Darkness on the Edge of Town

A mediocre selection of working-class mumbles periodically broken up by unimpressive guitar solos and unnecessary saxophone solos.

Save 4 years of college in Upstate New York, I’ve lived my entire life in New Jersey. Despite what the internet and television will have you believe, it’s an amazing place to live. Here in Central Jersey, I can be in New York City in an hour, Philadelphia in just a little over an hour. I can take a day trip to the beach on short notice or spend the afternoon hiking the Appalachian trail. The food here is amazing and diverse. Within a half an hour, I can eat great food from just about every continent on earth. Our pizzerias, delis and diners are easily among the best in the entire country, don’t listen to what New Yorkers say. I’ve travelled all over the country over the last decade for work: California, Chicago, Washington state, Texas, Colorado, the South, the Midwest, the Southwest…all over. I’ve yet to find a place that offers as much as New Jersey does, or, at least, one that offers as much within such a close proximity. Yes, it’s expensive to live in and the traffic sucks, but it’s home. Like a pork roll, egg and cheese on a hard roll (with salt, pepper, ketchup) or Zeppole’s on the boardwalk, Bruce Springsteen is ingrained in my cultural DNA. I remember being a small child, not more than 4 or 5, Born in the USA playing on the radio, singing it out on the back porch while my parents and their friends grilled up burgers and dogs for the 4th of July. This is life in NJ. Even if you don’t listen to Bruce, you fucking know Bruce. It’s inescapable. You go to Asbury Park for shows at the Stony Pony, you travel up and down routes 1 & 9…the places he performed at, the places and people he sings about: they are places and people you are all too familiar with. Honestly, I’ve never considered myself a Springsteen fan at all. In my 41 years, I don’t think I’ve ever sat down and put on a Springsteen record and I definitely don’t own any. Darkness on the Edge of Town, until today, was no exception. Sometimes we take our backgrounds for granted. Traditions have a way of becoming mechanical: you celebrate holidays a certain way because that’s just what your family has always done. You don’t dig into the reasons why you have a certain meal for Christmas Eve, because it’s second nature, it’s just what you do. That’s my relationship with Bruce Springsteen. He looms so large in the place I am from that he’s almost an omnipresence, so I never really looked into the “why”, I just accepted it and honestly didn’t think about it too much…The sky is blue, grass is green, New Jersey is Springsteen Country. (I had no intention in penning a love letter to my state when I put this record on today, but that’s where we’re at. Just roll with me on this one, thanks.) Digging into Darkness on the Edge of Town, I’m instantly comforted. This is like home cooking; comfort food for my disaffected working class soul. Believe me, typing that out is just as corny to me as it is to you, dear reader. I can’t help that it’s the truth. Springsteen is on a tear on this record: aggressive, urgent, introspective, blunt and often flat-out beautiful. I could listen to “Badlands”, “Something in the Night” or “Prove It All Night” a hundred more times today and probably not be sick of them. This record rocks hard. That Bruce is, in many ways, the face of New Jersey makes total sense to me. He is a fitting encapsulation of this state’s underdog spirit. I may not have wanted to admit that for many years, but Darkness on the Edge of Town is resonating with me on such a guttural level that I’m not sure I can accurately describe it in any other way. It just feels so right. Maybe it’s nostalgia, maybe it’s me finally embracing my place as a fully fledged New Jerseyan….I don’t know, but it’s a fucking great record and I should have become familiar with it a long time ago. My bad, Boss.

Whenever I get asked what is something most people love and you don’t I say Bruce Springsteen. I’m tired of having to say this, please randomly give us something else

They don’t call him the boss for nothing

Good music but I can really only handle Bruce's voice in small doses.

If the music was accompanied by someone who can sing, the album would actually be really good.

Where's the option for 7 stars?

Excellent, epic and emotional. Better than Born to Run for me and my first 5* review. There's just something about The Boss that just taps into the working man mindset. Melancholy at times, hopeful and uplifting at others, he just gets what it is to be alive.

