Springsteen Revisited: The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle

The following is part of an ongoing series in which I re-evaluate Bruce Springsteens records, in chronological order (reverse chronological in this blog), and their impact on my life and musical tastes. Some are more well written than others and the same holds true for grammatical errors. They were originally written for an online community that I participate in, but I thought I'd post them here for the sake of posterity.



The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle is a rarity amongst rock albums. It's a sophomore release that not only completely outshines it's debut predecessor but also still stands as one of the artist's finest works over 30 years after it's release. And furthermore with all that passage of time this record still sounds as fresh as if it had come out just last Tuesday.
Heavy duty praise, no doubt, but surely not hollow.
The opening "horn tuning" on "The E Street Shuffle" and the quick, congo-laden follow-up lets you know that this ain't going to be like Greetings From Asbury Park NJ which, admit it, suffered from some pretty lousy arrangements. This song is sort of a precursor to most of the others insomuch as Springsteen uses his lyrical prowess to create characters and whole worlds for them to interact within (sort of like he did with "Spirit In The Night").
This is followed by one of his absolutely most beautiful love songs, "4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)", another character driven song, only most of the people described are caricatures ("boys from the boardwalk", "boys in their high heels", "actors", etc.)...it's all revolving around this scene in Asbury Park, carnival and all. I love the line where he says "You know that Tilt-a-Whirl down on the south beach track? I got on it last night and my shirt got caught...and they just kept me spinning, they didn't think I'd ever get off..." Funny, to be sure, but I can't help but to think that it's also an analogy of this guy who wants to take his girlfriend and run off with the carnival, not even sure if he'll love her forever.
After this sweet song comes the first of two serious rockers on the album. "Kitty's Back" is simply unrelentless in it's performance and the way it utilizes tension-release, climaxing in a wondrous "Kitty's back in town!" sung like a true celebration of a long-awaited homecoming. This material is so far removed from what you heard on Greetings that you'd be excused for looking at the album covers to see if it's the same guy responsible.
Following such exuberance is no easy task. Springsteen is smart enough not to try and top "Kitty's Back" with another blistering rocker. Instead he gives us another caricature (as well as character) driven carnival ballad "Wild Billy's Circus Story". What a great way to end side one than with this one-of-a-kind track. At one point he sings of the Ringmaster leaving the circus and this sets up one of the best lines Springsteen has ever written: "A ragged suitcase in his hand he steals silently away from the circus town...and the highway's haunted by the carnival sounds, they dance like a great grease-paint ghost on the wind". Awesome.
"Incident on 52nd Street" is another one that makes Greetings pale in comparison (but then again, they all do that). A somewhat lengthy story of Spanish Johnny and his exploits after returning from "the Underworld". The pimps all call him a cheat and a liar, but he seems to have found love in a girl he calls Puero Rican Jane (not her real name, as he asks "Oh won't you tell me what's your name?"). It's a very believable saga, even to the point where the cops find "the vein" and Johnny is driven to murder. Great story song that opens side 2 admirably.
"Rosalita" is the second rocker, perched between two other long-ish songs that form a loose trilogy. Every Springsteen fan in the world has surely heard "Rosalita". The first "video" his record company ever released was a rousing live version of this song, complete with young girls jumping out of the audience to grab a hug from him. Suffice to say it is one of his chestnuts. It's a crying shame that it wasn't included of the Greatest Hits package.
And finally we go out with yet another hauntingly beautiful song, "New York City Serenade". Opening with the sound of piano strings being strummed and then a flourish of piano, it then settles into a nice, down-tempo ballad. Basically a song about sex couched in the music of a love song...not that it stays on the subject throughout it's entirety, but all that comes after the initial erotic lyrics has to do with that. It's a very gentle way to end the album, something so different than "Rosalita", which would have made a fine end-piece, but could not ease the listener into wanting to hear the whole album again then and there. "New York City Serenade" does just that.

5 Stars (easy!)
Favorite Tracks- "4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)", "New York City Serenade", "Kitty's Back". "Wild Billy's Circus Story"
Least Favorite Tracks: "The E Street Shuffle" (Not that it's a bad song, I just had to pick one, which is very hard to do when there's really not a bad song on the album)