Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. (1973)

 

Springsteen’s first album was an intriguing introduction to the artist’s distinctive gift for Dylanesque lyrical wordplay. Lead track “Blinded By The Light” later became a chart-topper for Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, while songs like “For You” and “Spirit In The Night” remain staples of Bruce’s live act.

 

The Wild, The Innocent and The E Street Shuffle (1973)

 

Bruce Springsteen’s sophomore album featured a more cinematic style of songwriting, with the kind of outsized suburban characters that would become Springsteen’s calling card (“4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy),” “Incident on 57th Street,” “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)”). It also featured a crucial sonic addition to the nascent E Street Band: organist Danny Federici joined keyboardist David Sancious, bassist Garry Tallent, drummer Vini “Mad Dog” Lopez and saxophonist Clarence Clemons in the band’s ranks.

 

Born to Run (1975)

 

It was make or break time for Bruce when his third album was released; fortunately, he delivered an album that established him as the voice of a generation and one of the strongest acts in American rock and roll. Born To Run joined together Bruce’s evocative lyrical gifts, grandiose arrangements that recalled Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound, and the shaggy jam-band prowess of his live ensemble, The E Street Band (now featuring the talents of additional pianist Roy Bittan, drummer Max Weinberg and Springsteen’s longtime musical partner Steven Van Zandt). The result: an album that almost immediately became a Top 5 smash, earning Springsteen cover stories in Time and Newsweek in the same week and resting atop scores of greatest-albums-of-all-time-lists, from Rolling Stone to VH1.

 

Darkness on the Edge Of Town (1978)

 

Bouncing back from a series of protracted legal battles that kept him out of the studio for nearly three years - a relative eternity at the time—Springsteen delivered a decidedly different sort of album with Darkness On The Edge Of Town. The grandiose production and lyrical scene-setting of previous works was now replaced by a more singular songwriting voice, more aware of himself and the world around him; from this new direction came celebrated crowd-pleasers like “Badlands” and “The Promised Land.”

 

The River (1980)

 

Springsteen’s fifth album was an ambitious summary of his greatest musical strengths to that point, sprawling over the length of two LPs. The River continued the themes of deep introspection and reflection on difficult times in the United States previously explored on Darkness (“The Ties That Bind,” “Independence Day”) but also showcased some of his most exuberant songs, such as the Top 5 single “Hungry Heart” and the party-ready tracks “Ramrod” and “Cadillac Ranch.”

 

Nebraska (1982)

 

One of the most challenging albums of Springsteen’s career, Nebraska, a collection of stark home solo demo recordings, features haunted, difficult characters making choices in Reagan-era America that offered little of the salvation or redemption that frequently served as hallmarks of Bruce’s other works. The result was one of the most critically appreciated albums of Springsteen’s celebrated career.

 

Born in the U.S.A. (1984)

 

Another thrilling about-face in Bruce’s unpredictable journey through rock and roll, Born In The U.S.A. features some of the most radio-friendly performances in Springsteen’s entire discography, which brilliantly disguise much of the emotional turmoil simmering underneath (case in point: the anthemic title track, a harrowing tale of a Vietnam veteran that Ronald Reagan attempted to co-opt for his presidential re-election campaign). Altogether, Born In The U.S.A. amassed seven Top 10 hits, including “Dancing In The Dark,” “Glory Days” and “I’m Goin’ Down,” and the album became 1985’s biggest-selling LP, spending 84 weeks in Billboard’s Top 10.