The album picks up from where Born to Run left off with the rousing 'Badlands', but listen closer and you will notice that Bruce's lyrics crackle with biblical imagery and religious fervour, this is repeated throughout on the likes of 'Adam raised a Cain' , 'Promised Land' and 'Darkness on the Edge of Town' . Has the Boss found God? Where Dylan was just entering his Fire and Brimstone phase with Slow Train Coming, which acts as a rallying cry for pious action in the material world (and turned off a large proportion of his Liberal base), Springsteen's spiritual focus is an introspective and personal crusade for self actualisation; the song becomes the sacrament, and what magnificent songs. It was also around this time when Van Morrison accused Springsteen (amongst others) of ripping him off and you can certainly hear his influence in the slower piano led numbers like 'Racing in the Street' and 'Something in the Night' which are meditative, hypnotic and transcendent. I told you he had found God.

I had some familiarity with this album already, but gave it a thorough listen (ok several) and really liked it. Darker than his previous albums, but so good. Adam Raised a Cain and Racing in the Streets are two that I hadn’t paid attention to that I especially liked in addition to the already known singles such as Prove it all Night, Badlands and Darkness. 5

70s Springsteen is best Springsteen

How many times have the Killers listened to this album weeping enviously

"Candy's Room" is fast-paced and fun, not super into the power ballads, but liked "Streets of Fire". Not the most exciting album.

Raw and gritty. This album produced Bruce's best work, because he was locked in a legal battle for ownership of his work and he couldn't put out any new music until it was settled. This meant he worked. And worked…and worked. This album has my favorite Bruce song - Something in the Night, it's such a beautiful song. Add to it Candy's Room and Racing in the Street as some of the lesser known songs to the biggies like Badlands, The Promised Land, Prove it All Night and Darkness make this a full five-star album.

A haiku: Have you heard this one Characters love cars and girls Always hate their town

Snorefest. I really don't get Springsteen.

15th June 2021 Have this on vinyl so cracked it out in the morning while working on civil service live. Nothing to say. 10 out of 5.

Controversial opinion. This is his best work. His best, angriest and most solid batch of songs put together in the perfect order. I don't think hes ever topped this. It’s darker than what came before it and a reminder that life will beat the shit out of you and leave you broken. A story as old as time and no one tells it better than Bruce. 5/5

This was better than I expected. Varied melodies and tempos plus good lyrics make it easy to listen. Some nice songs I hadn't heard before.

30 seconds in and I already loooove it!

Je vais vous raconter dans ce review l'histoire saugrenue derrière la couverture de cet album. Tout d'abord, il est bon de replacer le contexte, et de rappeler que cet album a été enregistré AVANT l'épisode de la guitare. A cette époque, Bruce n'avait donc pas encore engagé sa tentative de reconversion, et jouissait d'une beaufitude des plus totales. Nous sommes le 12 mars 1978, quand Bruce a rendez-vous avec un photographe réputé, professionnel de la couverture d'album. Ce dernier demande à Bruce de poser devant une fenêtre, volets fermés, afin d'accentuer le noir de la veste portée par Bruce. Il conseille également à Bruce de prendre un regard sérieux, presque séducteur, afin d'ajouter à la gravitude du cliché. Au moment où le doigt du photographe rentre en contact avec la détente de l'appareil photo, l'impensable se produit: Bruce dégrafe son pentalon, laissant apparaître son appareil génital. "Mais qu'est ce que tu fais Bruce ?!" s'exclama le photographe, stupéfait. "Bah c'est mes boules, mes grosses couillasses" rétorqua Bruce, avant de partir dans un rire gras. Le photographe étant choqué, et le cliché malgré tout plutôt réussi, il fut décider de rogner la photo, afin de ne laisser apercevoir que le haut du corps de Bruce en guise de couverture d'album.

Il est absolument IMPOSSIBLE d'écouter cet album sans avoir un minimum de contexte en main. On est en 1978, soit quatre ans avant l'épisode de la guitare qui va bouleverser la vie de Springsteen. Il enregistre à cette époque Darkness on the Edge of Town dans le but d'expliquer comment il va s'y prendre pour construire son prochain album, Nebraska, qu'il compte sortir en 1982. La stratégie qu'il développe en chanson est la suivante : se faire pousser une coupe mulet pendant quatre ans pour être fin prêt lors des séances studio. Il ne sait pas encore que cette décision sera le point de départ d'un immense traumatisme. Une fois Darkness enregistré, il décide d'organiser une séance photo et fait venir un professionnel. Ce dernier lui demande de s'adosser au mur et d'ouvrir son blouson noir. Bruce est très aimable et courtois, mais vous allez voir que ça ne va pas durer bien longtemps. Le photographe lui annonce qu'il va bientôt appuyer sur le bouton de son appareil quand soudain, au moment de prendre le cliché, un « zwip » se fait entendre. « Qu'est-ce que c'est ? » demande alors le photographe avant d'apercevoir le sexe de Springsteen sortir de sa braguette. « Tu reconnais pas le petit Jésus, ma couillasse ? » répond le chanteur en agitant son bazar. Horrifié, son interlocuteur quittera la séance sans attendre. Bruce Springsteen sélectionnera tout de même la photo en question pour en faire la couverture de l'album mais son équipe et lui-même prendront soin de rendre invisible la partie de l'image située en dessous de la ceinture.

