Darkness on the Edge of Town

Poetry + Passion = Perfection

My favorite Springsteen album. Moody and dark, you can almost feel the dirt under your fingernails and the sweat dripping. Pretty good imagery from a guy that self-admittedly never had a "real job". The E Street Band sounds great, as always. This band is way underrated.

Some albums are clsssics for a reason. I should’ve been up on this decades ago, but was a close-minded teenager when it came to music genres at the time, focused more on Pop and R&B and assumed Rock wasn’t my cup of tea despite recommendations to not sleep on Bruce from a good friend. Should’ve listened to him; would’ve had decades of joy from appreciating this one.

I think the randomizer might have come into play on this eclipse day. "Darkness on the Edge of Town" is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen. The album was recorded after a lengthy legal dispute between Bruce and former manager Mike Appel. This allowed for the band to write about 70 songs. It is a more raw, harder rock sound than the "wall of sound" "Born to Run." The music and lyrics were inspired by John Steinback novels, John Ford novels, punk rock and country music. The album hit #5 in the US and #14 in the UK. The album initially had decent critical reviews upon its review but now it is considered one of his best works. An anthemic start opens the album and "Badlands." Muddled but hopeful vocals by persevering to succeed against oppression. It slows down and speeds up as Bruce wants to spit in the face of these badlands. A long piano intro begins the melancholic "Something in the Night." Great and emotional yearning and howling by Sprinsteen. Piano, drums and Springsteen whispering begins "Candy's Room." The drums explodes and pretty much carry the song the rest of the way. A fantasy song and, actually, one of my favorite of Springsteen. The harmonica takes the place of the piano as the first instrument heard in "The Promised Land." Another hopeful song running parallel to the opening song. A nice sax solo. The first single was "Prove It All Night." A pretty standard rock song but sounds good. The album closes with the self-titled "Darkness on the Edge of Town." Piano driven and emotionally sung, it wraps things up by the narrator losing everything but refusing to give up...the overarching album theme. This album has some of Springsteen's best and more emotional vocals. It does have a harder edge than "Born to Run." This isca good album to look at with regards to his timeline; with the abundance of songs written, some of these end up on his next album "The River." The somber and more melancholic songs also point to where he would go on "Nebraska." Overall, this album ranks pretty high on my Springsteen album list.

It's Bruce - it's the voice, the band, the writing, the whole extraoirdinary package. Not the best of his albums, but, that too would be hard to choose. There's a unity in this work that makes it outstanding - moods, themes, consistent and well executed as a whole.

Easy five stars. Great from open to close.

Brilliant

I only know Bruce Springsteen by name, at least with other artists that I didn't know about their music I had an idea of their genre or sound, but with him I don't have a clue, so this will be interesting. Holy shit, this sounds too well produced to be from 1978, yet it sounds like what you'd expect from that time period (In a good way). It's a chill record and I really dig its sound and catchy songwriting. The guitars are great and in the right quantity. I really liked it and if it wasn't for a few songs (Candy's Room and Racing in The Street), which I didn't enjoy that much this would've easily been a 5 stars record, but I was between a 4 and a 5. In the end I decided that this was a 4.5 and since I had a good day I chose to round it up to 5 stars. I'm definitely listening to this again some time in the future. I got quite a good impression of Mr. Springsteen and I hope to come across him soon in this challenge. Best Song was Adam Raised a Cain Worst song was Candy's Room

i'm a decent fan of bruce and this one, i think is my favorite of his, at the end of the day. although it doesn't have the same peaks as 'born to run' i think the crop of songs are more consistent, and i love the dark, more aggressive sound he employs on this one. of course, his songwriting on this is top notch, as it almost always is. just a great album through and through

Classic rock. Excellent album by Bruce Springsteen (though not in my top 3) with some classic songs. Bruce is a phenomenal songwriter and his raspy voice conveys the heartache and longing central to his lyrics perfectly. His band is excellent and his music occupies a special place in the classic rock canon. Badlands, Candy's Room, Promised Land, Prove It All Night and the title track are all excellent.

Was für ein Album! Gefüllt mit Klassikern, schlicht instrumentiert und mit dichter Atmosphäre. Ich bin einmal mehr begeistert! 5

FIVE

Arguably, the Boss’s best album. Great songs with meaningful stories and kick-ass music!

Superb

Sehr cool

Reflective, melancholy Bruce is one's favorite Boss. This contains some of his best and bitterest songwriting and most aching/heartfelt vocals. So many haunting songs and such humanity. “Badlands” and “Promised Land” are classics, of course, but it’s the deep and powerful introspection of “Something in the Night,” “Candy’s Room,” “Racing in the Street” (masterclass in songwriting) and “Factory” that sets the record apart. Nary a misplaced note. In assessing the quality, consider that “Prove It All Night,” with one of the best lines in the Boss canon (“if dreams came true/ah, wouldn’t that be nice”) and great sax/guitar solos, may not even be a top 5 song on this record).

I love Bruce Springsteen

Fantastic album. I'd somehow never heard "Racing In The Street" before and it's utterly heartbreaking.

Other than a handful of songs, I'm not really a Springsteen fan. However, the older I get the more I appreciate his songwriting and the passion that he puts into his singing (you can debate his ability there all that you want to). This is a great, heart-felt album that reflects the hopes/lost dreams of angst-ridden teenagers and the American working class.

I just discovered "Racing in the streets" and it's magnificent.

badlands adam raised a cain candy's room streets of fire prove it all night darkness on the edge of town

As Zach pointed out to me, I didn't need to listen to this one to know I would give it a 5. I know this album better than anything that's been on the list so far. Badlands is simply awesome. Adam Raised a Cain is one of my least favorite Bruce songs - one minor blemish on the album. I really like The Promised Land and then the album finishes with my two favorite tracks: Prove It All Night and the title track. Overall - an absolutely wonderful album for me.

I didn't know this album as well as I know born to run or the wild the innocent and the e street shuffle, but I was really glad it ended up coming on a Friday cuz I ended up listening to it all weekend and every song made it into my favorites list. Just a spectacular sun from stay to finish. Immaculate energy, great songwriting, great drums, great piano. I also learned that the e streets pianist is the same piano player used by Jim Steinman on Bat out of hell and total eclipse of the heart

It's not quite peak Springsteen (Born to Run) but it's up there.

Right up there with The River for me. It took me a long time to like Bruce, but this album is a great example of his songwriting. Racing in the Streets is one of my all-time favorites!

ADAM RAISED A CAIN

Hard for an album to have a stronger opening track than “Badlands.” Definitely one of the all-time greats! Listening to Springsteen makes you feel like you just worked a double-shift digging ditches at a steel mill, only to come home and find an eviction notice on your door and yet feel that you’re strong enough to keep doing what needs to be done. A cognitively dissonant blend of feeling bleak and hopeful at the same time. It’s brilliant!

