The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle

[Davey]

Did Springsteen ever put out a record better than this? For me, I don't think so. Some compare it to what Van Morrison did on Astral Weeks, and maybe there's something to that as it does have a jazz side, and it was a one-off that influenced future records, but was never revisited. And of course, it did have a lot of Bob Dylan too. And those David Sancious keyboards and Vini Lopez drums give it such a spontaneous sound, like it could collapse any minute, but never does. Great production, not an audiophile classic, but a classic in its own right, and a rock classic for sure. Listening to the original Columbia CD right now and it sounds great, pretty crankable, too bad his records never sounded this good again.

[Swish]

But as the years went by, I can agree with you on this. I really wasn't a big fan after the first 3 and don't really listen to him any longer.

[Smokey]

Did Springsteen ever put out a record better than this?

Yes he did. Darkness On The Edge Of Town record

[Mr MidFi]

The first 4 albums are all important to me. But TWTIATESS gets a lot of love around the MidFi household, no question. As you say, pretty crankable... both it and BTR don't sound quite right at low volumes.

[3LB]

Hands down, his best. I was not a major Springsteen fan (still aren't) before hearing this album for the first time, way back when. I've heard most of his canon, but for some reason, I never got into Bruce cuz he struck me as one of those artists we're supposed to love, crowned by rags like Rolling Stone as the savior of rock. In fact, it was my neighbor who had this CD, and I borrowed it because I really liked the song 'Rosalita' but never bothered to buy the album. I was blown away by it and it remains in strong rotation today. Its very evocative, very romantic, sweet and tender in some spots and rollicking in others. This is probably where people started comparing him to Dylan and that was a mistake, because it seemed that Bruce took on this mantle and tried to make every track thereafter sound Dylanesque (except for 10th Ave Freeze Out from BTR, which sounded like it a hold-over from Wild & Innocent). I agree with every bit of gushing prose I've ever read about this album. Kitty's Back is classic rock n' roll and always lifts my sprirts, as does Rosalita. But my oh my, NYC Serenade is so brilliant and touching, and Wild Billy's Circus seems magical to me, even if some people are left scratching their head. This is story rock at its best and I'm amazed at people who claim to be ardent fans but can't even say they've ever listened to this album, which is so superior to anything this man has done since. I've said it here before, I'll say it again; on Wild & Innocent Bruce celebrated life, on everything else, he wallows in it.

[Davey]

Hands down, his best.

As usual, good comments and insight. I grew up with Born To Run as his introduction, knowing it wasn't his first, but there seemed always too much to explore in those days to go backwards. So it wasn't until quite a few years later, I think around the time of Born In the USA, a friend told me that this one was the real one. And yea, I didn't believe it at first, but when I grew up a little more, I realized he was obviously right.