if you told me the name bruce springsteen, i could tell you with confidence that that is a musician, and approximately nothing farther than that. i know he's a *good* musician, so this album should be at least 50% bangers. this is the 1975 release. track 1, Thunder Road: "i've got this guitar and i learned how to make it talk" is CORRECT okay i think i understand why this guy's famous. i have no notes this is great. 10/10 track 2, Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out: mmm, that SAXOPHONE. i'm not as big a fan of the piano in this one, but still good. 7/10 track 3, Night: the descending piano/bells as part of the bridge midway through this song is just. SO good. this is a 9/10 track 4, Backstreets: it is about this point in the album that i think to myself, this music is much brighter than another album i listened to / rated recently, and i don't mean brighter in terms of instrument choice, but it is dynamic in a way that results in the other album feeling very flat. (gotta say, mr. springsteen really tears his throat out on this one) 8/10 track 5, Born to Run: titular song! it could be that every song so far has been quite good, but i'm not getting the same "this is the best song" that others seem to feel about it. still quite good, though. 8/10 track 6, She's the One: this one has quite a good pulse on it! 7/10 track 7, Meeting Across the River: this feels like looking out over a new york skyline with a sunset-orange sky, with the trumpet. could very easily be the credits sequence to an emotional, passionate movie. 8/10 track 8, Jungleland: okay THIS is the song that plays over the movie credits, but they're driving away from the camera, and we pan up to the sky for the first minute or so of credits, then cut back to the car for some three-line back-and-forth that makes a joke come full circle. fade to black, remainder of the credits. 9/10 overall: 8.25/10 -> 4/5. they weren't kidding, this Album really does You Must Hear Before You Die.