumps with the mumps as the adolescent pumps his way into his hat. With a boulder on my shoulder, feeling kind of older and trip the merry go round. With this very unpleasing, sneezing, and wheezing, the calliope crashed to the ground." This is young Bruce, raw and fresh and proud.