10 Best Bruce Springsteen Albums
8. The Wild, The Innocent, And The E Street Shuffle (1973)
Amid record label pressure, the tracks on Springsteen’s first record – Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. – were split contentiously between solo and full band recordings. Springsteen himself was an advocate of having his band alongside him for the entire record, but was forced to compromise in order to appease Columbia Records. The Wild, The Innocent, And The E Street Shuffle was about righting those wrongs – hence the title.
He is vindicated for this approach. The folk inflections of the debut are dialled down in favour of a meaty, rock and roll sound. It sparkles with a more organic, free-flowing vibe than its predecessor, while the occasional piped-in crowd interjections give the album all the faux-authenticity of a live recording.
As far as standout tracks go, they can all be found on the second side of the record. Comprised of just three songs – Incident on 57th Street, Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) and New York City Serenade – they all exceed the seven minute mark. Rosalita, in particular, is still to this day deemed one of his most iconic compositions, despite occasionally getting lost in a decade of dazzling work.
Despite being marginalised within the Springsteen catalogue, The Wild, The Innocent, And The E Street Shuffle is a textbook example of how to laugh in the face of ‘difficult second album syndrome,’ one which has claimed the scalp of so many promising acts throughout rock history.