I think I finally fully get The Boss. This album is incredible, the band is tight and the emotion in The Boss' voice is great

Just awesome from start to finish. If I could only have one Springsteen album, this would be it

Some real gems here - Badlands, of course, and Racing in the Streets, a beautiful song; one of Springsteen's best. The stripped back production on this album, in contrast to the bombast of Born to Run which preceded it, really lets the songs shine. I have a sneaky suspicion this might be better than Born to Run - the songs feel more complex and emotionally weighty - there’s a thoughtfulness around choosing the musical style to suit the story of the don’t. I gave BTR five stars so…

My favorite record of all time and probably the best expression of Brice's contribution to rock music Pete Townshend put it best: "When Bruce Springsteen sings on [Darkness], that's not about "fun", that's fucking triumph, man !"

All timer.

My favorite Springsteen album. Saw this tour in ‘78 and became an instant Springsteen fan. Amazing show, amazing live performer supporting an amazing album. Great Rock & Roll.

songs that are slices of life that were not mine but became so.

Classic

Good shit

🥰✌🏽

timeless. you can still hear this album’s influence everywhere today

Beautiful, down to earth and a good reason to check out more of The Boss

Timeless, classic storytelling at its best.

Great record!

Amazing

Loved it, raw gravelly vocals, working class struggle and pride

Felt as much as it was heard

Wasn’t sure what to expect after first listen of “Badlands”…initially, Springsteen’s voice didn’t sound like they matched the instrumentals. Listened a second time, while paying close attention to the lyrics, and I couldn’t help but feel like I’d heard a truly great song. “Adam Raised Cain,” “Something in the Night”, “Racing in the Street”—his voice and the subject matter feel familiar despite the fact I couldn’t be more different than him. Listening to this album makes me feel nostalgic and youthful (not naive youthful, rather a learned/wise youthful).

Great album, one of Springsteen’s best

Decent album. I can see why he popular. He's a good songwriter and musician.

Incredible album start to finish. One of Bruce’s best. Adam Raised a Cain, Candy’s Room, and Prove it All Night are my top 3 favorite tracks. -Klep

Super!

Solid outing from The Boss.

I think born to run is his first breakout album but I may prefer this one. While not as grand, there is more variety. Candy’s room is definitely my favorite Bruce Springsteen ever. Promised land is beautiful. The closing title track is a barn burner of an ending too. He’ll never be my favorite artist but he is an undeniably singer songwriter. You know his voice/his style when you hear it. Very quintessential American feeling.

This album is a great example of why you should not listen to "best of" or "greatest hits" compilations. These songs weren't all popular but as a whole the album was great. It had me captured from start to finish and was an experience I'll be revisiting for sure.

One of my all time favorites! Love how the music is arranged and great lyrics. A little bias as I have deep Jersey roots.

En la película Pretty Woman aparece una versión de Racing in the Street, sólo en piano.

This album has one of the all time most awesome opening tracks (Badlands) and an equally awesome album closer (Darkness on the Edge of Town). Again, the power of a fully balanced record. The hits are still amazing and the songs that link to them are sold as well Was never a big Brice fan but thos album is special.

The general consensus is that Springsteen's best album is either Born To Run or Born In The USA. Are we sure it couldn't be Darkness On The Edge Of Town? It's where the whole Springsteen as Eveyman ehtos was cemented. People tend to give this one the short shrift because it doesn't have any hits. That's almost a benefit and not a fearure. There are at least three songs that are Springsteen legacy hits if not radio hits. And it's a great palette cleanser from all of the Boss songs you've already heard a million times. It probably lives in the 4.5 zone. For now. It's aged remarkably well so I'm grading up.

Good album by The Boss. It's Bruce being Bruce singing Bruce songs. It has solid rock vibes with Bruce's blue collar voice.

The instrumental here is some of the most crisp and layered of the decade. Each song paints an engaging landscape from start to finish. Bruce Springsteen is not a good singer.

Springsteen would take his edge further with Nebraska but this is a defining album for him.

Brilliant.

Day 2 does not disappoint! One of my favorite Springsteen albums! If I was a day laborer who liked to drag race at night, this album would be the soundtrack of my life. Dark and broody, just like the title suggests.

Springsteen at his best. My favorite of his and a top 20 album of all time.

5.0

Didn't expect to like this, but can't stop listening. Silvio is the man. Bruce is the Boss.

Thoughts before listening: This is my favorite Springsteen album. Review: There's not much else to say about this. I love this album. The hits are popular for a reason, but I love the deep cuts on this...Adam Raised a Cain, Candy's Room, Prove It All Night, etc. All great songs that remained heavy hitters in Bruce's live shows.

Damn, young Bruce looking like brooding and enigmatic snack on this cover! He’s at his highest growling and raspy peak here. The songwriting is phenomenal, the lyricism is endlessly intriguing, and it’s paced perfectly. This is an album you can sit with for several rotations before it’s full and impressive impact is felt. I love this one, the Boss is a powerfully talented dude. Respect.

bruce springstee

Every Bruce Springsteen album gets an automatic 5, but this one would have been 5 anyway. I have a commemorative anniversary edition of this album! That’s significant because I offload all my music purchasing to Jo except for this one

I'd say in reality it's a 4-4.5 so am being positive with the rating. Springsteen holds a lot of nostalgia for me and his song writing and expression strikes a chord that elevates his music a great deal. Racing in the Street is a particular highlight but not a bad song on the album.

I bought this album for $1 at a swap meet back when everyone was switching to CD's and used records were cheap. It's a solid album. The good songs are really good and the ok songs are still pretty good. 70's Bruce was awesome.

No waste

Love Springsteen!

I’m definitely biased because this is my favourite Springsteen album, and as such one of my favourite albums of all time. In many ways, Darkness is a less perfect album than Born to Run. Born to Run is perfectly structured, follows a story in an interesting way, and rises and falls in mood and tempo. It is structured like a great tragic drama. Darkness on the Edge of Town is Noir through and through. It is darker, it is bleaker, it is more desperate. The instances where light does break through are still tinged with darkness. Because it seems less structured than Born to Run it weirdly seems to tell a more cohesive story. We get more of a view of the characters, more detail regarding their situation and their surrounding. And as such, the stories of these ground down losers are all the more heartbreaking than Born to Run’s hopeful losers. Anyone who doesn’t like this album has no soul.

Boss album. 5 stars.

Another great one by the Boss! It features a lot of his staple songs which greatly benefitted his popularity. Sometimes it seems, with each listen, it's gaining a lout of momentum and I could see this one growing to become my favorite. record of him. But his discography is wild and just too much good albums to pick from! But this is a nearly perfect album and I love it very much! 9 out of 10

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

Takes you to a different world. It has you believe you can overcome a life you've never experienced in the first place.

Brilliant. I see this album as a sort of 'electric Nebraska'.

