There is no question that Bruce Springsteen is one of the world’s great musical artists. Among rock artists who have charted in the United States, only The Beatles have had more # 1 albums than Springsteen. Along with Bob Seger and John Mellencamp, he has been one of the major proponents of what became known as heartland rock. For over five decades, "The Boss" has combined commercially successful songs with poetic, socially conscious lyrics that reflect working class American life and the political realities that affect it. I’ve been an unabashed fan from the beginning, and the following is a listing of my favorite Bruce Springsteen albums.
1970s:
1. Born To Run was the album that established Springsteen as a major rock artist in 1975. The title song along with “Thunder Road,” “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out,” and “Backstreets” are all classics; and the album wraps up mightily with “Jungleland,” featuring Clarence Clemons’ greatest sax solo. 
2. Darkness On The Edge Of Town didn’t come out until 1978 because of a series of legal disputes between Bruce and his first manager, but it was all worth it. The album is another collection of great songs including “Badlands,” “Racing In The Street,” “The Promised Land,” and one of my all-time favorites, “Prove It All Night.”
3. Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. was Springsteen’s debut album, released in early 1973. David Bowie was an early admirer, and he recorded both “Growin’ Up” and “It’s Hard to Be a Saint in the City.” In addition, the Manfred Mann Earth Band covered “Spirit in the Night” and had a # 1 hit single with their version of “Blinded by the Light.”
4. The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle. Side 2 of his second album, released near the end of 1973, was very important. “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)” became a big concert favorite; but it was both “Incident on 57th Street” and “New York City Serenade” that provided the road map for him to become an outstanding recording artist.
1980s:
1. Born in the U.S.A. was the album that turned Springsteen into a superstar in 1984. The powerful, and sometimes misunderstood, title cut is the best song ever written from the perspective of a Vietnam veteran. It was one of seven of the songs from the album that became Top 10 singles. In addition, five popular videos, including “Dancing in the Dark,” “Glory Days,” and “I’m on Fire,” were produced to promote the singles. 
2. The River’s title song is Springsteen’s greatest ballad, and the 1980 release also contained his first Top 10 single, “Hungry Heart.” The double album does a wonderful job of showcasing the garage rock roots of the E Street Band through a bunch of stripped-down tracks including “Two Hearts,” “Crush On You,” “Cadillac Ranch,” and “Ramrod.”
3. Tunnel of Love was released the year after the incredible success of Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band’s 5 LP box set “Live/1975-85.” The # 1 album represented a change in direction as Springsteen recorded most of the parts himself with minimal involvement of the E Street Band. The hit singles were “Brilliant Disguise,” “Tunnel of Love,” and “One Step Up.” I also loved “All That Heaven Will Allow” and “Two Faces.”
4. Nebraska represented a major shift in sound for Springsteen. Released two years after The River, the songs were solo demos that were originally intended to be re-recorded with the E Street Band, but Springsteen decided the demos better expressed the mood he was looking for. Highlights include “Atlantic City,” “Open All Night,” and the haunting “State Trooper.” Deliver Me From Nowhere, a film focusing on the conception of the Nebraska album and starring Jeremy Allen White as Springsteen, is scheduled to open in October of 2025. We had the opportunity to watch a scene being set up at the former movie palace in downtown Rahway, NJ, now the home of the Union County Performing Arts Center.
1990s:
1. Human Touch was Springsteen’s first album after breaking up the E Street Band. The title track was one of three songs featuring the backing vocals of Sam Moore (Sam & Dave), and it was the album’s hit single. Other highlights include “Man’s Job,” and “The Long Goodbye.” 
2. Lucky Town was recorded immediately after he completed Human Touch, and Springsteen decided to release both albums on the same day in 1992. Lucky Town was the more stripped-down of the two. Springsteen’s guitar was out front throughout, and “Better Days,” “Lucky Town,” “If I Should Fall Behind,” and “Souls of the Departed” were all highlights.
3. The Ghost of Tom Joad was inspired by Springsteen’s motorcycle trips into the deserts of California while living there. The songs on the somber, and primarily acoustic, album are about the homeless, migrant workers and other people living on the fringes in America. Following its release, Springsteen undertook his first solo acoustic tour, playing small halls and theaters. At the 1997 Grammys, it won the award for Best Contemporary Folk Album.
