Bruce Springsteen: Born In The USA album review

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Bruce Springsteen: Born In The USA

Born in the U.S.A.
Cover Me
Darlington County
Working On The Highway
Downbound Train
I’m On Fire
No Surrender
Bobby Jean
I’m Goin’ Down
Glory Days
Dancing In The Dark
My Hometown

Having peaked once creatively with 1975’s Born To Run, Bruce Springsteen enjoyed a rebirth as Born In The U.S.A. dominated the US album listings.

Topping the chart for seven (non-consecutive) weeks, slogging it out with Prince’s equally outstanding Purple Rain film soundtrack, Born In The U.S.A. spawned no fewer than seven US Top 10 singles: Dancing In The Dark, Cover Me, the title track, I’m On Fire, Glory Days, I’m Going Down and My Hometown.

The eternally misunderstood title track led the campaign, and it was in good company, with the strongest pound-for-pound hooks of Springsteen’s career helping top up a fanbase he’d eroded with almost a decade of esoteric releases.

Born In The U.S.A. is big, bombastic – almost uncharacteristically crass, at points – but you can’t argue with stadium-tooled juggernauts like Glory Days and No Surrender, while the hushed chime of I’m On Fire is one of rock’s great studies of fit-to-burst lust.

Springsteen knew this was the dollars-and-cents peak, for better or worse: “I would never be here, this high, in the mainstream pop firmament again.”

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Other albums released in June 1984

Hyæna – Siouxsie and the Banshees
No Brakes – John Waite
In the Studio – The Specials
Breaking Hearts – Elton John
Camouflage – Rod Stewart
From Her to Eternity – Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Goodbye Cruel World – Elvis Costello and the Attractions
The Allnighter – Glenn Frey
Mask – Roger Glover
Discovery – Mike Oldfield
Purple Rain – Prince and The Revolution
Brilliant Trees – David Sylvian
Sidewalk – Icehouse
Rock Will Never Die – Michael Schenker Group

What they said…

“The album finds its centre in those cheering rock songs, but four tracks – the last two on either side — give the album an extraordinary depth. Springsteen has always been able to tell a story better than he can write a hook, and these lyrics are way beyond anything anybody else is writing. They’re sung in such an unaffected way that the starkness stabs you.” (Rolling Stone)

“Glory Days may have employed Springsteen’s trademark disaffection, yet it came across as a couch potato’s drunken lament. But more than anything else, Born In The U.S.A. marked the first time that Springsteen’s characters really seemed to relish the fight and to have something to fight for. They were not defeated (No Surrender), and they had friendship (Bobby Jean) and family (My Hometown) to defend. (AllMusic)

“Hardly ride-off-into-the-sunset stuff, at the same time it’s low on nostalgia and beautiful losers. Not counting the title powerhouse, the best songs slip by at first because their tone is so lifelike: the fast-stepping Working On The Highway,” which turns out to be about a country road gang: Darlington County, which pins down the futility of a macho spree without undercutting its exuberance; and Glory Days, which finally acknowledges that among other things, getting old is a damn good joke. (Robert Christgau)

What you said…

Andrew Cumming: Great choice of album to review. Obviously massive at the time (impossible to overstate how massive). But is it any good? Well the answer, in my opinion, is it’s definitely not his best, but it’s a long way from being the worst. The phenomenal run through The Wild The Innocent, Born To Run, Darkness, The River and Nebraska must rank as one of the greatest runs in pop music history. And Born In The U.S.A. presents a different feel. It’s a mainstream pop album.

And because of that it had massive success. Single after single in the charts and the album sold by the bucket load. As a teenager in the 80s I genuinely thought this was his first album, so much did it raise his profile. And I guess because of that it got a bad press with Springsteen fans. Too commercial, too pop. Where’s the depth? Well, OK, it didn’t have as much depth as the predecessors, but instead, it was a glorious set of entertaining pop songs. It might not be as good as the albums that came before it. That’s not very controversial. But here’s the bit that might be – with the possible exception of Tunnel of Love, it’s better than anything he’s done since.