Springsteen = Vinilo.

En la película Pretty Woman aparece una versión de Racing in the Street, sólo en piano.

Album 126 of 1001 Bruce Springsteen - Darkness on the Edge of Town Rating : 5 / 5 Favorite Track : The Promised Land I have always given Bruce Springsteen props for being a masterful performer. Everyone always talked about how great his live shows were and when I finally had a chance to see him, I fully agreed. Lately, I've found that he is owed the respect as a great artist, overall. I wasn't expecting this to hit as hard as Born to Run - I'm still not sure if it did - but, in its own right, it is just as good. Once you become familiar with him as an artist, you see that all of his songwriting is so unique to itself. So low key and simple yet so powerful. He seems to have a real reason for writing each song and seems to give the same care to them all. Maybe I overdo it, but I've often heard him being written off as some untalented hack and its likely that I listened to that too much. Top notch album.

5/5 One of my favourite albums of all time. Classic from start to finish Best song is Racing In The Street, probably a top 5 Bruce song. Something in the Night is another low key highlight No negatives, all good. Great album

When the going gets tough, the tough get fucked and when the tough gets fucked, all that is left is some tall tales about the very people that just so happens to be around us and amongst us and that's who Bruce Springsteen best caters to. On Darkness on the Edge of Town, Ashbury Park's greatest weaves together songs that don't have a connective tissue yet are all apart of the same universe that can only house those particular maladies. Perhaps more rugged than what came before, this album proves that there is more to Bruce's mettle than meets the eye and that he can absolutely hang with the changing of the guards.

Moody, space and direct, Darkness... is the ideal sequel to an album of such blockbuster proportions as Born to Run.

Light on the edge of genius. Wow.

Another stone cold classic.

9/10. Good stuff, likely something I'll come to like even better as I listen to it more.

Oh yeah bud. 9/10

Big Springsteen fan so I've listened to this album many times. It was great to revisit it since I haven't done a full listen to it in a while. Fantastic record and a good follow up to Born to Run.

More sommer and disillusioned where "Born to Run" was still full of dreams and looking to be free, Bruder clearly processes his experiences of the Prior three years here. Still excellent, just as the Prior record and as the following would turn out to be.

#94 all time artist Never heard this album somehow - loved it though

Dang I love Bruce. This album is like a vanilla milkshake. It’s just classic Bruce drinkable and every bit tasty. Badlands and Darkness on the Edge of town cap the milkshake, whip cream on top, cherry in the bottom

When the night's quiet and you don't care anymore And your eyes are tired and there's someone at your door And you realize you want to let go And the weak lies in cold walls you embrace you At your insides and baby I ain't no liar I walk Streets of fire Incredible. Love is the force that conquers all the bad shit in America. 5/5

Easy 5er. The reason he's called the boss is because his lyrics are incredible, his band is tight, and his music makes me feel like I'm on my first road trip

Happy 45th Birthday I love a Bruce sax solo more than life itself

1. born to run 2. the wild the innocent 3. born in usa 4. the river 5. darkness 6. nebraska 7. greetings 8. magic 9. rising 10. wrecking ball fight me

Wonderful album

Man i'm a sucker for springsteen. Maybe a boomer. I enjoyed this.

One of the best if not his best works. Combines the spirit of his earlier work with the production and single songwriting of his later era. Strong musicianship, his voice is strong, the piano underrated, many great Bruce songs here with the everyday man having a voice in the lyrics.

Bruce never disappoints, another all full of catchy, good spirited and energetic songs. What's not to love?

I have this CD in my car

I was on a Springsteen kick about 15 years ago and had really been enjoying his first three albums. But when I got to Darkness, it was like the proverbial needle scratch on the vinyl moment for me. It's one of my absolute favorites now, but Darkness was so different from anything I had heard from him and I didn't connect with it at first. It's tense and unsettling, equal parts raging, soaring and mournful. It's an album full of sharp edges and seething with raw emotion. His characters are wounded, struggling, hopeful, the one thing they want just out of reach. It's wrenching, compelling songwriting that's somehow never overwrought. Musically, the songs are spare, resonant and intense. This is a band at the height of their powers and vocally, Bruce has probably never sounded better. He's made a lot of great albums in his career, but this is arguably his best. Fave Songs (All songs, from most to least favorite): The Promised Land, Prove It All Night, Racing in the Street, Badlands, Streets of Fire, Something in the Night, Adam Raised a Cain, Candy's Room, Darkness on the Edge of Town, Factory

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.

No notes

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.

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!

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'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.

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.

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

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

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

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"

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.

The Boss' best.

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.

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

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

- 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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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”!

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

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

Amazing

Meni drugi najbolji bruce

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 🌟

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.

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

Springsteen = Vinilo.

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

. . . 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?

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.

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 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.

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.

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 the best Springsteen albums.

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

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.

Amazing!!

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.

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.

Thanks for introducing me to Bruce Springsteen

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

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

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

Excellent!

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

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.

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

The Boss's magnum opus.

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

Not my favorite of his, but seminal

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.

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

This is incredible stuff, should listen to this again.

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

Favourite Song: The Promised Land

Het is Bruce Springsteen, dus automatisch vijf sterren.

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

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

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

like a loot

I like Springsteen more as a songwriter than a singer. I respect the musicianship on this album too. I like Badlands quite a bit. But a little Bruce goes a long way for me. These songs are BIG. They have space and density at the same time. There's a yearning quality to this album, and perhaps Bruce's music in general. Some of these songs deserve their place in the annals of rock history, namely Badlands, Prove It All Night, The Promised Land, and Darkness at the Edge of Town. I did not like the vocals or the guitar solo in Streets of Fire - annoying. It was enough for me to downgrade the album from 5 stars to 4.

*1978. *I don't think a single Bruce album exists that doesn't use at least one of the following words: streets, fire, hunger, strangers, and night. *Badlands and Promised Land are the only songs I'm kinda familiar with. *Enjoyable enough album, but poppy Bruce isn't my favorite. I'd probably rate this is a 4, but I rated Nebraska 4, and I like that way better. *Actually I'm going to rate this a 4 anyway because this website has been judgy and thinks I'm too critical. RATING - 7/10

cool - I liked it :)

Never listened to Bruce Springsteen...he's quite something! Excited to learn more about him from his biopic starting Jeremy Allen White coming out later in 2026!

This is the album that everyone should know about. Not Born to Run, not Born in the USA (though that album was part of the 80s zeitgeist in an big way) but this.

Yeah it was pretty good!

Nice

A good album. Having heard a few Springsteen albums now, it is clear his vocals are limited in the same way that Dylan's are, but he is at least more expressive. Musically, he and has band are similarly limited - similar chord patterns from song to song and album to album. But it's earnest and honest and the songs paint a picture of the US which is romantic to someone not from the US.

Gibt mir stellenweise starke Nick Cave-Vibes, und das ist ja immer etwas Gutes.