4. Greatest Hits was released just prior to The Ghost of Tom Joad. It was pretty much a must-buy for fans because it contained “The Streets of Philadelphia” and four new songs. In a perfect world, it would have been a 2CD release. Columbia blew it since there was no way that the remaining 13 tracks could possibly be a true representation of the quality of music contained on Springsteen’s 10 studio albums and 20 charting singles from the previous 23 years.
2000-2009:
1. The Rising. Springsteen is the only artist who could have written the songs that captured the heroism, heartbreak, and resolve of individuals and families directly affected by the terror attacks on 9-11. Recording with the E Street Band for the first time in nearly two decades, Springsteen’s inspirational title song, along with “You’re Missing,” “My City in Ruins,” “Lonesome Day,” and “Into the Fire,” to name just a few, captured the bravery of the first responders and devastating toll on their families in a manner that never fails to move the listener. 
2. Magic was the # 1 album from 2007 that saw Springsteen once again team up with the E Street Band. “Radio Nowhere” was the high energy lead single, and other highlights included Long Walk Home,” “You’ll Be Comin’ Down,” and “Girls in Their Summer Clothes.”
3. Working on a Dream from 2009 completed a trilogy of # 1 albums with the E Street Band during the decade, and much of it was recorded during breaks on the highly successful Magic Tour. Springsteen first performed the title song in 2008 at a show for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign and then months later at the Super Bowl XLIII halftime show.
4. Devils & Dust was the third Springsteen solo acoustic album and the first to reach # 1. Released almost three years after The Rising, the rather subdued album was made up of both older and newer songs. I was also his first release to use the DualDisc format; and the DVD side of the disc featured Springsteen performing and commenting on five of the album’s songs.
2010-2018:
1. The Promise is an incredible 2CD compilation of songs recorded during the Darkness on the Edge of Town sessions. Besides killer unreleased material, it contains alternate versions of songs that appeared on the 1978 album as well others including “Fire” and “Because the Night” that were hits after being recorded by other artists. 
2. Springsteen on Broadway is a recording from two Springsteen shows at the Walter Kerr Theatre in NYC. We had the privilege of seeing the show live, so there was no way that this 2018 release could possibly match that experience. That being stated; it is generally regarded as Springsteen’s most powerful live recording.
3. Wrecking Ball was released in 2012, and it was Springsteen’s first # 1 album of the new decade. “We Take Care of Our Own” was the lead single, and it was later nominated as Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance at the 54th Grammy Awards. The album also featured the first studio recording of “Land of Hopes and Dreams.”
4. High Hopes was released in 2014, and it became Springsteen’s eleventh # 1 album in the U.S.A. It was an unusual release for him as it was composed entirely of covers, outtakes, and reimagined versions of songs from past albums and tours. Highlights included the controversial “American Skin (41 Shots),” “Dream Baby Dream,” and “Hunter of Invisible Game,” along with its powerful video.
2019-2025:
1. Letter to You from 2020 was Springsteen’s first studio album with the E Street Band since High Hopes in 2014. Some of the songs were inspired by the death of a friend who was in The Castiles, Springsteen’s teen band from the ‘60s. Although he was unable to tour behind the album due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Letter to You became his 21st Top-10 album in the United States. It made him the first ever artist with top five-charting albums in each of the last six decades. 
2. The Land of Hopes & Dreams EP was recorded live in 2025 at the first show of the tour in Manchester, UK. Employing the title song along with “Long Walk Home,” “My City of Ruins,” and Bob Dylan’s “Chimes of Freedom,” Springsteen passionately and eloquently denounced the current administration for embracing authoritarianism and abandoning the principles that have made America a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years.
3. Western Stars was a return to solo recording that saw Springsteen writing character-driven songs with cinematic orchestral arrangements that were inspired by the Southern California pop music of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s from songwriters like Jimmy Webb and Burt Bachrach. Highlights include “Hello Sunshine,” “There Goes My Miracle,” and “Tucson Train.”
4. Only the Strong Survive, released in 2022, was Springsteen’s second covers album following We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions from 2006. Only the Strong Survive is a tribute to both the songs and artists that were inspirations for Springsteen, both as a songwriter and as a performer; and it is made up of classic soul music recordings originally done by the likes of Jerry Butler, The Temptations, and Ben E. King, to name just a few.
