10 Best Bruce Springsteen Albums

Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. is where it all began for Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen. But it wasn’t all smooth sailing. His debut album was initially rejected by Columbia Records impresario Clive Davis on the grounds that it lacked mainstream appeal. In plain terms, it was devoid of hit single potential. Rather than sulk, Springsteen quickly added Spirit In The Night and Blinded By The Light to the track listing, which the record label were more than happy with. To come back with two songs of such prowess in record quick time was the first indicator that Columbia may have a prodigious talent on their books.

And it was the latter track which gave Springsteen his first major semblance of notoriety, but not as you might expect. Despite the single flopping under his own name, Manfred Mann – who were gaining a reputation as perennial plunderers of the American songbook – covered Blinded By The Light and took it all the way to number one on the US Singles Chart in 1976. To this day, it’s the only Springsteen-penned number to top the American charts.

The album reflects a young wordsmith trying to discover his voice - Springsteen was 23 when the record was released – though there is enough evidence here to foreshadow future greatness ahead. Because of his obvious penchant for poetic lyricism and the way his words are interwoven around a folk-infused rock aesthetic, it rendered comparisons to Bob Dylan inevitable. However, the album’s legacy shouldn’t be confined to that of historical relic. The tracks have stood the test of time – with For You another standout – with many still getting the live treatment some five decades later.