It’s alright. Probably the most Springsteeny album to ever have Sprungsteen.

Funny that as I get older I appreciate Bruce more. While the power of his passion cascades from song to song, his music just never seems to capture my imagination. It's good, but just not great to my ears.

Might not even be in my top 5 Bruce albums, but still a 5 star album easily.

Brilliant. Not a huge Springsteen fan but this (and Nebraska) are wonderful.

The Boss gets miserable. BT: Adam Raised a Cain, Racing in the Streets, Darkness on the Edge of Town

Het is Bruce Springsteen, dus automatisch vijf sterren.

Favourite Song: The Promised Land

This miiiight be my favorite Bruce album. Its a monster.

This is incredible stuff, should listen to this again.

One of my favorite Springsteen albums, and I have a lot of favorite Springsteen albums. It's edgier and grittier than "Born to Run", but without the bleakness of "Nebraska". Absolutely essential listening, IMO

Here we go! The good songs are so good that even the mediocre songs ("Adam Raised a Cain" & "Prove It All Night") can't pull this down from 5-star territory.

Not my favorite of his, but seminal

who is this dude? the title is so pretentious. bestie this is pop lol racing in the street is a good song! nice job

The Boss's magnum opus.

Badlands, Darkness on the edge of town, etc. Bruce is the boss

Classic Boss here, Opening with Badlands! can't complain about that can you. The E-Street gang at their best, not yet at their peak for sure but when was that peak? Think Bruce is still peaking. The late Clarence Clemons, as usual, supreme in his supporting Sax role on so many of the Tracks and Roy Bittan on Piano and "Little" Steven Van Zandt both on Guitar and Assisting Production. Badlands and The Promise stand out tracks for me.

46. Darkness on the Edge of Town - Bruce Springsteen 10 tracks. This is everything I hoped Born to Run would be, (& wasn't). It's fantastic & even better because so many of the tracks were new to me. Have listened to it about 5 times since the 1st listen & will do again 5/5

Excellent!

One of the best albums ever! Bruce may have the best collection of opening/closing album songs of any artist. 8.64 out of 10

One of my favorites of his. And one of the few albums in this list that I already owned.

Facilement le meilleur album du Boss. Prefs: Badlands, Adam Raised a Cain, Candy's Room, Racing in the Street, The Promised Land, Factory, Darkness on the Edge of Town Moins pref: NADA

Sometimes when I hear an album for the first time, I'll absolutely love it. Sometimes I'll absolutely hate it. But it's really rare that I'll feel "comfortable" with it from the word go. I think by about halfway into the first song here, it felt like I was catching up with an old mate. I've never heard this album before, I don't even think I've heard any of the songs from it. But it legit felt like I've heard it countless times. There's something really cool about that. Can't give it any less than full marks. 5/5.

Thanks for introducing me to Bruce Springsteen

This album was great. I do admit there is still a few songs that still need to grow on me, but whoa. Racing In The Street has to be my favourite track on here. It's simply beautiful.

Superclassic album, every song is a classic -this kind of album shows that a scale from 1 to 10 stars might have been more appropriate than 1 to 5.

Amazing!!

Um dos primeiros álbuns de Bruce. Confesso que conheço pouco de sua obra, mas lendo um resumo breve, vi o quanto é gigante. O álbum é envolvente demais e cada canção traz uma sensação diferente. A letras então nem se fala.