Gary Claydon: Apparently, Born In The U.S.A. was the first commercial CD to be pressed in the United States, at the CBS plant in Indiana. It’s fitting that this should mark Springsteen’s entry into the digital age, as it also marked his crossover into mainstream pop. Was that a good thing or a bad thing? Well, you can make your own mind up about that but it’s difficult to recall an artist whose profile rose as rapidly as Springsteen’s did on the back of ‘Born In The U.S.A.. Suddenly everybody was a Springsteen fan, to the point where it became decidedly uncool.

Born In The U.S.A. is a good enough album but his rootsy inclinations are diluted by the more accessible material and with it goes some of the streetwise melancholy that can make Springsteen’s narrative so compelling. It’s popularity also meant that its reflections on the contradictions of Reagan’s America were lost in a swirl of radio and, above all, MTV activity. Springsteen now also had the look to go with it. He had become more cover model than the scruffy, likeable street punk of yore. ‘The Boss’ was well and truly born. I guess it was just his moment and Born In The U.S.A. was exactly the right album at exactly the right time.

Gus Schultz: Definitely an album of its time, when yuppies ruled the world. This, along with Dire Straits’ Brother in Arms blaring out of every BMW on the road. No need to purchase this LP with it being everywhere, on radio, TV, bars, shopping malls, etc. There’s no denying Bruce’s talents as a singer, songwriter and performer, but this album really turned me off of him. Not that I was a fan of his to begin with, but the overexposure was too much for me. I have since come to appreciate him a little more in my older years. Listening to Born in the U.S.A. takes me directly back to a time that wasn’t a particular favourite time for me. With that being said, it’s a well-done album in every aspect and did exactly what it was made to do: sell, sell, sell.

Mark Herrington: My introduction to Bruce Springsteen was via a friend who played his stuff endlessly in the early 80s, before this was released (mainly The River and Born To Run). Nothing in the music connected with me then at all, it just left me cold. Consequently, whilst I’ve heard the big songs on Born In The U.S.A., I’ve never bothered to listen to this in its entirety.

So I gave this a spin, and my reaction is the same as it was then. I can appreciate this for what it is and does successfully, and I don’t mind the slower, moodier stuff like I’m on Fire. For me , I find someone like Johnny Cash delivered this type of music in a way that is far more to my liking. A mid-table score from me.

Mike Canoe: I had some Bruce Springsteen cassettes as a teenager, including Born in the U.S.A., but I couldn’t identify with his characters and the music was too mainstream for me so I moved on. I didn’t really get into Springsteen until my son got into Springsteen in his teen years. When I would parrot the conventional wisdom that this album was too commercial, he would respond, “Dad, this album has some great songs.”

And right he is. Some of my favourites are among the five of the twelve songs that didn’t get released as singles. It’s still a mystery to me why his surging tribute to Steven Van Zandt, No Surrender, was never released as a single. Bobby Jean, a lyrically sad, musically upbeat song really hits home with me now that I have my own “Bobby Jeans” in my life.

Upbeat songs with downbeat lyrics regularly appear on the album. I don’t know how long it took me to realize that things don’t end well for the narrators of the rockabilly-infused Working On The Highway or the choogling Darlington County. Of course, Downbound Train is sad all the way around but still not as bleak as songs like Wreck On The Highway or The River.

Lyrically, the singles sound like odd choices: The aching loneliness of Dancing In The Dark and I’m on Fire; the lost souls in the title track, Cover Me, and My Hometown; the ridiculously upbeat breakup song, I’m Going Down and the alcohol-fueled nostalgia of Glory Days.

Of course, the majority of the songs don’t sound sad until you start paying attention to the lyrics. And that may be the key to Born In The USA‘s success. When you’re in a good mood. the music’s front and centre, but when you’re down the lyrics speak volumes. I might still not listen to much Springsteen – but I know what my favourite album is.

David Longman: In a way it all comes down to that one song – Born In The U.S.A.. The lyrics are simply not supported by the overblown anthem which is the musical accompaniment. It is a rebuke to the USA and it’s been hijacked by flag-waving triumphalists who don’t listen to the message. I was fortunate to see Bruce play an acoustic version in ‘Nebraska-style’ and everything about that song changes. Sadly it didn’t stop the meatheads demanding he play it – only for Bruce to tell them, rather sadly, ‘I just did that’.

