Born in the U.S.A.

This is the Bruce I usually think of when I say I'm not really a fan. Sure there are huge hits on here, but nothing really makes me feel anything. Give me Nebraska anytime.

Initial reaction: FUCK.

I’d say that this album is approximating good. I don’t know if it’s quite 3 stars because I don’t really ever want to listen to it again, but it was miles better than the first Springsteen album I listened to, which I gave 2.5 stars.

I’m going to give it 3 stars if only to not be a contrarian prick. I’m not sure how much I agree with that as a rating, but I’m also not sure it doesn’t deserve it.

Fairly classic yet commercial success

This is a good album, I just never got into Bruce. Maybe because it was overplayed so much when I was a kid, or it felt so much like music for another generation (even though I listen to a ton of stuff from the same era) I don't know how much I would go back to this album. Can't deny the songwriting and the great band though.

Classic. Easy. Almost a solid listen from front to back.

The thing about Bruce Springsteen to me is that his music just isn't what I want to listen to. I get the appeal it has for a lot of people but there's just something about the sound of all his records I don't like. Maybe there's too much in there with horns and keys and backup vocals. And on this album in particular there is so much reverb that much of it sounds cave-like. Springsteen seems like he would be a super awesome dude to hang out with and I appreciate his politics and the good that he does in the world. His music is just not for me. I mean there are some songs that I like on this album but if I never heard them again I don't feel like I would be any worse off. 3/5

I liked this more than I wanted to. It has the early/ mid 80's filler in the middle of the album, but when these songs hit, they hit hard. It's a nostalgia of a place that the right seems to idolize, but tells a truer story of hardship and struggle. Even includes a fuck you to them in the form of "Glory Days." Can't believe I'm giving a 5 star to an album my mom likes.

The Good: The Boss
The Bad: Having to look at his ass on the cover…
The Ugly: The tucked red baseball cap in the right pocket, which we all know is code for…

To think that I never listened to the album when it came out… at least, I can’t recall sitting down and listening to it. I did have a friend in high school who was totally into the Boss and tried to get me to start listening to him, instead, I spend my hard saved cents on Van Halen’s ¨1984¨as well as the glorious ¨Purple Rain¨…

Thus, decades later, I sit here and wonder why my supposed intelligence did not tell me ¨go ahead, take a listen to the Boss, as there has to be a reason they call him such…¨

In the best of faith I am not allowed to give this album 5*, though it sure gets close to that ranking. Instead, I will give this a more than solid 4 1/2* as hours later I am still whistling ¨my home town¨ and analyzing the piano portion of ¨born in the USA¨

Awesome album, and greatful to have finally ¨forced myself¨ to listen to it!!!

4 8/10*

Wow, the second Bruce Springsteen record in 2 days time. I get why this one is on here, because it has the hits and the iconic voice, but did he really deserve to have more than one album on here? The writer must be a nationalist and consider this guy a national treasure. I'll give it a 2 just because these songs were hits, but I am so sick and tired of them.

After having 4 (of the 5) Springsteen albums on the 1001 list, I was hoping this one may pique my interest, but nope, I still don't care much for Bruce Springsteen.

Interestingly the worst part of this are the hit singles.

Doesn’t really have a lot of interest to me. I like glory days and my hometown is alright but the rest puts me to sleep or is way overplayed.

Congratulations, Bruce Springsteen! You finally surpassed the three-star boundary! It's by a small margin, I'll admit, but that doesn't mean you didn't do it. Now, if you could please make music that doesn't sound like a backyard BBQ at the whitest guy you know's house, that'd be great. I cannot deny that some of the hits here, specifically the second rate ones, are quite good. However, the deep cuts and the biggest hits both make me land somewhere from rolling my eyes to wanting to hurl. I understand the lyrics of Born in the U.S.A. are not what your racist uncle think they are, but that doesn't excuse the terribly repetitive, dated synth, the awful chorus, and that terrible voice Springsteen is putting on. It's like asking to be lumped in with the same crowd you're criticizing when you're that indecipherable. It just feels like an album that the "middle-class hero" is supposed to live by, but all I hear is what spawned modern country rock. However, there are just enough moments here where I'll admit this is my favorite of his career. It's just mainstream enough that I imagine anyone could find one song here to like (I choose Cover Me), and that has to count for something, I think. This album just feels like the kind of satire that hits the nail on the head so perfectly that it stops being parody, and just being another roots rock album, and I just can't into that; not enough, any way.

Pretty good but Glory Days ruins it

I have heard Bruce Springsteen live again and again at the continental Nights of the Proms. That was always thrilling. This album contains some of his greatest hits. Nevertheless, I can't do that much with it. I probably won't look for this album on purpose.
3/5

I am not a huge fan of typical 1980’s production stylings, and there are times on this album where the gated drums are a bit much for me, or there’s a little too much echo for my liking. However, the songs are so good, and in recent years, I’ve come around to it more and more. The title track, which sounds like a fun, upbeat song on first listen, is a great, biting commentary on the state of America post-Vietnam. “I’m on Fire” is a really effective song, I love the bed of synths that really set the mood well. “Dancing in the Dark”, kind of like the title track, at first glance is just this fun upbeat pop song, but some really heavy lyrics underneath it all, really fantastic song. I love “Downbound Train”, “No Surrender”, the closer “My Hometown”...even though it’s only my ninth favorite Springsteen album, I still really like it a lot, and I have just recently bumped it up to 4 stars.

4/5

This album was good, definitely meant for a red-blooded blue-collar American. The hits stood out and some fell by the wayside. All together a good listen, seems like a cool dude. 3/5.

Born In The U.S.A. is probably my favorite Bruce Springsteen album so far. Unlike Born To Run which only was at it's best during it's last half. This one kept things way more consistent with it's quality throughout the whole album. I also thought the new wave elements added a bit of an interesting quality to this album that the other two albums i did by Springsteen didn't have. It also did have songs that sounded a bit like what i heard in the other two but it was balanced well with the new sound. This album is a pretty good album that i can say is a good anthem for America especially with it's title track.
Best Song: Glory Days
Worst Song: Darlington County

3.58

murica