JES! Tää on kyl parhaita levyjä jota vittu tiedän! Ei vaan bossin tuotannosta vaan ylipäätään. Ai saakeli POMO! Eihän tää nyt oo välttämättä suurta ja mullistavaa taidetta mutta mulle tää iskee ku naula päähän. Tää levy on must ehkä jopa kovempi kun yleisesti ylistetty born to run! Jotenki tää on vähän herkempi antamatta yhtään armoo siinä kuinka käsittämätön rock tää on. En kyl tiiä mikä siinä on että New Jerseyn työväenluokan ongelmat seiskytluvun lopulla on niin lähellä mun sydäntä, mut olkoon. Aaaah! Loistava levy. Hyllys älppäri ja kassu ofc. Lempi biisejä Adam raised a cain huikeine kitaroineen, Candys room teinimäisyyksineen ja valtavan iso ja hieno bangeri Prove it all night. Ehkä hienoimpana kuitenkin Racing in the streets! Jos joku miinus pitää kertoo, niin täs on ehkä löysin kansi ikinä suhteessa siihen kuinka hieno levy tää on. 5/5

One of the best Springsteen albums.

This album has no flaws - starting with Badlands - peaking in beauty with Racing in the Streets and Promised Land and ending with an absolute banger of a title track - phew - one of the three flawless Springsteen albums. Might be hard for first time Springsteen listeners and he is generally a ‘grower’ artist but if you’ve warmed up to him this album is a treat.

One of my top 5 albums of all time for sure. Often overlooked by casuals for Born to Run and Born in the USA. It's such a gut wrenching tale of living in a shit town and wanting to break free from that monotony, and yeah yeah it's about being in the US but I think it can be applied to people the world over in so many situations. These lyrics, I mean coooooome on: "I've done my best to live the right way I get up every morning and go to work each day But your eyes go blind and your blood runs cold Sometimes I feel so weak I just want to explode Explode and tear this whole town apart Take a knife and cut this pain from my heart Find somebody itching for something to start" That's top quality. Prove It All Night is more of a crowd pleasing banger but the live versions are incredible. Then you've got Racing in the Street, such a good song about being bored with your life and just going racing in the street just to give your life some pazzazz. Eugh it's excellent.

I know, I know. Another Springsteen album, another 5/5. But this one really deserves it, maybe more so than 'Born in the USA' and 'Born to Run.' It's a little harder to say this one is better than 'Born to Run,' but damn is this album good. 'Darkness on the Edge of Town' just has that Springsteen feel to it. You know it's him and you know how things are going to progress, but not in a bad way. After the success of 'Born to Run,' it feels like Springsteen wanted to put even more of himself into this album, and boy oh boy, does he belt it out when he sings. There's serious weight behind his voice and his words, and you can feel it when he delivers harsh words like "Adam raised a Cain." A fantastic album from start to finish.

This is a classic of tone and one can make a case it’s his best written album overall; it is to Born to Run as Nebraska is to Born in the USA.

I think this is my favourite Springsteen album. I watched a documentary on the making of it, which took a long time due to legal issues, and he had composed and demoed 70+ songs for the LP, finally selecting the best 10. The structure is similar to Born to Run. You have your anthems like Badlands and Promised Land in place of Thunder Road and Jungle Land. Adam Raised the Cain is the perfect song to replace Tenth Avenue Freezeout as the 2nd track. There’s a great deal of diversity, yet it hangs together well, and of course it's the perfect sketch of blue collar America in the 70s. I found his songs became a bit more formula on future albums.

. . . it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive I wanna find one face that ain't looking through me I wanna find one place I wanna spit in the face of these BADLANDS Is anything else needed to get to a 5?

idk if I’d call myself a Springsteen fan but I’ve never heard a Springsteen album I didn’t like as far as I’m aware, I have nothing against this, just all around amazing 10/10

Springsteen = Vinilo.

Typical Bruce. Classic working man rock that sometimes sounds like Christmas music.

Apart from possibly Adam Raised A Cain, this is Springsteen's most brilliant album and there is not a weak track. Amazing to think now it was seen as a disappointment after Born To Run.

My favourite Springsteen album. Not a bad song on it and it rocks like a motorcycle. I think of Darkness as Bruce's punk album. 5 🌟

Meni drugi najbolji bruce

Amazing

Why I never properly listened to this before is a mystery.

this is so good i can still enjoy it with only one working airpods

I think this is album I own #7? And what I record it is! This was probably the first Springsteen album I came to love as an adult, mostly because of its complexity. It sounds so different from the Boss’s other albums, and the songwriting is immaculate. People sleep on “Something in the Night”!