Eines der besten Alben, die ich von ihm kenne.

4/5 https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/bruce-springsteen/darkness-on-the-edge-of-town/ Don't think I will ever be the biggest Bruce fan, even though I'm not sure why not. It sounds like stuff I should like quite a lot, but something's holding me back. Anyway, still a good album. Nice emotional Bruce.

(light 8/10) In some ways this is better than Born to Run but overall what it excels in Songwriting chops, it falters a bit in consistency. This album is sad. It's pretty similar to The Killers' Pressure Machine album where it explores small town living. Unlike Born to Run or Mellencamp-type Heartland Rock where they sort of celebrate the small town lifestyle, this album tears it apart. This record is full of regret and missed opportunities. Being trapped in a cycle of poverty and exploitation of the working class, no song better illustrates this than the insanely powerful ballad "Racing In The Street". It took a second listen to truly feel the weight of those lyrics. It's these epic songs like the aforementioned "Racing In The Street", the title track that closes out the album, and "Something In The Night" where the lyrics and the arrangements really shine bright. The mix is fantastic, the instruments are lush and full of life, and a tired and shaken Springsteen moans and belts out powerful vocals atop these wonderful songs. The album's inconsistency appears with the more hard-rock oriented songs. The instrumental to "Raised a Cain" is fiery and exciting, but the lyrics and especially the hook to the song don't really do it for me. "Candy's Room" felt like it could have been explored a bit more, and "Factory" just felt like a leftover, even though the lyrical themes do add a lot to the narrative. It's just so short it could have been left on the cutting room floor. The song "Prove it All Night" is the best of the more hard rock flavored tracks with an incredible guitar and saxophone solo to help bring it on home, before the wonderful closer that is "Darkness on The Edge of Town". Overall I do really like this record, I think over time I'll come to like this a lot better, the high points are REALLY high, and the overall vibe and thematic exploration of the album is superb. Just wish some of the deeper cuts went harder.

Rockowy album późnych lat 70-tych zaczynający z grubej rury utworem Badlands, dobre gitarowe brzmienie okraszone w dodatku saksofonowym solo przed ostatnią zwrotką. Jednak mi najbardziej w pamięć zapadł utwór nr 2 "Adam Raised a Cain", biblijne nawiązanie w treści utworu plus historia o tym, jaki stosunek miał do swojego ojca sam Bruce Springsteen a także porównianie dziedziczenia traumy pokoleniowej jako grzechu, którym obarcza nas wiara Kościoła Katolckiego (każdy rodzący się jako grzeszny). Trzeci utwór Something in the Night po zagłębieniu się w szczegóły ukazuje problem, który autor miał tworząc ten album. Bruce chcąc uniezależnić się od swojego menagera Mike'a Appela wytoczył mu proces, który trwał prawie rok. Całe to wydarzenie uznaje się za punkt zwrotny w karierze Springsteena zmieniając charatker jego muzyki z młodzieńczych marzeń i ucieczki od problemów w bardziej dojrzałe i faktyczne mierzenie się z przeciwnoścaimi. Co doskonale słychać idąc dalej przez album na przykład w utworze "The Promised Land", do tego okraszone przejściamy z popisem solo na harmonicje przez Bruce'a. Cały album kończy utwór zatytułowany tak samo jako cały album Darkness on the Edge of Town, podsumowujący sytuację Springsteena, chociaż śpiewa tutaj, że utracił dobra materialne oraz swoją żonę, to jednak dla niego nie ma żadnego znaczenia, ponieważ osiągnął w życiu stan, w którym te rzeczy już nie dają mu satysfakcji. Podsumowując, pierwsze słuchanie albumu aż tak nie porwało, wtedy tylko mocno w pamięci utkwił mi kawałek Adam Raised a Cain. Jednak po zagłębieniu się w szczegóły powstawania tego projektu, problemy z jakimi mierzył sie Bruce Springsteen w swoim życiu oraz ewolucja jaką przeszedł jako artysta sprawia, że odbiór tego albumu przeze mnie jako słuchacza staje się mocniejszy.

Favorite track(s): Adam Raised a Cain, Something in the Night, Racing in the Street, Darkness on the Edge of Town Heard before Previous rating: 7/10

7.5/10

yeah thats the MFing boss!!!

I was originally irked to have another Springsteen album, since I had 2 already in the recent past, but I think this was my favorite of the three. Having grown up listening to the Killers and Brandon Flowers, I can really hear how Bruce’s songwriting influenced them. It is a little hard to listen to his singing voice for such a long time, but the overall experience is good.

8/10

Friday, 12 June, 2026 No classic hits, but it is a really good album. Side 1 shines. Side two is solid as well.

It was interesting to get to know more of Springsteen's catalogue, until now I'd only listened to one of his albums, but I really like his style

Darkness on the Edge of Town Great album overall; for a "rocker" Springsteen really does have a knack for pretty melodies. That run of Something in the Night, Candy's Room, Racing in the Street and The Promised Land is just fantastic.

Gritty, Rocking and Fierce. Really liked the album. Great lyrics

Album 222. Darkness On the Edge of Town (https://open.spotify.com/album/4KT6G8fj8EEIfsyr75hbgc?si=Fi4CxnrDRMCwfCseoR4GWw) — Bruce Springsteen (1978) I have a feeling of being working-class because of this album. At some point I got a strong desire to buy a six pack. A little later I got an urgent yearning to vote for the republicans. But unfortunately, when the album ended, these feelings ended too, 'cause I have no job. Thank you Bruce Springsteen — it was a dark and beautiful nightmare. I think it'll be better on the second and the third spin. 4/5 Liked: — Badlands — The Promised Land — Factory — Prove It All Night

Bruce's music feels like a cold breeze in the late summer afternoons

It was a good album to listen to in order to understand the roots of his sound.

Springsteen is the gold standard when it comes to telling stories of Americana. His songs instantly transport you to a depressed mill town, the rust belt, real blue collar Jersey… Anytown USA. He sings with such conviction and heart. While this isn’t necessarily his best album top to bottom, it’s quintessential Bruce.

Classic

I liked this a lot more than "Born in the U.S.A.". It seemed more raw and less artificial. It was nice that there were some lyrically intense songs, and then some more primal songs.

really nice vocal-forward tracks on this, and there's a huge variety of instrumentation. i was expecting mostly guitars again but there's a lot of nice piano and stuff too

Made me feel like in an american movie where you get the girl in the final and go with her at the graduation party

Stor 4er, en ting det her projekt har (gen)lært mig er hvor mange vildt fede Springsteen plader der er

Buen álbum, clásico de Springsteen. Mucha calle y nostalgia.

Badlands by far the fave. This album needs more sax and harmonica, but still enjoyable.

