8. Born In The USA (1984)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIekamBDiAw One cannot emphasise enough how incredibly popular, worldwide, Springsteen and his E Street Band were after the release of 1984's Born In The USA. There were law schools in the United States at the time who were trying to entice prospective students by offering up Springsteen concert tickets. The stadium tour was so successful that NFL Film were famously brought in to film the concerts. Yet the title track might be the most misunderstood song in the history of rock music. Among Springsteen fans, there is a bit of controversy over how rarely he plays this song live in the United States. However, if you see him in Europe there is a fairly good chance he will play it. Most likely, the reason for this is the misinterpretation American's have for the song. Feeling it is a rah-rah, "USA!" song rather than a song about the country's mistreatment of Vietnam vets. 7. Tougher Than The Rest (1987)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_91hNV6vuBY Of all Springsteen's studio albums, Tunnel Of Love is perhaps his most underrated. Coming off of the incredible success of Born In The USA, it would seem that the logical next step would be to release another rock album full of pop songs. That would be the easy thing to do. However, that wouldn't be Bruce Springsteen. At the time, Bruce was going through the breakup of his first marriage (a short lived relationship with actress Julianne Phillips). That is what makes Tunnel Of Love so interesting it reads like Bruce's personal diary. Half the songs are clearly about breaking up, but the other half of the songs are obviously looking towards an exciting new love (which would end up being his long time wife, and band mate, Patti Scialfa). It could be argued that the song Tougher Than The Rest is one of the best love songs ever written. Watch the interaction and emotion between Bruce and Patti during the music video performance above, and it should come as no surprise that the two were practically inseparable after this.