Born to Run

Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band play a style of rock n' roll that hearkens back to its earlier days, the 1950s. Despite being released years after that period of music, many elements of the band channel the straight rock n' roll being played by guys like Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley decades earlier. Part of the reason for this is a piano played by Roy Bittan. Although he is playing in a different style, one cannot hear rock piano without first thinking of Jerry Lee Lewis. Springsteen's voice, rough on this album, nonetheless is reminiscent of Elvis Presley's tenor.

What really sets this album aside is the songwriting. Though obscure at times, Springsteen has an uncanny understanding of the blue-collar life and this album reflects many facets of that life. Every day, people turn to crime when they can't find another way,("Meeting Across the River") and almost everyone looks for an escape from their troubles ("Born to Run"). Springsteen, in these eight songs, reveals to us the human condition as it appears under the guise of the American blue-collar life.