It kinda feels like a lesser Born To Run, but it's still a great record.

buenaza voz, me corro ahhh

gran álbum en conjunto, a mi parecer no destaca ninguna

I’m a Boss fan so of course I like this album, puts me in the mood to undertake some working class struggle in New Jersey. The track Factory, in hindsight sight, does sound like Bruce Springsteen doing a satire of Bruce Springsteen but it’s not really the lyrics for me on this album it’s the epic dirge ballads and bombastic pop sensibilities …. I dig them 4.1

Best use of piano rock I’ve heard the whole album maybe sounded slightly too country for me but some of the songs sounded great and I can hear where other bands got their influence from 8/10

BUCE!!!!

Great album, 4.5. Rating a four because I think about half the album is just ok and the other half is all time greats.

it was fine

Prove it All Night and Badlands are all timers. Great album

Very solid album that basically picks up where Born to Run left off. Misses some of the Wall of Sound production quality that makes me love Born to Run more, but still some great moments from the E Street Band. The two "side openers" are probably my favorites here. Definitely up there with my favorite Springsteen albums.

I listened to this twice yesterday and nothing - not a thought or feeling, not a hook that I remembered after the fact. But, knowing instinctively that there is some value in Bruce Springsteen and certain that I'd given him short shrift with the two previous albums generated, I listened again this morning. Springsteen's schtick is an obvious one, part-way being working band and gospel revival. It's Van Morrison's schtick. And his themes are limited: cars and girls. The Beach Boys' themes. There's more depth than that, of course. A grapple for the soul of the working man and all that. Honour and integrity, as principles, if rarely illustrated in story. And, even if he displays a discrimination of low expectation against the working man in his tiny grab bag of end rhymes - so many faces and places; "In the darkness of your room/Your mother calls you by your true name/You remember the faces, the places, the names/You know it's never over, it's relentless as the rain"; upsettingly, he rhymes states with interstate - but, even if that is the case, there is no doubt that his efforts are sincere. Also admirable. If Factory is a true portrait of his father's working life, then it is appropriately uninspired and directionless. Slightly more invigorating are the recreational songs - the cars and girls stuff. And to that we can add righteous rock'n'roll. This is never feels like more than romanticisation. And romanticism of suffering, which makes me uncomfortable. Van and Brian Wilson both managed to elevate themselves beyond romanticism into the mystic. Songs that see - through girls, through cars, through streets and roads - something more, something unifying. Maybe god. Maybe something else. I'm neither a theologian nor a gnostic. I'm not necessarily into god, but I like the feeling. But while there are many biblical references on Darkness on the Edge of Town, they are there largely to remind us of the distance from god. This is the dark end of the street, far from the bright side of the road. And, thus, to find any unifying, universal force, Bruce must do it himself, in simplistic, anthemic choruses. Where Van Morrison enters an incantatory state, Bruce begins sloganeering. And this is where the album lets me down personally. Where the choruses should explode and lift up (as one character threatens to explode), they fall flat. Not duds, but mundanities. The teetering on the edge reverie that typifies the verses of Candy's Room dissipates into nothing. The twinkling introduction of Something in the Night is cruelly deadened by the grim reality of its third verse. The glittering, seismic hope on much of Born To Run (and the showiness of The E Street Shuffle and Greetings from Ashbury Park) is ground down in its follow-up and we are left choruses that, like most of the characters, fail to take off or break free. Too few words in Adam Raised a Cain and Streets of Fire. Too many in the title track. None of them quite enough for me. But isn't that the heart of Springsteen? Making peace with enough. 3 Where have all my Bruce Springsteen CDs gone? We have been in the house six months and I thought I had all CDs accounted for. I noted early on that I was missing The Smashing Pumpkins’ Machina and R.E.M’s Out of Time. Eventually they turned up in a random box. But today I learn that the only BS CDs accounted for are Nebraska and Magic?! What? There are certainly a few missing - including Darkness and Born to Run, both of which should have been present in my top ranks. Did Fiona opportunistically toss them in the bin as we were packing up? Did the movers have a hoke while we were waiting on the keys? Did the plumbers who were in a few weeks back help themselves? All plausible. Fiona does not care for the Boss and he is like crack to working men. Well it’s been six months and I haven’t noticed. I suppose that tells a story about how inessential Springsteen’s music is to me. In fact, I really like Springsteen - more than enough to never use that ‘BS’ abbreviation again. His records were not heard in our house growing up; my father is a Dylan fanatic and from early on took against Springsteen as an imitator. Poor judgement indeed, but not the worst musical lacuna in my early life - the Beatles (‘Too English’) were absent also. I loved Dancing in the Dark early in my life - it holds a special place along with Walk of Life as a track that just lit up my brain every time I heard it played at my uncle Vincent’s DJ sets. I stopped writing there for a few minutes to return to my top ranks in disbelief. What sensible explanation can account for multiple works by one artist vanishing from a big collection of CDs? Did I attend some kind of Springsteen party intending to show off my CDs and I’ve forgotten? Have I attempted to convert someone to the Boss in recent months? Someone who isn’t already familiar but owns a CD player? I have a couple of Springsteen albums on vinyl - The River and Born in the USA. As of this evening both still, bafflingly, unstolen. My real introduction to Springsteen was the double CD ‘The Essential Bruce Springsteen’ which I found absolutely brilliant, but at the same time entirely sufficient. I didn’t get into the albums until my thirties. Darkness on the Edge of Town was, before I started with the album, my favourite Springsteen song and it still is but the album took a few listens, I found. In between the instantly appealing Badlands and the closing title track, there are some odd things going on. The E Street Band are wonderful of course and they add considerable subtlety behind Springsteen’s two-tone approach here - heroic bellowing and outright yelling. They sound a bit small all the same; about as small as they’ll ever sound. Perhaps ‘contained’ is a better word. They are also, presumably in solidarity with American families going through a time of difficult household economy in the mid-70s recession, getting the most value they can by reusing the same music for multiple songs. The big off-beat followed by a piano figure defines Streets of Fire only two tracks before exactly the same thing in the title track. Similarly simple, plaintive, gospelly chord progressions and melodic ideas are present on most tracks. Springsteen, likewise, repeats forms and ideas. The ‘some guys’ verse in Racing in the Street is almost interchangeable with the ‘some men’ verse in Darkness. Several songs, beginning with Badlands and ending with Darkness… reference a ‘cost’ or a ‘price’ that has to be paid. More than any other Springsteen album this one weighs relentlessly on desperate life in a small town bit. Fiona was not altogether unjust when, upon her first listen to this album, she told me that it was the same song over and over again. Well that’s all probably as negative as I would feel I needed to be if I was giving Darkness 1/5. Actually I think it’s better than that - Bruce Springsteen’s best album in fact. His exploration of directionless male desperation here is for me his keenest, and his most successfully poetic. It is very irksome when a (already very successful) pop star presumes to speak about the oppression of being a ‘working man’. Stuff like ‘workin’ in the fields/ that’ll get your back burned’ from most songwriters would send me racing to their Wikipedia page to find out what private school they attended. But Springsteen sounds convincing, partly because of the conviction of his dramatic delivery which assures suspension of disbelief, but mainly because he is actually a careful, thoughtful writer. That line comes from an absolutely brilliant verse in Badlands and like many of the lyrics on this album, it is powerful because it has no unfolding logic. Springsteen articulates the nebulous frustrations of young men better than anyone else. The key antagonist is inexact - his characters are plagued by insecurity, nameless fear, irrational passions, memories of their fathers, loneliness or just as bad - finding a partner. It is vivid melodrama but never ridiculous because crucially it all rings true. ‘Mister I ain’t a boy, no I’m a man…/ Sometimes I feel so weak I just wanna explode’ (The Promised Land) He captures the force and anonymity of male frustrations - the tyranny of testosterone - potently there and everywhere on this album. There is a sense of crescendo to the title track - the final, definitive iteration of a theme (which I find forgives all the close repetition) and its final verse is the best on the album. Again - it makes perfect sense by not really making sense. You want to get on ‘that hill’ (I dunno) with everything you’ve got alongside Springsteen’s desperate, uncomprehending protagonist - however that might or might not avail you. Well I do anyway. And so do undoubtedly a couple of generations of American men for whom Springsteen is something like a surrogate father; a trusted priest; a sympathetic friend; a mentor. Springsteen concerts are probably the only time, outside of family funerals, a lot of these men allow themselves to weep openly. His work is certainly the most poetry that many of them have ever allowed into their lives. Part of Springsteen’s success in that regard is that he has never cultivated an image of himself as a poet - as Dylan did openly. He’s just a working joe, or, as in the cover of this album, just some punk visiting his ma (the wallpaper) before he goes out racing with his mates. The truth is Springsteen is a gifted and hard-working writer - not literary or learned but blessed with a very sharp ear for sound in language and an instinct for finding the most efficiently powerful dramatic images. That he is also a good man and still, with all the energy he has left, out on the road battling for the American male soul makes me all the more grateful for him and thankful to him. A quote from the Boss, between songs at a recent Brooklyn concert: ‘Honesty, honor, humility, character, truth, compassion, humanity, thoughtfulness, morality, true strength and decency – don’t let anybody tell you that these things don’t matter any more – they do.’ I am with him on all that, for sure. I hope that message is heeded by whatever motherfucker stole my Springsteen CDs. 4/5

