Bruce Springsteen - The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle

If Springsteen's debut, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. revealed just how ambitious a talent he was, it also fell just short of realizing those ambitions. No such problem with this, his second album. The Dylanesque wordplay is there, but with more narrative detail, as on "4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)," "Kitty's Back," and "Rosalita," each of which became instant Springsteen classics and were demanded by his concert crowds for years. But even on this record, the music isn't allowed to take a back seat to the words--the latter two, at least, are full-tilt rock & roll numbers, with abrupt tempo shifts, soaring instrumental parts, and production that's just chaotic enough to make you wonder if the whole thing is going to blow apart and then smile in appreciation when it doesn't. The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle was the first time Springsteen scaled the heights of rock & roll greatness--but it wouldn't be the last. --Daniel Durchholz Amazon.com

good stuff

Bruce Springsteen was pretty good in the early 70's. I'm not a fan by any means, and he's truly not on my list of personal top 100 favorite artists, but his first two albums are pretty freakin' sweet. I'm sorry for bringing this up again, but he really does remind me of Elvis Presley on several occasions with the voice shaking thing he does. I honestly don't think Bruce can HELP it, it's just something that happens naturally whenever he sings emotionally. It's pretty noticeable on this album.

Anyway, "The E. Street Shuffle" is a funky little track (one that's a bit hard to get into, in fact, because it's quite obnoxious the first time you hear it thanks to some sloppy songwriting habits of Bruce). He corrected that problem years later, gradually.

"Rosalita" has AWESOME vocals, and if it wasn't for the spooky late-night smokey vibes of "Kitty's Back", it would surely be my favorite song. Do NOT be fooled into thinking "New York Serenade" is a tedious overlong softly-spoken number that barely has a melody. True, it FEELS that way the first couple times, but keep hearing it to find out how good it really is. It DOES get better.

Overall, good album, and probably better than Born to Run. December 19, 2008

Even the casual Springsteen fan should own this cd.

Born to Run brought Springsteen to America's attention and earned him the Time and Newsweek covers. However, the real break out was this cd some two years earlier. It has always been my favourite and remains so today. Musically it is all over the map. There is no escaping Dylan's influence - but it is Dylan with R & B, jazz and Latino flavorings and with a New Jersey accent. Any fan who started his Bruce experience with either of the Borns would be surprised, to say the least, by the accordion on Asbury Park (Sandy), the soulful Butterfield Blues Band opening of Kitty's Back followed by the jazzy Van Morrisonesque vocals and the Jimmy Smith organ stylings of David L. Sancious. Although the record is musically extremely diverse the lyrics provide the consistency required to make this a great piece of music. To me The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle plays like a collection of autobiographical stories relating to Springsteen's Jersey life all those years ago. Moreover, it sounds like Bruce and the boys just got together one night and laid down these tracks. Now, the sound quality is admittedly less than ideal. I don't care. I first listened to the vinyl on an old, cheap stereo with a couple of pathetically small and inefficient speakers. Although this recording may be far from audiophile quality it certainly sounds better to me than it did as an LP, an 8-track or a cassette!

There isn't a weak track on this cd. As I listen to each song I think to myself "man this is a great tune - the best one" and then the next song begins and I think "wow, this is a really great song". The bottom line is that this is a terrific cd. All Springsteen fans, even the casual ones, should have it.
July 28, 2008

Part Walt Whitman, Part Van Morrison, Totally Springsteen

Having had the privilege of living in the Eatontown-Long Branch-Red Bank area in 1972, I really feel the verisimilitude and depth of feeling Springsteen and his E Street Band brought to every note and word of this album. Sandy, Rosalita, Kitty's Back, are, simply put, really hard rock songs played through a doo-wop, east coast, r&b type sensibility, which really fits with the preoccupations of a big city-resort area in the summertime. If "Greetings..." was Bruce's way of saying hello to his audience, this album was the true introduction. Anyone who ever strolled the boardwalk with a young, wild, yearning heart knows what this music is about, its greatness, its power.

Bruce's almost photographic sensibilities render a true, gritty, romantic, and brilliantly alive masterpiece from the neon, the salt-water taffy, and the hustles. And "Wild Billy's Circus Story" is simply a classic of the carny life, right up there with "Freaks" and "Nightmare Alley".

But this music is more than that, I realize. The Band's playing and Springsteen's writing are at a level here that beggars description--buy it. Listen. It's a GREAT album. July 23, 2008

Great Music But Lousy Fidelity.

It's a shame that this album has never been remastered to bring the sound quality up to what it could and should be. The music itself rates 5-stars, but because the album was never remastered, the quality of the sound rates 2-stars. To me, it is amazing that an artist of Springsteen's stature and accomplishment has allowed this inferior product to remain in its current condition. I keep waiting for it to be upgraded so I can buy it and hear it as it deserves to be heard. July 8, 2008

Outstanding Music from the Bruce Pastiche

This album got me through graduate school at Rutgers in the early 70's. Ripe with rhythm, textures, and the Boss's clever way with words, I identified with the energy and the beauty ascribed to local beach life as well as the romantic portrayals of diverse East Coast urban settings. I love this record and struggle with whether it is, in fact, his best. I love the rough, underproduced quality of this album, unlike what we were to see two years later with the slickly produced & packaged Born to Run (which despite the glitz is an excellent piece of music as well). Incident on 57th Street and Rosalita, not to mention Sandy, are etched in my limbic system. This cd still gets plenty of play in my car, especially on those early spring nights with the sun roof down. January 17, 2008

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