10 Greatest One Man Band Albums

Any casual conversation about Bruce Springsteen's music usually comes down to the power of the E Street Band. As much as Bruce might be called the Boss at the end of the day, the power of having that soulful backing group delivering songs like Born to Run and Thunder Road made his tunes the classics that they are today. However, every songwriter needs to have that litmus test of releasing a bare album sooner or later.

Shortly after finishing up the tour for the massive double album the River, Bruce started to write songs that were a lot darker than his previous album, with Atlantic City and Johnny 99 having a lot more wounded characters throughout the lyrics. Compared to the heartland rock he was known for, this was a much different animal than anything he had attempted. Rather than bring in the band proper, Nebraska was eventually released completely untouched, with most of the finished takes being recorded on Springsteen's bed with just a guitar.

Though this was a strange detour into something more intimate for Bruce, you can still feel the tone of these songs seeping through later albums like Born in the USA and Tunnel of Love. The Boss may have been the king of the world at this point, but it sometimes pays to bring it back down to surface level.