Darkness on the Edge of Town

I enjoyed this one. A very nostalgic feel to it

Love the fact you can hear different instruments throughout. The piano and the sax parts especially

4 ⭐️

Each artist has their formula for success, but Bruce’s is so depressing. Hometown, work, car, girl, repeat.

And on this album has to be the worlds slowest song about a car race.

Absolutely perfect, 10 songs, under 45 minutes, ranges from moody personal stories to sweeping epics, and contains an amazing amount of Bruce live show staples like "Badlands", "Racing in the Street", "The Promised Land" and "Darkness on the Edge of Town".

The Boss at his best, and, by this point, the classic E Street Band line up were just clicking

Tough to get through this. I know this is not a popular opinion, but I can’t stand Bruce. Americana as a genre just don’t do it for me. Specifically, I find his vocal delivery to be unlistenable. The bigger sounding tracks are ok (until he sings) but the acoustic guitar/piano tracks that focus on his voice is like having a hot knitting needle jammed directly into my eye. NJ can keep this guy (and Bon Jovi), I got no use for him.

Favourite songs: Badlands, Adam Raised a Cain, The Promised Land, Factory, Prove It All Night

Least favourite songs: Streets of Fire

4/5

I completely understand why this is usually peoples’ #1 or #2 Springsteen record. Totally stacked track list, almost every song here is out of this world good. I’ve never been a massive fan of “Something in the Night” or “Candy’s Room”, but everything else is top-notch. Bruce’s songwriting shifts on this record; he writes in a very particular way on his first two albums, tweaks it slightly on Born to Run, and then sort of settles into I guess what you’d call the modern Springsteen mold on this record. His storytelling isn’t any less complex, but his actual language is. He gets a bit more direct, but still very poetic and fantastic at painting a picture with his words. He’s also a total badass guitar player on this record, you hear it right off the bat in “Badlands”, an awesome upbeat pop-rocker that he adds some really gnarly guitar work on. And he kicks it up several notches in track two, “Adam Raised a Cain”, easily the most blistering, incendiary guitar playing in his catalog, and a killer song to boot. I could go on all day about some of these songs, “The Promised Land”, the title track, “Prove It All Night”...it’s a wonderful collection of songs. It’s only my #3 because I have that much love for Born to Run and The Wild, The Innocent…, but still an easy 4.5 stars and an easy 1,001 5 star bump.

4.5/5

He is dark. Probably my favorite album from him so far. Still probably wouldn't go out of my way to listen to it normally though.

Not a fan personally

I was immediately turned of by the chord progression and sound of his voice on “Badlands” but I kinda dig “Adam Raised a Cain”. Everything after that I didn’t care for.

This is, in fact, a Bruce Springsteen album. I had never heard this one before, and I liked it. Favorite tracks were Badlands, Adam Raised A Cain, Streets of Fire, and Prove It All Night.

With all due respect, and I mean this most sincerely, this is yet another example of how Critical Acclaim® is a poor determining factor for whether I will like something. In fact Critical Acclaim® appears to be something that puts me off more often than not and unfortunately this very list is just a list of Critically Acclaimed® albums.

Critics™ want you to know they have better taste than you, possibly. Maybe you meet the artist, that's very special, so now you give an excessively positive review otherwise that artist (and their record company mates) won't be as willing to give you any attention in the future. Bit of a racket when you really sit down and think about it. Especially back in the 60s through the 90s when Major Labels™ and The Radio® were the primary form of music delivery. Critics at places like Rolling Stone and the NY Times could influence opinion for the unwashed masses who had neither the time nor the taste to decide for themselves what was good and what wasn't, after the Labels and The Radio told them what they should be hawking. It was a good system for those inside it. Everybody made a dollar (except the artists, of course!)

I'm not trying to be one of those trolling contrarians (everybody knows one - check out yfbspod.com for an amusing example of the contrarian taken to an extreme for comedic effect), but for reasons I am still trying to understand, if all the critics love something then I am immediately biased against the disc right out of the gate. Don't tell me what to think, I guess.

Which is why, after a mere 83 albums, I must remind myself NOT TO READ ABOUT THE ALBUM BEFORE I LISTEN to it so that I don't otherwise taint my own review. For some of the older albums I am already aware of the Critically Acclaimed® label (CA from here on out) and my own bias about that.

You gotta ask yourself: maybe there's a reason why every mainstream rock journalist can't keep themselves from being the first to fawn over certain albums (this, and all Bruce Springsteen albums, or anything by Tom Waits, for instance), put them on the best of the year lists, and so forth? Maybe this work is real world changing music unlike anything ever known, which will upend your existing worldview and alter the very course of the culture of humanity. It is possible, and I do myself a disservice by not allowing it.

Anyway, this is one of the most CA albums ever made. It's okay, a little dirgy, takes no risks to speak of, the instrumentation and technical quality is generally middle of the road. Springsteen isn't hurting anybody, and that's fine. There's some catchy songs here and some thought-provoking lyrics. The band is good, Clarence Clemmons (sp?)has a recognizable style and Springsteen's iconic voice is familiar and welcoming, but he can bring the heat when needed (not too much, though, we're not here to upset people). All due respect. Springsteen is an icon. That doesn't make it great. I'm going against the critics on this one.

Darkness on the Edge of Town is another album i have done through this project that is unremarkable but solid. Bruce's singing, and the music were all pretty good and had some fairly interesting moments but i feel it didn't have enough of them to really warrant being a great album for me. It's an alright album but nothing too amazing.
Best Song: Streets of Fire
Worst Song: The Promised Land

I feel like a moron for not listening to any Bruce Springsteen before this. This is a brilliantly produced, cohesive project that makes its theme obvious throughout and it's a treat to listen to, but it's another strong 4/5 for me.

I’ve never understood the allure of Springsteen, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard a full song other than Born in the USA, either. So I was incredibly surprised at the music on this album. Many of the songs were surprising, the hard rock, versus the “working class“ pop rock that I’ve always associated with Springsteen.

Now, for the not so good. Springsteen‘s voice is absolutely horrific. I do not understand how anyone would willingly subject themselves through any amount of time, listening to him, mumble shriek, unable to hit anything close to approximating a high note. I’m torn on how to rank this album, because I don’t think it was bad, because the music was good. But I don’t think it was good, because I never wanna listen to anything that comes out of Springsteen‘s mouth for the rest of my days. I would give it a 2.5 star rating if I could, because two stars does seem a bit harsh. However, I think giving it three stars is an incredible injustice to some of the good music that I’ve listened to over the course of this project.

Really enjoyed this album, more so than I was expecting to! I went in thinking, "OK, The Boss is an American institution, but I never really jived with his big hits! Born in the USA (song) kind of sucks."

Listening to one of his albums start to finish really helped understand the appeal. It's well paced, diverse, and carries an overall common vibe.

I just don't get Bruce Springsteen. I feel like must be missing something. Maybe I'll have a damascene moment at some point and love his work.

This was ok. I liked Born in the USA more, but still pretty enjoyable. 3/5

Oh wow. Bruce has ALWAYS had the old man voice. This is the sound I associate with classic rock. I never realized it was just Bruce. Whenever someone mentioned him I always wondered if I had ever even heard him. Yes. He's everywhere, I just didn't know. This feels like discovering the heart of classic rock. The Thing is, I cannot tell the difference between any of the songs. I feel like this album is one amazing song twelve times.

I'll never be a diehard Boss fan but I do like this music.

Solid, if unspectacular. Somehow sounds more like The Killers than The Killers do! A worthy inclusion, but not one I'll be rushing back to.
Very hard to settle on a score, but I guess it's better to be generous