Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J.
by Bruce Springsteen

Greetings from Asbury park, is one of the great singer/songwriter debuts. It's still a little short on identity, which is fair enough, and certainly has Springsteen's influences on show in a kind of hybrid of Bob Dylan and Van Morrison. The production is a bit muddy, and a lot of the songs would actually sound better in their live incarnations. Still, it has some of Bruce's early classics in, blinded by the light, growin' up, and off course, spirit in the night. The thing you notice most about the record is naturally, the words, there's loads and loads of them. Springsteen would eventually learn to economize lyrically, but you still can't be failed to be impressed by the sheer poetry of the songs, albeit very Zimmerman-esque. Personal favorites on the album are the snappy, does this bus stop at 82nd street, the beautiful, Mary queen of Arkansas, and the brilliant, lost in the flood. For you, is also excellent, although maybe, the angel, is the album's only weak track. It's a brilliant debut, with all that potential still yet to be realized. Springsteen would make better and more important records, but for Bruce fanatics, it's an album that holds a lot of affection.

From jhuik TOP 100 COMMENTER 02/19/2012 15:38 | #37145 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

This is the rough-edged debut that only hinted at things to come. Growin up and Spirit in the Night are great songs, without a doubt. I always have a soft spot for Lost in the Flood which aspires to the epicness he later perfected on tracks like Jungleland or Racing in the Street. This is a great artist still finding his voice. Artistry is definitely there. Consistency and mastery definitely are not.

From Bork TOP 100 COMMENTER 03/31/2010 23:37 | #10207 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

With his very first album Bruce showed that he was gonna shape rock music. This is musical genius, and no matter how many listens the album just keeps on growing. He would top it with the follow-up album later that same year, and the thing that keeps this behind The Wild is that it is less coherent, with a couple of tracks, while still being good, not quite reaching the same heights as the rest of the material (Mary Queen of Arkansas and The Angel). Nevertheless, this is as good as rock n' roll gets.

Bruce would make much better albums later in his career but this really captures his own romantic universe he was presenting in the early years. Some of his best songs aver and the album as many debuts has charm.

From Romanelli TOP 100 COMMENTER 01/28/2012 18:44 | #36058 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

This has some great moments on it, but Bruce got a whole lot better very quickly. My personal highlight is "It's Hard To Be A Saint In The City".