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Tyler: Born To Run, Peter.  Bruce Springsteen’s third album.  It catapulted him to stardom.  I know it well.  Yourself?

Peter: I was not familiar with it, at least not in album form. Are you a big Springsteen fan?

Tyler: I’m a casual fan with impassioned tendencies.  Born To Run I know.  I’ve got a handful of others I rather love. I’m lucky and have seen him live with the E Street Band.  He’s a titan for reasons, reasons I understand.  Much love for the Boss in this corner.

Peter: I like Bruce Springsteen a lot. I’m a Bruce Springsteen fan. But the Springsteen albums I like aren’t the ones everybody else likes. Usually I’m in line with the music nerd consensus. Exile is my favorite Stones album. Revolver is my favorite Beatles album. Tonight’s The Night, Purple Rain, and Pet Sounds are all personal favorites. But, when it comes to Springsteen, I’m kind of a rebel. I do love his heralded masterpiece Nebraska, but I also love In Concert/MTV Plugged, his electric “Unplugged” album from 1993. I had Human Touch and Lucky Town on cassette. I really like The Ghost of Tom Joad. As far as his albums from the ’70s go, I mostly know those songs from classic rock radio, the Live 1975–85 box set, and his Greatest Hits disc from 1995 or so.

Tyler: My parents had that live box set on cassette!

Peter: Nice! I had it on CD. I got it for Christmas in 1993? From my girlfriend at the time. Very generous of her. Shout out to my high school girlfriend. Thank you for that.

I will say, I like Bruce Springsteen. I’m lukewarm on the E Street Band. Nothing against any of them personally. I never got to see them live, but I do prefer those live recordings to their studio recordings. In general.

Tyler: They’re a rare amalgam of studio creation and live beast.  Born To Run is produced to within an inch of its life, but its song surge when played onstage.

Peter: They kick things off with “Thunder Road.” An all-time classic.

Tyler: I hadn’t heard this song in so long.  From those first couple of piano/harmonica notes, I was taken by how otherworldly it felt.  How very youthful.

Peter: This is a great song. It might be my favorite Bruce Springsteen song of all time. But… I’ll be honest, I don’t love the studio version. I really prefer various live versions to this. The pace is too fast here, in my opinion. The mix is too busy. It’s distracting!

Tyler: It’s a wall of sound.  Clearly getting after that classic technique from Dead Murderer Producer Guy.

Peter: It’s a runner! More Phil Spector references!

I love the lyrics on this one, and I hate to have them sort of jumbled in with the mix. “There were ghosts in the eyes of all the boys you sent away/They haunt this dusty beach road/In the skeleton frames of burned out Chevrolets” is so great. I’ve always loved that bit.

Tyler: That’s a damn fine lyric.  Man, Springsteen’s New Jersey is a magical, evocative place.

Peter: It’s a rich universe.

“It’s a town full of losers/And I’m pulling out of here to win,” is one of the greatest lyrics in rock history.

I read once that rock and roll’s greatest theme is “escape.” It was either that or “release.” Either way, it applies.

Tyler: I was feeling a little cynical about it coming into our chat.  It’s just so earnest.  But, right now, as we write, “Thunder Road” sounds marvelous.

Peter: Yeah, everything on here is very earnest. It kind of requires something of the listener to just go with it.

Tyler: At some point last year I revisited Almost Famous.  I felt a similar cynicism then—wary of these spirited, heart-strung odes to freedom and rock and first love.

Peter: Ha! I love Almost Famous.

But it requires a similar buy-in from the audience.

Tyler: Almost Famous is a treasure.  Cameron Crowe’s last and greatest statement of note.

Peter: *cough* Say Anything. *cough*

Tyler: Say Anything is the only competitor.  It too is wonderful.

Peter: I always thought of the second track, “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out,” as a big hit, but it actually peaked at #83.

Tyler: “Freeze-Out” is a live staple.  Clarence’s big moment.

Peter: I like this song, but I wouldn’t put it on a Bruce Springsteen playlist. If I made one. Which is now a thing I want to do.

Tyler: It makes me smile, this one.

Peter: I wasn’t familiar with the next song, “Night.”

It’s got that Wall of Sound style production you mentioned, and it kind of runs you over. Which is appropriate because it’s about racing in the street. Hey, you know a song I love about racing in the street? “Racing In The Street,” by Bruce Springsteen!

Tyler: It barrels right at you from the very first bars.  I’m not always in the mood for “Night,” but that’s very likely because it’s preceded by two stone classics.  It’s a good song, a great one!  And it’s definitely a full-on Springsteen song.  “Get to work late and the boss-man’s givin’ you hell.”

Peter: Yeah. It also has some straight up silly lyrics, “And sit at the light, as it changes to green/With your faith in your machine off you scream into the night.” It reminds me of “Faster,” from George Harrison’s 1979 album, George Harrison. Remember “Faster?” That was weird.

Tyler: “Faster” is one of the more ridiculous one-offs in the entire Beatles solo canon.

As for “Night,” it’s here and gone in a hurry.  Three minutes flat.

Peter: It really clips along.

But I’m not adding it to my Springsteen playlist. I’m definitely putting “Racing In The Streets” on there though.

The Live box version. Fantastic.

Tyler: I just checked.  That box set is on Spotify.  Merry Christmas, Peter!

Peter: Hoo boy, happy birthday to me.

Tyler: “Backstreets” comes on next like going to church.

Peter: I knew this song. It’s kind of a big deal. I like the organ very much.

Tyler: There’s a fan magazine called Backstreets, I believe.

Peter: Listen, I don’t want to sound like a “hater.”

Because, I am not! I like Bruce! I really do! But, I learned on Wikipedia that “Rolling Stone rated ‘Backstreets’ to be the sixth greatest Springsteen song of all time.” Which is insane. It’s good. It might be the third best song on this record? Third out of eight? Honestly, that’s nuts. Do better, Rolling Stone. Do better.

Tyler: Hell, it might not be my third-best on here.  Sixth all-time?  Get a grip, RS.

Peter: Exactly!

That being said, it’s a good song. A very impassioned Springsteen vocal. A strong way to close out side one of the album.

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