È un capolavoro meraviglioso anche questo album, forse non quanto 'Born to run', ma le sue canzoni, la voce calda e la malinconia che le pervade danno un senso di speranza che emoziona.

91/100: I did not expect to like this album as much as I did. It’s not that I don’t like Bruce Springsteen, I love his music, it’s just that most of his albums I’ve listened to tend to have a lot of bland songs on it with the sporadic banger thrown in there. “Darkness on the Edge of Town” is far from that, though. As each song ended and a new song began, I found myself repeatedly thinking “holy shit, no this is my favorite song on the album.” There’s no better feeling than realizing that a case could be plausibly made for each song to be the best on the album. There are absolutely no skips to be seen here. Lyrically, this is a really sad album, Bruce clearly dug deep to create this masterpiece. Thanks to listening to this album all the way through, I’ve discovered what is quite possibly my favorite Bruce song of all time, “Racing in the Street.” Overall incredible album, will be revisiting this frequently in the future.

One of my favourite albums of all time. Best era Bruce

When I bought the first 2 Springsteen albums through the Australian Record Club, he was virtually unknown in this country. After the success of his 3rd album, Born To Run, he truly was the next big thing. Unfortunately, due to a dispute with his ex-manager, the much awaited follow-up album - this one - took 3 years to surface. When you’re a big fan, that’s a long time between drinks. I remember that it wasn’t what I expected. It’s moodier than it’s predecessor (the title track says a mouthful) with songs about fathers & labour(Adam Raised A Cain; Factory) & basically the American dream (The Promised Land). Thankfully there were no shortage of songs involving cars (I think cars/driving get mentioned in 7 of the 10 tracks) or girls. I’ve always loved Candy’s Room - the speed of it & Springsteen’s guitar tribute to The Yardbirds. He was in his prime. The 70’s were his real glory days.

As someone who now goes to multiple Springsteen shows on different nights (although not yet at the interstate travel stage of doing this), this could be his best album. This, Born to Run, Nebraska, Tunnel of Love, and The Rising are the Top 5. Would have loved him to have done this album when I saw him a few years back but he surprised probably everyone at the Entertainment Centre by doing the whole of 'The Wild, The Innocent and The E Street Shuffle'. The only thing that could have improved this would have been including the Racing In The Street (78) from The Promise album of outtakes from the album sessions. The Promise shows just how on form he and the band were at this point.

Amazing album, I love it. I listened to it on repeat three times through today. Standout Tracks: Badlands, Candy’s Room, Racing in the Street, The Promised Land, Streets of Fire, Prove It All Night, Darkness on the Edge of Town

I have to put down a 5. A life-changing one for sure. Bruce didn’t connect with me before this album, and this was the first one that made contact. Emotional, complex, musically perfectly on point. It got me singing in a new way. I really connect with these songs.

Darkness on the Edge of Town is one of the greatest albums of all time. This is music that has a raging, desperate heartbeat. I am so excited to talk about this album. Bruce had almost an impossible task writing this album. How could he possible come up with anything to match Born to Run, one of the most commercially and critically successful rock albums of the 70s? The answer was to be the most insane perfectionist in rock history. For three years he wrote, penning over 70 songs for his next album in the most inspired and brilliantly creative period of his career. Many of the songs he wrote and discarded became classics for other artists, most notably Because the Night by Patti a Smith. In the end, he had 10 songs. No filler, nothing that didn’t perfectly fit the feel of the album he wanted to craft. I love the journey this album takes you on. It opens with a banger that blows the freaking roof off the place! Badlands is one of the most electrifying tracks the Boss ever wrote. It surges with optimism and that classic gonna get out of this place at all costs Bruce energy. By the end of the first half of the album we have Racing in the Street, a somber, beautiful, bleak as hell ode to finding something that just barely makes life worth living and the people still in search of that. One standout line as the narrator describes his girlfriend: “She stares into the night with the eyes of one who hates for just being born.” And then he jolts you back to life with The Promised Land, probably the catchiest song on the album, even more explosive in its energy and passion than Badlands. Listen to Steve Van Zandt whip up a beautiful melody on his guitar solo that turns out to be a mere assist for Clarence Clemons to demolish that sax solo! I love the image of the dogs on Main Street howling as they cheer Bruce on. This is about as uplifting a song as I’ve ever heard. But ultimately that’s not what this album is all about, at least not to me. Darkness on the Edge of Town, the last song, really sums it all up for me. In the second verse Bruce sings about the burdens we carry with us, the regrets, the secrets and shame, whatever it is. “Til someday you just cut it lose, cut it lose or let it drag you down” he wails as the band surges behind him. This is music about doing whatever you have to do to live with yourself, to survive. I’m in awe of this song every time I hear it. How lonely and isolating it is while being empowering and life affirming. That’s Bruce for me. 5/5

