10 Best Bruce Springsteen Albums
2. Born To Run (1975)
1975’s Born To Run is almost the perfect rock record. Springsteen had set out to make an album which sounded like "Roy Orbison singing Bob Dylan, produced by Spector," and even the most cynical of detractors must concede how close he came to realising this ambition.
Despite being just eight tracks long, it is remarkable to think how two of them – Thunder Road and Born To Run – are perennial candidates in the quest to crown Springsteen’s greatest ever song. Throw in another two of his most celebrated album cuts – Backstreets and Jungleland – as well as an all-time favourite live show staple (Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out), and Born To Run’s reputation as one of the best albums of the seventies – if not all time - is undeniable.
"[This was] the album where I left behind my adolescent definitions of love and freedom—it was the dividing line," said Springsteen. For the first time, his scope was no longer limited to just New Jersey. Born To Run’s universality – structured in a manner which reflects the peaks and troughs of human existence – proved to be Bruce Springsteen’s first in a number of steps towards worldwide success.