Bruce Springsteen – Born in the U.S.A. (1984)

There aren't many other albums that would be so widely known and recognisable as this one. The album cover is so iconic that you would recognise it anywhere. Born in the U.S.A. is Bruce Springsteen's bestselling album and indeed one of the best-selling albums ever released by anyone. This album made already popular Bruce Springsteen a superstar and since this album he has played to huge stadiums everywhere in the world up until today. The album is supposed to criticise the society of 80's America, but many people misunderstood this album to refer to the American dream and the album was used to back up very contradictory values to the original intention. Ronald Reagan even used the title-track in his Presidential campaign which of course led people to ridicule him for not really understanding anything about Bruce Springsteen. And indeed, the song is a cry for the American working-class man, who has been isolated from the society led by neo-liberal politics.



This album sounds a lot bigger than its predecessor Nebraska, which is probably the darkest and most intimate of all the Springsteen albums. Also, the sound is a move towards 80's stadium rock where individual instruments are not in as central role as on the 70's albums. 80's music didn't encourage solos and natural sound of instruments as much as most of the 70's music and thus E-Street band's talents are not as apparent here as for example on Born to Run. The band is still incredibly talented and tight.

The album kicks off really strong with a drum beat and stadium synth sounds in the title-track Born in the U.S.A. This is one of the best known songs of all times. It has great rock attitude, but as a composition it is not much of a song at all. The whole song is pretty much just a few notes and it doesn't sound much like anything if you play it acoustically. Cover Me shows some guitar hero sequences and a nice groove. As a composition it's also a lot more interesting as the opening track. Darlington County is like America put into one song. It has some country elements and some Southern rock elements and it just sounds incredibly American in sounds. Working on the Highway is also a very American-style rock n' roll song that kind of reminds me of Walk of Life by Dire Straits. Downbound Train has a more melancholic tone and it resembles the songs on Nebraska a bit more. I'm on Fire is a great airy rock ballad with quite sentimental mood. It sounds a lot like The Gaslight Anthem about 30 years later. No Surrender shows Springsteen in what he does best, larger than life songs with catchy and big choruses. Bobby Jean is also a catchy song with some great story-telling in the style of Bob Dylan. I'm Goin' Down has a fantastic saxophone solo that we hear way too little on this album. Glory Days is another American stadium rock song. It's really nothing new this late in the album. Dancing In the Dark is probably my favourite song from this album. The sound must've been very modern back in 1984 and the melody is just ingenious. The album ends with quite a cheesy ballad My Hometown that has smooth organ sounds.

Springsteen is known for his great live gigs that can go on for hours. That's why I'm linking here the video for Dancing in the Dark that has some live sequences of Boss dancing in front of a stadium audience. It really shows that Springsteen is not just a great musician but also a fantastic showman.

I prefer the 70's albums because of their more natural sounds, but Born in the U.S.A. is still a legendary album that every self-respecting record collector should own (of course on vinyl).

Listen to the album on Spotify.