Born In The U.S.A.
by Bruce Springsteen

Shortlisted for album of the year in 1985. The winner was Can't Slow Down by Lionel Richie

a masterpiece 40 years later

Two great songs -- one of which is famously misunderstood. But I can't entirely blame those who think 'Born in the U.S.A.' is a patriotic anthem -- other than the titular refrain it's hard to hear the vocals, which are drowned out by everything else on the track.

From ChrisPBacon 12/31/2023 22:39 | #300803

Easily his most overated album.

Overall a very consistent album, one of the best of Springsteen's catalog

From HoldenM 05/26/2023 17:28 | #297241

Some of Springsteen's most ferocious and poignant songwriting.

Making a record with the intent to sell as many albums as possible usually leads to an extremely mixed bag of songs quality wise and this is the prime example of that. You have the exceptional tracks like the title track and Dancing In The Dark but then they are weighed down by the filler songs like Bobby Jean and Darlington County. There is quite a bit of filler content on here as well and it makes up nearly half the album. The music just goes up and down from song to song and never really get a consistent run going in my opinion. This really isn't helped by the 80's production as well with this leading to a lot of the songs sounding dated now. Overall, you can have a lot of fun with this album as it is thoroughly enjoyable music but the quality is questionable and this record shouldn't get anywhere near the amount of praise his previous releases get.

I will start with good things, Dancing In The Dark is one of the best hits from 1980s and Born In The USA is great protest song, I also like more underrated tracks with top notch songwriting like Downbound Train or My Hometown. There is not an obviously bad track, but a couple of mediocre ones and I think that this record is generally more aged than any other of his albums because of strong 80s production. Still very enjoyable listen, I like energy here.

It may be the most obvious attempt Bruce Springsteen ever made to sell records, but Born in the USA is still a very relevant record lyrically despite its hooky music and catchy choruses. Its a very fun album from start to finish and packed full of enjoyable songs. This record is far more of a downer than people realize. Many of the songs originate from the Nebraska era sessions, so the subject matter between the two albums is often comparable. This is one of the best albums of all time to listen to while driving.

Iconic, right from the opening note. I’m hard pressed to think of an album that does a better job of telling a grim tale of loss, failure, and emptiness all while smiling from ear to ear. The music says we’re in the good old days, the lyrics say they’re long since gone.