Calssique de classique. Mon préféré de Bruce et un de mes albums préférés tout court. 5

Two days of Bruce in a row! This was much more fun to listen to, much more of the pop rock sound that I know of Springsteen. Giving it a 5

Iconische plaat van Bruce. Het swingt, het rockt, het ontroert. Van voor tot achter een top album, dat absoluut hoort in een lijstje met albums die je ooit gehoord moet hebben.

A worthy follow up to "Born To Run." More refined and down to earth, but every bit as powerful and dramatic. This is where he really seems to start embracing the reality of blue collar life in a more direct way, rather than using it as an evocative backdrop for fantastical poetic imagery and escapism. An underrated sweet spot in his catalog. Pair this with "The Promise" to hear how absolutely on fire he was as a songwriter at this point in his career.

Potser la menys perfecta del reguitzell d'obres magnes que va produïr Bruce durant aquells anys. Si a 'Born to Run' havia parlat de la llibertat, en un sentit força ample, aquí la lluita de classes agafa protagonisme, així com la generacional. Veient la qualitat de tots els temes que es van quedar al calaix durant els 3 anys que va haver d'estar parat, potser hauria tingut més sentit fer com després a 'The River' i editar un disc doble que inclogués cançons com 'Because the Night'. 'The Promise', 'Rendezvous', 'Gotta Get That Felling', etc. Seria l'excepció que trenca la regla en aquest sentit, però tal com es va editar es queda molt curt. Continua sent indispensable, és clar

- Listened to this before - Thought I preferred some of his other albums, but this is a lot better than I remember - Probably the first of multiple 5* ratings I'll give Springsteen albums - Fav songs: Darkness on the Edge of Town, Candy's Room, Badlands

The follow up to Born To Run. Hard rocking and he perfects his stories of ordinary people shtick Good album through and through

Rating: 9/10 Best songs: Badlands, Candy’s room, Racing in the street, The promised land, Factory, Street of fire, Prove it all night

I am happy that we had been left this for the weekend. 20 years back I would not have had time for BS. Surprised by the density of guitar wail, which works for me.

The Boss' best.

Wow. This hit me like a gut punch today for some reason. I had listened to this not so long ago, and I found it a little growly and slow I didn't love it. I guess that speaks to the environment and personal place I'm at when I listen and how that affects my relationship to a given album at the time. "Badlands" might be my favorite Bruce tune — and I'm not a diehard fan. I really like "Born To Run" and this album, and "Greetings" too, but that's sort of the extent of my fandom. "Candy's Room" is another standout — "Prove It All Night," "Darkness," and "Promised Land," and "Adam Raised A Cain" — all great songs and lots of biblical lyrics and references. I was just so moved by how primal this all sounded, and coming from an artist who had just come off of "Born To Run," which must have changed his life, this seemed like a concerted effort to prove he still had his feet on the ground. The photo on the cover is evidence of that. The band sounds muscular and tight, all that touring made the E-Street Band a monster, Clarence's sax is a force of nature, and while I think there are two too many slower tunes on the album, Springsteen's capacity to write ballads about fellas driving their cars in total disillusion is kind of a marvel. So yeah, I was deeply moved by this album this morning. Wouldn't have guessed it.

Fine, my Jersey roots continue to show in the fact that I genuinely love this album. Not even the Boss' weird yawlp a few times on earlier tracks could prevent that. Favorite tracks: "Racing In The Streets", "Streets of Fire", "Prove It All Night", "Darkness On the Edge of Town"

Harder, gritter, darker and better (well in my opinion) than Born to Run, this is Springsteens best album, brilliant. His second masterpiece.

Fucking hell this is awesome

Classic and perfect.

My favorite album from my favorite artists. One of the best albums of all time. Perfection.