Obviously have heard of Springsteen, never this album though. He’s got an odd voice. Almost like Dylan. Badlands is really well written. Awesome sax solo and catchy chorus. Adam raised a Cain is a banger. Awesome guitar and piano. Another awesome piano on something in the night. This one is very emotional. Very well written again. Didn’t love the outro. Candy’s room is forgettable. Kind bullshit lyrics. Back in track with racing in the street. So well written and emotional again. The songs with a piano are awesome. And it just keeps going. What a song. Really nice change of pace with promised land. This is the Springsteen that I was introduced to at a young age. Great production on this one. Factory was ok but again not really anything special. Pretty generic 80s rock. Streets of fire is better. Love the organ in the background. Better vocals on this one. Prove it all might is another banger. Think I’ve heard this one before. Great guitar and piano combo again. Springsteen is a great writer. Sax solo is so cool too. Def it key have heard darkness too. These songs are just so damn catchy. Not the most complicated background track but it works really well. I like the outro on this one a lot. Great way to wrap up this album. Extremly enjoyable listen. 3.9/5 stars.

Вокали, барабани, гітари, басс, саксофон, клавішні, гармоніка. Неочікував такого різноманіття (гармоніки з саксом точно). Коли це працює це прям працює, коли не працює, то просто норм. Не можу сказати, що мені запам'яталась якась конкретна пісня, альбом в цьому плані досить однорідний. Можу виділити вокали, вони класні. А так навіть написати нема чого. Хороший альбом. Оцінка: висока 7/низька 8

It was nice, I liked most of the songs

It's Bruce. He's a little angsty. It's great.

bem sólido, não sei o que acrescentar. Gosto da voz dele.

Deus abençoe a América

Good stuff

Solid throughout. A few big hits in here. In between the two Bruce albums we have had so far.

I’m going to be very generous and give this a 4. I don’t quite get the fuss about Springsteen.

The Boss! Powerful as usual

I can never hate him. It wasn't my favourite but he's just too good

It’s just a fraction below his masterpieces. Very much feels like the lesser sequel to one of the greatest albums ever made.

A quality album. The music is great, it’s performed so well and with such great variety. The main drawback is that the singing sounds like he’s mid bite of food the entire time. Still, it’s well performed. I’m not a huge fan of Bruce Springsteen, but, by god, is he talented. And this was a good first album of his to experience on this list.

i owe you an apology i wasnt familiar with your game great storytelling, really painting pictures with the lyrics about characters on the edge in dark landscapes (getitgetit?), ig i connect with your shi if it is about working every day, very emotional vocal performances also the band walks the line between blues and introspective ballads pretty damn good, the minimalistic production plays in their favor, every element provides the energy the tracks need

Not been much of a Springsteen fan, but its fine. I should give him a second chance

"I've been working real hard tryin' to get my ass clean." - Bruce Springsteen in Prove it All Night as heard by me Turns out he's actually trying to get his HANDS clean. Good, because I was like it shouldn't be that hard, man.

Listened previously. Expectations: High - Verdict: Near Perfect - The Boss at his rocking, snarling best. Badlands is energetic, Adam Raised A Cain is roaring and the emotional depth first comes to the fore on Something In The Night. I find Candy's Room only good until the guitar solo which blows it wide open and elevates the song significantly. Racing In The Street is the emotional core of the album and just an incredible song. The Promised Land looks forward to his next album in my opinion. Streets Of Fire might be my favourite track and has one of the best refrains ever. The title track is amazing.

Classic Springsteen, I really loved the niche tracks as well as the hits. 7/10

He is called the Boss for a reason. I am actually not a big fan of his music but enjoy listening to it. Soul of Americana heartland rock.

The Promised Land could be the greatest song about the American experience. Classic

Yeah I think this is probably top 3 Bruce Springsteen for me? I've never been the hugest fan and probably like Nebraska the best. But his earnestness and longevity are impressive and the praise is justified

I'm not really a fan of Bruce's proto-Bon Jovi stuff, and the first track is very much in that style, so my hopes were low...but... After a few listens, this definitely has something. Adam raised a Cain is much more biting and aggressive, Candy's room takes a very different approach, almost VU like in parts, and the title track is beautifully put together. I can't bring myself to give it a 5, it's still pretty meat and potatoes rock, but it's definitely one of the better examples and rewards extra listens. A strong 4.

album bastante disruptivo para la epoca

Favorite Tracks: Badlands / Something in the Night / The Promised Land / Streets of Fire / Prove It All Night Rating: 3.8 I'm no stranger to the Boss, but don't think I've ever actually listened to a full album front to back other than maybe Born in the USA. I enjoyed this for sure. Musically, the band is incredibly tight and locked in. The production is really balanced - it's raw and energetic, but every instrument sounds great without being too commercial & perfect. Apparently Little Steven Van Zandt thought the production sucked, though, so what do I know.

