Album-a-Day #118: "Born In The U.S.A."

KingLouieLouie

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Band: Bruce Springsteen & the E-Street Band
Website: http://www.brucespringsteen.net/news/index.html
Album: "Born In The U.S.A."
Year Released: 1984
No. of Discs: 1
No. of Tracks:

Track Listing:

01. "Born In The U.S.A."
02. "Cover Me"
03. "Darlington County"
04. "Working On The Highway"
05. "Downbound Train"
06: "I'm On Fire"
07: "No Surrender"
08: "Bobby Jean"
09: "I'm Goin' Down"
10: "Glory Days"
11: "Dancing In The Dark"
12: "My Hometown"

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I know it's not my scheduled turn for "album-a-day", however, I figured that I post about one of my all-time favorite albums.....

Today I've been in the mood to listen to what I deem was "Heartland Rock" which consists of bands that incorporate rock/country and usually have lyrics that pertain to some degree of activism/patriotism in the process.. Such as Uncle Tupelo, earlier R.E.M., John Cougar Mellencamp, Steve Earle, Tom Petty, Bruce Hornsby..etc.....

One album that I realized that I havent listened to in its entirety in quite some time was "Born In The U.S.A." and I fell in love with this album all over again like I did upon it's initial release... I enjoyed it so much in 1984 and rediscovering it now (albeit being 21 years older) I get a better perspective about all the messages Springsteen was conveying with his very prophetic lyrics... So much symbolism that I missed out on back then, but now can better grasp and have fully a better understanding of the essence of it....

This album yielded 7 top-ten hits, however, some of the lesser ones are my favorites.. such as "Darlington County" and "Downbound Train", but hearing the title track, "I'm On Fire", "Cover Me", "Dancing In The Dark", and "I'm Goin' Down" still send shivers down my spine..... However... "Glory Days" is not just my favorite song off the album, but I would rank it among my top 30 all-time faves ever recorded ever......

I dont think an album can embody the year it was release as well as "Born In The U.S.A." did..... The Reagan vs. Mondale elections..the '84 Olympics being hosted in Los Angeles, and everything else that was going on around the U.S.A. and the globe around that time........

Of course... I could sit here and praise Bruce for hours ever what a stellar gem of an album it was, but.... the E-Street Band? Wow..... Clemons on sax and his backing vocals are impressive.... Max Weinberg's astute drumming sense just powers the album along quite well, and then Little Steven Van Zandt who has to be among one of the most underrated guitarists of all-time.... He doesnt have the opportunity to get flashy on this album, but he does extremely well with a tight-knit unit that he was performing with... And Bittan/Federici on keyboards was sensational as well... It's like a "well-oiled machine" of how the E-Street Band was...especially on "Born In The U.S.A."....

I know many get sick of the title track since it did receive enormous exposure through all the ads it was featured in.. or who could forget the "Born In East LA" satire? But...what a way to start an awe-aspiring album on such anthemic proportions.......

I've always been a fan of Bruce Springsteen's earlier music, but I must admit that I never completely got into his later material... Although.. that doesnt matter because he'll never regardless be able to acheive the greatness he did on "Born In The U.S.A."... Truly..among one of the most defining albums of his career..but also among those ever recorded...... He'll always be the "Boss" to me, but on here he was just more than the "Boss"... he was something that one cannot quite put a title on...if as though he reached biblical heights....
 
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CQ

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I LOVED this album!!! My older sister is 9 years older than me, so I was quite influenced by her musical tastes when I was little. This was one of her favorites. This album holds such great memories for me! I'm going to have to dig it up and listen to it again.
 

Pariah

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When I was a kid I found my parents' stash of x-mas gifts for us, and this was included. It wasn't on my list, so I added it a few days later to make them feel like they were getting me something I wanted.
 

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