Given that I have given five stars to *Born To Run*, I can only give five stars for this one as well: *Darkness In The Edge Of Town*, released three years after Springsteen's magnum opus, is a welcome evolution of the man's artistry and overall sound after all, and the stellar "Badlands", "The Promised Land", "Streets Of Fire", "Prove It All Night" and the title track are enough evidence that you can't seriously talk about the Boss without mentioning this LP. Other cuts on the record are pretty impressive too, by the way: "Candy's Room" is for instance a criminally underrated gem, its infectious glockenspiel riff being one of the top best arrangements ever penned by the Boss in my book, and its overall instrumentation being also grittier and harder than your usual Springsteen song. And so is the instrumentation and performance on "Abel Raised A Cain"... You can sense that in 1978 the advent of punk rock did have a relative influence on the sort of epic blue-collar songcraft displayed by Bruce. Which makes total sense. Here is the sort of subtle ingredient that made this record age like fine wine, contrary to other LPs with Springsteen's name on it. And it's what makes it an "essential" album, along with *Born To Run* and *Nebraska*. Number of albums left to review: 592 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 195 Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 91 Albums from the list I will certainly *not* include in mine (many others are more essential to me): 122

I’m not completely sure on this five.But it’s a really nice sounding album with lots of hooks.I don’t know if I’ll ever go out of my way to listen to it again but I can see why propel would really love it.Really liked that song about the promised land.

I'm one of those people who, in the on-going debate of which is the best Springteen album (at least of the pre-2000 years), is the best: Born in the USA or Darkness on the Edge of Town? Whenever I lead to one, the other ones let me discover something new. Right now, while listening to this classic again, I think Darkness has a small lead. While not all the songs are as iconic as on the later follow up they do have bit more variety in style to them. Darkness shows how Springteen's Roy Bittan pianist placed the keys so central compared to other rock music at the time, especially as punk was on the rise. That really helps to stand out and makes every track a great story of their own. 'Adam Raised A Cain' and the title track might be my favourite ones on this grandiose journey through the American heartland. The 'worst' track might be 'Streets of Fire' because it is just an example of the forceful albeit by now standard, even somewhat parody-ish Springsteen style. But other than that? A great classic.

Probably in my personal top 10 albums of all time so I’m torn between keeping this super short or writing 9 paragraphs. Just excellent and sincere songwriting, singing, and musicianship all around. This is an extremely serious rock and roll record without any of the pretension that alienated me from prog rock. “Prove It All Night” is one of my favorite songs ever but honestly every single song on here is good and is a great illustration on why keeping albums shorter is a good idea. Some of my favorite moments are the opening wail of “something in the night”, the band kicking in on the title track, the pre-chorus in “The Promised Land” and the bridge of “Badlands”. Easy 5.

I remember the anticipation leading up to the release of this album and then listening to it over and over and over. One of Bruce's best efforts. Some of the songs are a little more downbeat, but the lyrics are great and the band is at it's best. Badlands, Prove It and Promised Land get all the glory, but Candy's Room, Darkness and Adam Raised a Cain are outstanding tracks. I especially love the guitar on Adam Raised a Cain. I think this counts as the band's first "grown up" record. All in all this is a fantastic record and easily deserves a 5!

The summer of 78. I wore out multiple copies of this album (that was a thing back then). I was 17 and travelled around the northeast going to Bruce shows (the '78 tour was the best in my opinion). This may be his best set of songs overall. All three singles flopped (Prove It All Night, Promised Land and Badlands). Yet, all three were in the set list last month when I saw him. 20,000 people sang along and knew every word. Not enough stars.

Excellent album. Probably more of a 4.5 for me but I’ll round up in honor of all the Bruce heads in this group.

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Man this was a brilliant album. It was incredibly upbeat when it wanted to be while also having this air of darkness and despair over it, and pulled off that dichotomy to perfection on tracks like Adam Raised a Cain. However, the album's absolute masterpiece came with Racing in the Street. It reminded me so much of River for being a crushing song written around an interpolation of what's usually a happy, upbeat song, and executed it just as well as Joni did. I was absolutely floored by it. Every Springsteen album I've heard so far has wowed me, and this one the most of all. An easy five stars. Listen to Racing in the Streets, Candy's Room, Adam Raised a Cain, the whole album honestly.