Man I was just listening to some of Bruce’s music the other day Emily’s pretty crazy about this one and I concur that it’s a pretty great album. It really feels like Bruce transcends genres and makes great music no matter what your tastes are. Vocals are great, E Street Band’s going crazy the whole way through (I will always love when bands use wind instruments in their music), and those lyrics are something else I don’t think there were any massive standouts for me, though I’d consider every song good. I think it’s more knowing how may other great songs Bruce has in his catalogue that it makes this one feel just a tad underwhelming as a whole Still though, the Boss is undefeated and it’s very easy to give the guy his flowers considering what a stand up guy he is off the stage. Honestly shocked the famously British biased 1001 list picked not one but FIVE albums from this American guy.

Sandwiched in-between Born To Run and The River, Darkness stands defiantly. Strong tracks, some with anthem qualities, and a banger of a title track to close the album out. From the strong Opening Track of Badlands to the final notes of Darkness On The Edge Of Town, Springsteen weaves his tales and takes the listener on a true journey. A couple slower ones like Racing In The Streets and Factory, but good songs at their heart. Great and truthful writing, always one of his strengths. Born To Run cemented him in American Rock, Darkness continued that. This was one of his best eras. Dunno if I can go 5 stars, probably more like 4 1/2. So... 4.

Springsteen is yet another in the long list of artists I’ve never really listened to. I didn't miss him entirely, though, so I'm somewhat familiar with some of these tracks (probably because of dad). I had never listened to this album all the way through before, not by a long shot, and I really like it. It's a bit more raw and gritty rock sounding than I expected. I like the lyrics a lot. I have noted before in my mind that I've liked the lyrics on the handful of Springsteen songs with which I'm familiar. He's an excellent writer. I had worried his voice might annoy me, and sometimes when he's screaming it comes close, but it fits so well with what's going on in the song that it's not too much. And, dang, this whole band plays fantastically well. I never saw them perform live in concert and I have a feeling I would've really enjoyed the shows they did in support of this album.

No artist fills me with such a strange combination of admiration and disdain as Bruce. Badlands, Adam raised a Cain and Promised Land are not only great rocking songs, but so distinctive and fresh. But on either side of Promised Land is Racing in the Street and Factory, two songs that make me want to puke. Halfway through Racing in the street, when he starts talking about meeting a girl while street racing a camaro, I said aloud 'shut up' and changed the song. And factory is pure bruce slop, romanticizing the working man, pandering to an embarrassing degree. On the whole, the album drags a little because the songs all sound alike and are all basically about the same thing. Bruce has never been afraid to repeat himself. Still, he did invent a whole new sound within the limited palette of rock, so to some degree he's earned that right. Anyway this made me think we need a roots rock singer for the professional class. I want a song about a guy writing emails all day. Instead of a '69 Chevy, I want to hear about the engine on a 2022 Nissan Rogue. There's a darkness at the end of the cul-de-sac. Don't we too yearn?

Yeah, I think this is a better album than Born to Run. The Boss and I don’t always connect, but I am never sad I listened to him. 4 stars. Boolean rating: Yes, I needed to hear this before I die.

Badlands - 5/5 Adam Raised a Cain - 4/5 Something in the Night - 3/5 Candy's Room - 4/5 Racing in the Street - 5/5 The Promised Land - 5/5 Factory - 3/5 Streets of Fire - 4/5 Prove It All Night - 4/5 Darkness on the Edge of Town - 5/5 Average score: 4.2/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

oh fuck yeah. now we are talking. this sounds like something i would have listened to as a kid in a car with my dad if my dad wasn't so hard headed about certain muscians (see bowie, prince, various queer adjacent guys. Not sure what he was picking up on with Springsteen. Maybe NJ was gay back then). This rocks.

God, I love his voice.

Rv

It's Bruce, it's dark, it's moody and it soars (at times). Is there a more distinctive sound than Clarence Clemons' saxophone?? As soon as I hear that, I know it has to be a Springsteen song. No bona fide hits here, but plenty of interesting stuff with Bruce showing his more angry side.

Notables: - Streets of Fire

Okay, I've been a fool. For years now I've written off Springsteen as kind of boring normie rock, but this albums was phenomenal. Raw, powerful, and lyrically evocative. And who can deny the power of a well placed sax solo? Looking forward to getting to know more of his discography, I really only know the radio hits. 4.5/5 for me.

When Springsteen hits, it's peak classic rock. "Prove It All Night Long", "Adam Raised a Cain", "Racing in the Street", "The Promised Land", and "Something in the Night" are all great. Unfortunately, I was never a big "Badlands" guy, and stuff like the title track and "Candy's Room" and "The Factory" just kinda come and go, stopping the album from being a true classic.

Great album by The Boss

Papa Bruce outdoes himself. One of the greatest of his kind.

Pretty fantastic album that reflects the essence of Bruce Springsteen.

Pretty solid record. Seemed to be pretty popular back in the day when the boss released this one, (1978 I believe). Couple of really fun tracks and Springsteen's voice just carries most of the rest of the tracks. As a guitar junky I'm a slut for the catchy and satisfying chord progressions. Definitely a must listen to, glad its on the list. Personal Ranking: 8.5/10 Favorite Tracks: Candy's Room, Adam Raised a Cain, Streets of Fire.

Tiene buenas canciones

Pretty much the quintessential Bruce album. It’s got all the Boss’ go to moves: big crescendos near the chorus, lyrics about working class people trying to keep hope when things suck, referring to women as little girls, and several references to cars and car parts. And it’s pretty great, despite his marble mouth singing being more unintelligible than usual. All solid songs.

Fun, catchy, boss. I don't know why I never listened to any Springsteen before now, this is solid.

Steven Hyden considers this Springsteen's best; I'm not sure yet where I come down on that question but it's definitely a contender, with some of his best songs front and center ("Badlands" and "The Promised Land"). And there have been various complaints about Jon Landau's production over the years but I think there's a punch to this that is sometimes missing from other of Bruce's studio efforts. And even the car-centric nature of the album doesn't bother me like it especially does some UK critics, although maybe that's because I'm from Dallas rather than Devonshire or wherever. It's not perfect - there are a couple clunkers, plus one good song that nevertheless goes on too long ("Racing in the Street," which is better live) - but it's as good a distillation of this particular flavor of American music as you're likely to get.

