Very sentimental for me, indeed. This is the album that turned me into a fan. It's the first I'd ever heard from him (not counting hearing "Born to Run" a few times previously on the radio). I got it from the Columbia House record club and I had not ordered it. It was just one of those Selections of the Month that you'd get if you didn't return the card within a certain amount of time. I missed the deadline and Bruce found his way to my mailbox. I didn't even think I'd like it...I thought Bruce was one of those middle-of-the-road crooners (although looking back I don't know how I could have got that impression, having heard and liked the song "Born to Run"). As was the case with so many of these unsolicited Selection of the Month albums, my curiosity got the best of me and next thing you know I'm reading the lyrics on the inner sleeve, no way to send it back for credit now, with the shrink wrap gone.
I don't remember much about that first time I put the needle into the groove. I heard "Badlands" and thought, hey this isn't bad. Kinda dispelled any thoughts I had that Springsteen's style might be akin to Billy Joel's. "Adam Raised a Cain" was quite a bit different than the opening cut, and to be honest, I haven't really liked that song until fairly recently (nowadays I REALLY like it, especially Bruce's searing guitar solos). So at this point I had not quite been converted.
Then...then...4 words..."Something in the Night". That rumbling build up, like a storm on the horizon, heading toward you. Then Bruce begins wailing, "Oh, Alright...Whoa, Alright" with more soul and passion than I think I'd ever heard before. The storm crashes as he lets out one more yelp and the lyrics begin to paint a grim picture...You're born with nothing and better off that way...soon as you've got something they send someone to try and take it away...Nothing is forgotten or forgiven...and finally the last verse where the rebel's dream comes crashing down around them. And then, with even more intensity, Bruce tears into another series of howls, like a grieving mourner at a funeral.
The deal is sealed at that point. I was a certified fan, anxiously anticipating the songs that came after that one.
"Candy's Room" was a bit of a letdown. It's another one that has taken me a long time to appreciate. I assure you that I have developed that appreciation at this point. I think it was because it was such a radical change from the more subdued "something in the Night", the uptempo speed of the thing, the shift from anticipation and failure to a song quite vividly depicting sexual lust.
One thing I've noticed about Darkness On The Edge Of Town is that it is much less character-driven" than the previous albums. Most (if not all) of the songs here are sung in the first person. This change has served Springsteen well, IMO. To be sure, he still does his share of character songs, but I think the majority of his post-Darkness output has seen him singing, maybe AS a character, but in the first.
All I really want to say about "Racing in the Streets", besides the fact that it's another heartbreaker like "Something in the Night", is that Roy Bittan plays some of the finest piano lines in his career. This is a quite a commendation, seeing as how he is a very talented man and has played many a perfect piano line throughout Bruce's career. But the stuff he's doing in the last minute and a half of "Racing in the Streets" is so tasteful, so perfect I can't really praise it enough. It definitely makes you want to turn the album over and hear what else is in store.
Clarence gets a chance to shine for the first time here on "The Promised Land". His solo is short and sweet, nothing like the sprawling take in "Jungleland", but every bit as powerful. There aren't too many bands out there with sax players, but Clarence is integral to the E Street sound.
Always like the line The dogs on main street howl cause they understand that I could take this moment into my hand...great song.
Another really great song that most folks don't seem to talk about much, "Factory" effortlessly conjures the dreariness, the resignation, the necessity of "the working life". He goes through the working day, between the horns of the factory whistle. And for all that, when the day is done, Somebody's gonna get hurt tonight. It's a sad song, made even sadder by the knowing that it's the true life story of thousands of men and women who toil in places they'd just as soon rather not be because they have to make ends meet.
"Streets of Fire", for some reason, doesn't connect with me most of the rest of the album. It's a really good song, and Springsteen delivers a very good vocal performance, especially towards the end (beginning with the line Don't look in my face...I can't even understand what he's saying directly after that, but it almost raises the level of the song to no small degree. Still...
I'm sorry but "Prove It All Night" has never been one of favorite Springsteen songs. However I do give it more credit these days after hearing the version on the Live In New York City version, where Miami Steve helps elevates it to a new level. Another nice solo from the Big Man and an excellent guitar solo from the Boss, one of the most under-rated lead guitarists in the world.
Another thing...the production on Darkness is much more spare and spacious than it was on Born To Run. I suspect that's what the material demanded, as this is a bit more stark than that one was (not that it wasn't stark, just not quite so much as this one).
The final cut, "Darkness on the Edge of Town" kind of sums up the whole thing. Lives on the line where dreams are found and lost. They all wind up here, on that hill, paying the cost for wanting things that can only be found in the darkness on the edge of town. No use looking for them anywhere else. That's where you eventually wind up, for better or worse.
5 Stars
Favorite Tracks: "Something in the Night", "Racing in the Streets", "Factory", "Darkness on the Edge of Town"
Least Favorite Track: "Streets of Fire"
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