Pre "Born To Run" Bruce Springsteen

[Kiki]

Well the albums Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. and The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle respectively.

I'm a big Springsteen fan and some of his albums are among my most favorite albums. But these two album leave me in the cold. They seem all over the place and, while there are moments of greatness, they lose my interest in parts.

Critics seem to rave about them (not on the scale of Born To Run though) but I can't find nearly as much enjoyment in them than his later stuff.

[Alt-Rocker77]

I really enjoy them, but I can understand how someone could not be in to them as much. The one big difference for me between his pre-BTR stuff, and the stuff after is how loose they are. They clearly aren't shooting for the moon the way Born to Run did, which is something that Bruce knew. His decision to switch to Max Weinberg, a drummer who didn't have anywhere near the chops of Vinny Lopez shows that Bruce wanted to go from bar rock to anthems. I'd say the first two records are good in their own way.

[RaineyWins]

I totally agree, his albums post Born to Run have been better, I feel. And his stuff this decade just suits me nicely, especially The Rising, and Magic

[Kiki]

Yes, this decade has been sensational for Bruce Springsteen! Magic and The Rising both great highlights.

I think it might be that I prefer the choruses. He became so much better at them after Born To Run

[ffudnebbuh]

I really love Bruce have seen him twice in concert, like almost all of his albums, but my two favorite are "Greeting" and "wild, innocent'..I think that what I like most about them are the arrangements,,..as time went on bruce seem to highlight synthesizers too much for my taste, I think that his music needs a fuller sound, the synths seem to create a very thin sound..like on "tunnel of love' (which i really like), there is way too much synths on it for what the lyrics/music needed.

[Norman Bates]

I Really like ...The E Street Shuffle. Funky as hell !