Bruce Springsteen – Born in the U.S.A. (Official Video) – YouTube
Bruce Springsteen - Born in the U.S.A. (Official Video) - YouTube

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Chris Elliott: Decent singles, but My Hometown remains the stand-out track (less is more).

As an album it quickly gets dull and repetitive – and there’s not one track that wouldn’t benefit from losing 30 seconds from the fade out. The saxophone is thankfully more muted than before which helps. This brings us to my problem with Springsteen: the songwriting is strong, but there are too many musicians and way too many notes. Springsteen, I prefer more raw. Most of the time it just feels like he didn’t like to tell his mates to just stop jamming in the garage. I don’t find it as jarring here as on Born to Run/The River, but there’s a feeling in every case there’s something special. It’s just buried in over-elaborate arrangements

Ben Smith: Great album but it’s not Nebraska.

John Davidson: Bought this when it came out. And, much like U2s output at the time, it seemed to capture the moment, a sort of high-energy melancholy that was at once part of the corporate machine but still seemed to talk to people.

It fitted the anti-Thatcher and anti-Reagan stylings of the day. The difference was the people buying the album were students and yuppies, not the working stiffs that the songs alluded to. They were songs looking back at a past we had barely seen far less experienced.

There’s no doubt that Bruce can write lyrics. He paints vivid pictures and tells interesting stories. The tunes aren’t bad either, though they run too much towards American rock’n’roll for my taste these days.

I can understand how this connected with a generation that was living through the end of industrialisation and the economic hardships that went with it, but now it just strikes me as too maudlin. The irony of Glory Days is that the rest of the album is expressing those same sentiments – that the best days are behind us – but without the self-awareness.

I was 21 when this came out and, with my life ahead of me, it seems strange to think how these songs seemed so relevant. It’s a tribute perhaps to the power of Springsteen’s poetry but it’s a past I no longer want to visit.

The guitar work on Cover Me stands out and Downbound Train still moves me but the rest of the album is either played out or competent album filler. I want to listen to this sort of thing (and that’s not often) I’d sooner put on John Mellencamp’s Lonesome Jubilee.

If I’d scored this in 1984 I’d have given it a 9. These days I think a 7 is more than generous.

Greg Schwepe: I actually purchased Bruce Springsteen’s Born In The U.S.A. with my own money, unlike the “free” copies of his previous three releases that I recorded from friends in my college dorm. I have a complicated relationship with Springsteen’s music. I wouldn’t go so far as to call it a love/hate relationship, but more like a “he’s OK/I don’t really care anymore” relationship.

I never really “got” him and didn’t worship at the altar of Bruce Springsteen. But after sitting in friends’ dorm rooms where they got to pick the music to listen to while we were partying and having to sit through multiple listens of Born To Run, Darkness On The Edge of Town, and The River, I finally had to admit that he did have a bunch of catchy songs that really stuck with me. And since I was in my “he’s OK” phase when it came out, I had to buy it.

So along comes the huge album being reviewed this week. This was the kind of album that was so big that the “below average music fan” that bought maybe 3-5 albums a year actually bought (unlike most from this group that bought 3-5 albums in a month!) and was probably the only Springsteen album they ever owned. From the videos to radio airplay, it made an already big Springsteen even bigger.

Since I’ve been in my “I don’t really care anymore” phase of Springsteen, I did have to give it the obligatory listen for this review since I hadn’t listened to it in ages. I totally forgot the rootsy, Americana, almost rockabilly-ish vibe of a lot of the album, which I really liked; Darlington County, Working On The Highway, Downbound Train, and My Hometown. And of course Glory Days. Am guessing that the “below average music fan” skipped past these a lot of these to just focus on the hits. And the anthemic title track which makes the listener contemplate “wait, is this a flag-waving song or not?” Great way to start the album, but I’m totally tired of it now.

I will say this about Springsteen’s music; I can “see” the people he describes in his songs. I’m just not “the guy” in the songs that he’s singing about. He didn’t appeal to me because he was singing “to me,” it’s just that I could see the situations he was writing about.

