Darkness On The Edge Of Town (studio album)
by Bruce Springsteen

Darkness On The Edge Of Town by Bruce Springsteen
Year: 1978
Overall rank: 219th   
Average Rating: 
82/100 (from 1,171 votes)
     
Accolades:
Award Best album of 1978 (1st)
Award Top 100 albums of the 1970s (52nd)
Award Top 500 albums of all time (219th)

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Bruce Springsteen Darkness on the Edge of Town 1978 JC35318 Vinyl TML-M 1st Pres
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BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN - Darkness On The Edge Of Town 1978 - 12" Vinyl Record LP - VG
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Bruce Springsteen bestography

Darkness On The Edge Of Town is ranked 3rd best out of 155 albums by Bruce Springsteen on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Bruce Springsteen is Born To Run which is ranked number 76 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 15,516.

Bruce Springsteen album bestography « Higher ranked (195th)
Born In The U.S.A.
This album (219th)
Darkness On The Edge Of Town
Lower ranked (284th) »
Nebraska

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

Upcoming concerts

Dec
14
Sun
12:00
The Rock and Roll Playhouse plays Music of Bruce Springsteen
Brooklyn Bowl, Brooklyn, United States. United States
Tickets from Ticketmaster Get tickets
 
Dec
19
Fri
20:30
Lucky Town - Bruce Springsteen Tribute
Suquamish Clearwater Beach Rock Mus, Suquamish, United States. United States
Tickets from Ticketmaster Get tickets
 
Dec
19
Fri
20:30
The Smoking Jackets Presents: Tributes to Willie Nelson, The Rolling Stones and Bruce Springsteen
Tuffy's Music Box, Sanford, United States. United States
Tickets from Ticketmaster Get tickets
 
Discover more upcoming concerts

Listen to Darkness On The Edge Of Town on YouTube

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Darkness On The Edge Of Town track list

   The tracks on this album have an average rating of 84 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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Track
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1.
Track pick (860 - 337 votes)
Average Rating: 86 (337 votes)Comments: View 3
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2.
Average Rating: 83 (248 votes)Comments: View 3
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3.
Average Rating: 83 (226 votes)Comments: View 2
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4.
Average Rating: 82 (233 votes)Comments: View 2
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5.
Track pick (860 - 287 votes)
Average Rating: 86 (287 votes)Comments: View 5
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6.
Average Rating: 85 (272 votes)Comments: View 3
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7.
Average Rating: 79 (217 votes)Comments: View 2
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8.
Average Rating: 81 (220 votes)Comments: View 1
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9.
Average Rating: 83 (246 votes)Comments: View 1
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Track pick (870 - 301 votes)
Average Rating: 87 (301 votes)Comments: View 1
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Track pick (1000 - 100 votes) Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

Darkness On The Edge Of Town rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 219th | 1970s rank: 52nd | 1978 rank: 1st

Darkness On The Edge Of Town collection

Darkness On The Edge Of Town ratings

Average Rating: 
82/100 (from 1,171 votes)
   Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 1,171 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
90/100
 !
11/24/2025 11:13 AledJames   1,42768/100
 
60/100
 !
11/16/2025 02:06 MadhattanJack   5,24065/100
 
90/100
 !
11/13/2025 12:32 ElstonGunnn   88982/100
 
35/100
 !
11/12/2025 23:55 NYAndreas   1,43243/100
 
100/100
 !
10/10/2025 13:01 SleepyMouse   40100/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album is rated in the top 1% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 82.2/100, a mean average of 80.8/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 82.3/100. The standard deviation for this album is 16.7.

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Darkness On The Edge Of Town favourites

Showing latest 20 members who have added this album as a favourite | Show all 240 members

Darkness On The Edge Of Town comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 80 comments |
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Rating:  
100/100
From 07/30/2025 19:37 | #310357
A pretty much perfect album. Springsteens greatest album and one of the greatest albums of all time. A masterpiece by a master craftsman
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 12/27/2023 20:57 | #300697
Springsteen's Church - envision the entrance as the music swells on Darkness -
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 05/24/2023 20:27 | #297203
A step down from Born to Run, but most albums would be.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 03/16/2023 10:41 | #295052
This might be Springsteen's most consistent work with every song on here being good or better. The only thing it lacks is the real outstanding tracks that Born To Run or Born In The USA have. Despite this, I would much rather stick this record on rather than the hugely inconsistent Born In The USA. This is because the music on here captures the style of Springsteen beautifully and this makes it an instant classic. The peak of the album for me is Streets Of Fire. The guitar work on there is simply amazing and Springsteen's vocal performance feels so raw and powerful making it such a passionate track. The instrumentals throughout the whole album are pretty fantastic as well with the E Street Band giving one of their greatest ever performances. The music just feels so full of life and character on here making the music easy to love. Overall, this is an elite level album that is just missing a few outstanding songs that would put it right up near the greatest of all time.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 09/06/2022 17:41 | #289428
Perfection
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 06/09/2022 17:00 | #286158
I actually prefer this album over Born To Run, its predecessor had better singles but this one is consistently great. Also Badlands and Racing In The Street are definitely in his top 5 songs in my opinion. This album has its own magic and atmosphere that is just so unique.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 02/28/2022 17:07 | #281997
This album has a track score of 96 and is placed in my top albums chart no. 2. My rating for this album is 100
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 12/07/2021 22:23 | #277226
Excellent album as always.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 11/14/2021 03:24 | #276248
A fine record, dark and raging, compared to the nostalgia and summer spirit of Born to Run. It takes a page from Woody Guthrie, but instead of the Dust Bowl it's the streets of urban New Jeesey. In this heart-wrenching set of songs, the listener is flooded with emotions. It's as authentic as anything. Essential.


A Side: Factory
B Side: Racing in the Street
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
70/100
From 10/29/2021 18:19 | #275523
My first time listening to this album.

I’ve never been much into Springsteen. The musical style of this album, with the saxophone and stripped down instrumentation, gives me an image of a rock and roll band from the late 1950s or early 1960s. I don’t know if that’s what Bruce is going for but that’s my image.

And then clearly Springsteen is known as a lyricist (partly driven by the fact that his mumbling and not quite pitch perfect vocals aren’t the main attraction), but these lyrics don’t really line up with my own experiences so I’m left scratching my head.

In all, I kind of get it but not really. It’s a feeling of nostalgia that doesn’t mean anything to me, specifically.

None of the songs stood out in this first listen.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (1 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
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Best Albums of 1978
1. Darkness On The Edge Of Town by Bruce Springsteen
2. Parallel Lines by Blondie
3. The Cars by The Cars
4. This Year's Model by Elvis Costello
5. Van Halen by Van Halen
6. Die Mensch·Maschine by Kraftwerk
7. The Kick Inside by Kate Bush
8. Some Girls by The Rolling Stones
9. Music For 18 Musicians by Steve Reich
10. More Songs About Buildings And Food by Talking Heads
11. Dire Straits by Dire Straits
12. Hemispheres by Rush
13. Outlandos D'Amour by The Police
14. 3rd by Big Star
15. All Mod Cons by The Jam
16. Chairs Missing by Wire
17. Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! by Devo
18. The Modern Dance by Pere Ubu
19. Real Life by Magazine
20. Powerage by AC/DC
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