I wouldn’t say this is my favourite album (though it’s not far from it) but I just listened to it beginning to end and realised that this is the one perfect Bruce record.
Born to Run and DOTEOT have an emotional resonance that make them my favourites, but they have songs that are less than perfect. Great as She’s the One or 10th Av. are, they don’t have a whole lot of substance. Prove it all night is majestic specially when played live but those lyrics could have been perfected (“to buy you a gold ring and a pretty dress of blue / Baby just one kiss will get these things for you”) and the whole album‘s production could be quite better.
The River has its clunkers, TOL has some horribly produced songs, TGOTJ has an irrelevant My Best Was Never Good Enough. Even Western Stars has some bad choices (e.g. the background vocals on The Wayfarer or a the mediocre Sundown).
So the one album that is absolutely perfect, the one that stands the test of time and the one where no fault is to be found has to be Nebraska. I can’t find one single thing that’s wrong with it, one single thing I wish had been done differently.
I love this thread.
But I feel obligated to say I think "Sundown" is one of the two or three best songs on Western Stars.
I love Sleepy Joe!
There is only one perfect (in fact, legendary) Springsteen album...
Now please....accept no substitutes
Nebraska is perfect. Born To Run is perfect. Darkness is perfect.
This, on the other hand, is as perfect as perfection can be.
The economy in the songwriting, the soft strain while he sings that chorus, the conflict in the protagonist’s head. You know exactly how he is feeling when he pulls over to the side of the highway and watches those taillights disappear.
Do you know TJ, I think you just might be right on this. I think WS comes closest, but I am still not overly keen in Sleepy Joe and all the other albums do have at least one song which I would put in the same bracket.
I agree that the only album that does not have a week song or even a song that is below a clear standard set on that album is Nebraska. After WS was released I went through each studio album and marked each song out of ten to find an average. Using that method Nebraska fell behind BTR, GOTJ, Darkness and Magic. Nebraska does not have any tens for me unlike the top four. Nebraska is a masterpiece. Squeaky chair and all.