Born to Run - Springsteen, Bruce (CD 1987)

I've been listening to the new Green Day record, American Idiot, just about non-stop in the car and at home since I purchased it on Tuesday on my lunch break. It's an extremely solid record, and in what has been a weak year for rock, is very likely the best album of the year.

The other album I've been listening to a lot lately (mostly at work) is Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run. It is upon listening to an album like Born to Run that one realizes they just don't make albums like this anymore. Who's they, you ask? Well, anyone. While it may seem short by today's standards (at only 8 tracks and a scant 39+ minutes), the key with this record is that not one second of this record is wasted. Every song is a certifiable classic, the type of songs you'd play to someone who'd never heard rock and roll before to give them a good idea of what the genre is capable of.

Sonically, Born to Run is as much a result of changes in Springsteen's backing E Street Band as it is Springsteen employing his influences. Drummer Max Weinberg and keyboardist/pianist Roy Bittan replaced Vinnie Lopez and David Sancious, respectively, and while maybe not as technically gifted as the men they replaced, its hard to imagine Born to Run being the album it is without them.

The addition of Bittan is immediately felt, with the gorgeous piano melody that drives the opening Thunder Road. The production that is evident throughout the album is also in full evidence here, which some have said was inspired by Phil Spector's Wall of Sound ideas. Either way, the instruments each have their own crisp sound, though Bruce's voice is never lost. Instead, his voice seems to just melt perfectly in with the music, and then, Clarence Clemons helping to make the final minute or so of music stand out in the listener's mind above all else.

But Thunder Road is just the beginning of the theme that runs throughout this disc. Born to Run, as an album, is about leaving your struggles behind, beginning a new life, and the hope and difficulties you run into while trying to do this. There's a certain amount of desparation in each of these songs, and without that, it wouldn't be the same.

10th Avenue Freeze-Out begins with a vibe that almost sounds Elvis Costello-ish at first, but soon morphs into a grooving piece of R&B rock and swag that is infectious and perfectly put together. It's also one of the shorter songs on the album, a kind of nice break from some of the more epic-sounding material that is found all over the disc. The same could be said about the driving Night, which immediately follows.

Chief among the epics is Backstreets, which once again features a knock-out piano melody from Bittan, not to mention some earth-shattering growls from Bruce himself. But if Backstreets is epic more for its lyrical themes, the album's title track is epic for all the other reasons. From Bruce's vocals, which range from swaggering to desparate to sounding on the edge of breakdown, to the perfect instrumentation laid down by the entire backing band, but especially Bittan and Clemons, Born to Run is, in single form, the type of song that no one writes anymore, just as no one makes albums like Born to Run anymore.

You get a bit of a break with She's the One, which I find most notable for its instrumentation than anything else, though there is something to be said for the simpler theme that this song takes on. But if this is a break, it's merely just setting you up for the 1-2 punch that closes out the album.

Meeting Across the River is definitely the most somber track on the record, with its somewhat dark piano melody and the background horn work that colors the song even darker. In essence, this works as the perfect lead in to the album's finale, Jungeland, which starts off with a bit of darkness, only to be immediately brought to light thanks to yet another gorgeous piano melody from Bittan. For a nine and a half minute long song, it surprisingly doesn't feel like it at all. In fact, the song is arranged extremely well, building tension in the right places, releasing it in short bursts, and then, the ending of the song finds Bruce just absolutely wailing in one of the most emotional moments ever put to wax on a rock and roll record.

Born to Run is about as close to perfect that a rock and roll record comes. From the songwriting and the performances, to the production and the contributions of new members, Born to Run is a masterful rock and roll album. Nearly 30 years after its release, it maintains a type of relevancy that is startling, and with one listen, will immediately make you wonder how much of what we hear now will last the way this has.

If you want passionate rock and roll, you could do a lot worse than Born to Run. If you haven't heard Born to Run, I suggest you grab a pair of headphones, close your eyes, and just listen. You might be surprised.