keepers 5
keeper avg .625
How to review one of the most famous albums in the history of recorded music? Why, use big words like 'quintessential' and 'pivotal' and learn the art of hyperbole. I mean, anyone who listens to classic rock radio has heard "Tenth Avenue Freezeout"****, "Thunder Road"****, and the title song**** about a million times (hyperbole!). These big hits were big for a reason, but one of the best tracks is the overwrought (really, how many songs on this album aren't) but powerful "Backstreets"****, in the side-ending clean-up position. From the twangy opening riff to Springsteen's howled chorus it's classic. There are modest statements, such as generic rocker "Night", Bo Diddley tribute "She's The One", and the sketchy but intimate "Meeting Across The River". But this album belongs to the epics, and though they both clock in at under 5 minutes, "Thunder Road" and the title song (which open their respective sides of the album) both feel like journeys. But closing side 2 is "Jungleland"*****, the daddy of them all. The New Jersey Travelogue starts as ballad/rocker, book-ending the similar "Thunder Road", and ups the ante with Springsteen's slashing guitar. But it's the hammiest sax solo of all time (hyperbole?) by Clarence Clemons that crosses the state line to the land of the ridiculously sublime. How many guys heard that solo and picked up the sax in hopes of getting a gig on Saturday Night Live? I am in awe of its earnest grandiosity.
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