Excellent album! Highlights: Badlands, Racing in the Street, Prove it All Night, The Promise Land and Darkness on the Edge of Town. 4.7

Na razie najlepszy album ze wszystkich, które dotychczas przesłuchałam. Skoczny, energiczny, ale zdarzyły się też wolniejsze kawałki. Myślę że mogłabym przesłuchać ponownie.

Feel like flow of album could be better if some of the songs changed order. Badlands shouldn’t start album.

Muy bueno, ya se de donde mayer se inspiró, espectacular para feel inside a movie

I think that I really liked this album for me I’ve never really listened to Bruce Springsteen except for his most popular songs and he’s definitely more than what I made him out to be

Not one of the Bruce albums I've ever listened to and none of the singles I know, either. So this was a nice pleasant first listen. 4/5

Fav- prove it all night (4/5)

7.5/10

Muy buena street of fire, guitarras poderosas. Me gustó la intro de something in the night. Disco que nunca había escuchado, solo sabía de Bruce Springsteen por born un the usa.

Springsteen is a bit of a line in the sand, esp if you grew up under the, regime of "Born in the USA." I've lived on both sides of that line, currently cautiously renting a place near E Street. It's a close boardwalk fight between this and The River being THE Boss record. Darkness edges things out (doesn't it always?) for the one-two punch of the heart-panic "Candy's Room" and the spectral "Racing in the Street" cutting into the big grandiose Boss business. This also has the dubious honor of being the best album cover in a career of terrible album covers.

Time has definitely endeared me to Bruce Springsteen and his blue-collar approach to rock and roll. It helps that this album is grounded in that dirty late-70s aesthetic that I love, with its clean, assertive bass lines and judicial use of piano, Hammond B3 and saxophone. He’s working hard for the money here and the songs are hard-charging and tuneful. Of the tracks I hadn’t heard before, “Adam Raised a Cain” and “Racing in the Street” are standouts. I like it.

un de ses meilleurs albums!! 4-/5

So great to here these songs!

flaco te amo

Really strong selection of songs just missing that one killer track

I have this theory that, at his core, Bruce Springsteen is a fundamentally weird dude and that his "working class guy" shtick is only partly a reflection of his Freehold, NJ upbringing but mostly a persona he adopts to be able to reach out to normal humans. *Darkness* is the last record in which Springsteen lets his freak flag fly - every subsequent album sees him moving towards "normalcy", turning his back on his weird side. Take "Something In The Night", which stars out as a tale of private desperation and escalates toward personal apocalypse, with its images of violence, cars set on fire and the heroes left "running, burned and blind / chasing something in the night". From the first bars, Springsteen throws himself into the song vocally like a man possessed - he wails wordlessly even before the first verse has begun, so consumed with emotion that it has to be let out one way or another. He hardly lets up in the song itself, singing with white-hot intensity throughout. It's an unparalleled performance, the likes of which you'd never ever hear from other so-called "heartland rockers" (like Bob Seger or John Mellencamp) - it comes from somewhere else, from the core of Springsteen's fundamental weirdness. "Streets Of Fire" has that same intensity, as does "Candy's Room", the latter with a near-spoken word vocal juxtaposed over a furious drum part. Much of the rest of *Darkness* ranges from good to great (though the less said about the dreadful "Factory" the better); however these other tracks see Springsteen aiming towards the middle of the road, keeping the intensity of the songs in check and making the lyrics more relatable. On subsequent records Springsteen fully settled into the "voice of the working class" role, keeping all traces of his inner weirdo hidden from view, and the payoff was multiplatinum albums like *Born In The U.S.A.* and stadium shows. But his true self is still in there somewhere though (even though we will likely we will never see it again)

Nobody beats the boss except the boss himself. Great album, but I like Nebraska more

Bruuuuce

I literally had Born in the USA 2 days ago, what is this Badlands not making an impression, vocals truly bad on that track The album gets better, already prefer this to BitUSA Wait Silvio from the Sopranos is involved with Springsteen? Definitely more enjoyable for me than USA, I liked Adam Raised a Cain and the Promised Land. The tonal whiplash between the sorrowful ballads and rock n roll tracks is not as bad as on USA. I don't know which of the two records is more "Springsteen", but I'd definitely recommend this over that one.

An album good enough to overcome The Boss's political nonsense.

I’ve somehow never listened to any Springsteen before, but definitely glad to have now. I quite enjoyed this album, it has an aggressive gritty energy with Springsteens quite raw sounding vocals, and often a big wall of sound approach from the band. There are some more contemplative moments as well, like the sombre “Racing in the Street” which do a lot to bring some variety to the album. The occasional guitar solos in the album, whilst maybe not the most technically impressive, have a visceral quality I really enjoy and I think they serve the songs very well. Favourite tracks were “Adam Raised a Cain” and “Prove it All Night”

almost jarring in a way now, to hear something so earnest; also packs a wallop, we stan a champion for the working class 4.5/5

not as good as Joni Mitchell’s Blue

Not my favorite Bruce album, but there's a lot to love here. I love the propulsion in songs like "Adam Raised A Cain" or the arena-filling chorus of "Badlands," but my favorite is "The Promised Land" which has that classic Springsteen storytelling.

Never really listened to the Boss, outside of his big hits, but this feels like classic Americana rock. Distinct voice goes great with the music. 4/5

Only my second ever Bruce Springsteen album and it’s essentially exactly what I would expect. Solid and instantly recognisable as him

Favorite Track: Adam Rasied a Cain

Solid 4 stars. Knew the artist, but only his bigger hits, so this was a pleasant expansion of knowledge. Loved the instrumentals, and while his voice was grating at times, there's no doubt he's got pipes.

Obviously I know who Bruce Springsteen is. I was quite surprised by this album. I assumed his albums would be all filler, but I enjoyed this album. Keen to listen this other albums now

I wish that Bruce weren't from NJ, as someone who's from NJ. He's a centerpiece of NJ lore that residents attach to... and I spend a lot of time trying to desperately distance myself, haha. But that takes nothing away from this music. He's more Elton John and Billy Joel than I realized? I guess I always thought he was more pop than rock, but this album has that tang of emotional upheaval and hard-hitting. It's a fun album. Can't help but get amped

el Boss moviendo los hombros atrás y alante diciendo "or'aiuel hum bu lei bulei"... CINE

Springsteen es el típico artista al que se acercaría más gente sin prejuicios si sus fans no fueran tan plastas. Suele atraer, además, a ciertos personajes sordísimos que solo le escuchan él. Pero en fin, pese a esto este disco es tremendo. Mi favorito después de Nebraska y un LP al que vuelvo con frecuencia.

Whew

Some really good songs on here

I've never been mad on Springsteen but this is a dramatic effort. Sounds like it influenced other acts like Prince, Aerosmith and Meatloaf so he must have done something right

Close to a five. Can't think of a song on hear I disliked. But something stopped me from going all out with five.