10 Rock Bands That Almost Killed Each Other In The Studio

By the time Bruce Springsteen got around to making his third album, he had really put himself through the musical ringer. While albums like Greetings From Asbury Park and The Wild The Innocent and The E Street Shuffle had done well enough, the comparisons to Bob Dylan and the lack of single material put a mantle of pressure on the Boss that he didn't really need. With no real buzz outside of critical circles, Born to Run was bound to be the last ditch effort for success or the moment Springsteen fell into obscurity.

Though the results of the title track sound absolutely mind blowing today, it was one hell of a hard road getting there, with the E Street Band being pushed to the very brink. Outside of touring night after night, the sessions for the album became painstaking, as Springsteen worked himself down to a nub trying to achieve the perfect version of each song.

Despite initial plans to just put out a live album, Born to Run turned into an experience put to music, as the listener is transported to the Jersey boardwalks, looking for any means of escape from their dismal little existence. Whereas Springsteen may have been known as the new Dylan before this, this is the record that had the poetry, power, and heart of rock and roll and squeezed into one beautiful 40 minutes of music.