7 out of 10 on this one for me. You made a decent album here Bruce that I listened to a lot, but you’re just not the boss of me.

Robert Share: Dreadful album – unoriginal, sloganeering and so, so repetitive.

Bruce Springsteen – I’m On Fire (Official Video) – YouTube
Bruce Springsteen - I'm On Fire (Official Video) - YouTube

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Julian Quail: I was a huge Springsteen fan prior to this album. I was lucky enough to see him on the River tour – just amazing. I remember hearing the first track and being horrified. The rest of the album is somewhat of a Curate’s Egg. Some good, some disappointing. Just one last thing, I think the acoustic version of Born In The U.S.A. is amazing.

Luc Van Goethem: Lovely album, but my favourite remains Darkness On The Edge Of Town.

Chris Fairhurst: Great album but it suffers from 80s production values.

Joe Cogan: It has some great songs, but the production is so 80s that it stands out like a sore thumb in his catalogue.

Tony Fuerte: Very dated. Loved the album when it first came out. With the exception of Glory Days and possibly My Hometown, this is the one Bruce album that is best kept in the era in which it was released.

George Young: It was mnammoth back in the day, some really catchy pop hooks, but with all seven singles from the album making the charts I’m not surprised he could never match that success. I never really took much notice of him before and ignored him after, but if you were a teen or twenty-something back in 84 you must have been a soul boy/hip-hop dude to not have whistled some of these tunes. Nearly five hour’s at Wembley Stadium in the roasting heat was hard work, Dire Straits were in Wembley Arena at the same time, even though it was all seated, it was rocking much better!

Philip Qvist: I don’t even have to listen to that album because even down here in South Africa you couldn’t ignore Born in the U.S.A. – and the singles that it produced. In fact, I didn’t have to buy the album (and I didn’t); because all I had to do was visit a friend, go to a record bar, listen to the radio, or go to any bar or nightclub – and hey presto, guess what was playing at the time. That’s how big that album was – and in all honestly, he was never going to repeat that success.

Confession time – I’m not a huge fan of Bruce Springsteen. I agree that he is a more than decent songwriter and a good musician – even if his voice does grate on me – and by all accounts he puts on a great show, but his music doesn’t appeal to me.

If I had to choose his best album then it would have to be Nebraska, an acoustic masterpiece, or one of his many Best Of The Boss compilation albums. That said, I guess that Born In The U.S.A. is a Greatest Hits record in its own right.

As I mentioned above, I don’t have to review this album – I know every song by heart even 40 years after it was released; especially the misunderstood title track and Dancing In The Dark, with the video that introduced Courtney Cox to the entire world.

It is a very good album, but it was also its own worst enemy; as it was so overplayed in the 80s – but I won’t begrudge the Boss that success as he so richly deserved it. A 7/10 from me.

Carey Scott Miller: This is one of those albums where its massive success and cultural ubiquity has diminished its quality in a weird way. It’s the McDonald’s of rock records. I rarely seek out Mickey D’s, but in a pinch a Big Mac and fries is pretty damn good though. Likewise, though this is a record I don’t feel the need to own because I’ve heard it 1,000,000 times, if any of its hits are playing on the radio it’s still a pretty damn good time.

Evan Sanders: I bought this soon after it came out in 1984 and immediately transferred it to cassette so that the vinyl wouldn’t wear out. To paraphrase the title song, the music is still there, but both the vinyl and cassette are gone.

Rather than reviewing the songs and music, I’ll add my observation of how misunderstood the songs have been, probably due to the anthemic melodies and upbeat arrangements. Of the 12 songs, I believe nine of them deal with the dark side of the American Dream or the trap of nostalgia. To pick two of them, Bobby Jean, long believed to be about Steve Van Zandt, is about the regret of unexpectedly losing a longtime friend, and I see Glory Days as a criticism of people who reflect on their teen years as the best time of their lives. The song meanings do come out much stronger when listening to acoustic versions of the songs, which Bruce has incorporated into his set over the years. 8/10, and that’s because Born to Run is a 10, and The River is a 9.