12. Prove It All Night (1978)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3vUKBOJ5sU This song has been included more so for the live version than the album version. As good as the album version is, it is the legendary live version that sets this song apart especially the 1978 version of the song. For years, fans clamoured for Bruce to play this one with the "78 intro" again. Bruce always refused....until 2012. If you are lucky enough today, Bruce will break out that classic Darkness tour version of the song. What makes that performance different from the standard/album version? It starts with "The Professor" (pianist Roy Bittan) playing a piano solo which evolves into Bruce doing a long guitar solo... all before the actual album version of Prove It All Night begins. The classic Winterland bootleg (December 15, 1978) version of this song, complete with the extended intro, has turned many novice Springsteen fans into Springsteen uber nerds. There is no video of the classic Winterland ballroom performance (just the aforementioned audio bootleg), but we have linked an almost equally good live performance from 1978 above. 11. Darkness On The Edge Of Town (1978)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqGld8_HpOQ The title track from a legendary album. Anyone who has ever experienced trouble with the opposite sex can relate to this song. It's a song of contrasting sounds. At times it is very quiet, and at other times (the chorus) it is very loud. The theme of this song, as well as many other songs on the Darkness album, makes it clear why Bruce felt the need (thematically) to leave the next song on our countdown off that particular album.