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Bruce Springsteen's make-or-break third album represented a sonic leap from his first two, which had been made for modest sums at a suburban studio; Born to Run was cut on a superstar budget, mostly at the Record Plant in New York. Springsteen's backup band had changed, with his two virtuoso players, keyboardist David Sancious and drummer Vini Lopez, replaced by the professional but less flashy Roy Bittan and Max Weinberg. The result was a full, highly produced sound that contained elements of Phil Spector's melodramatic work of the 1960s. Layers of guitar, layers of echo on the vocals, lots of keyboards, thunderous drums -- Born to Run had a big sound, and Springsteen wrote big songs to match it. The overall theme of the album was similar to that of The E Street Shuffle; Springsteen was describing, and saying farewell to, a romanticized teenage street life. But where he had been affectionate, even humorous before, he was becoming increasingly bitter. If Springsteen had celebrated his dead-end kids on his first album and viewed them nostalgically on his second, on his third he seemed to despise their failure, perhaps because he was beginning to fear he was trapped himself. Nevertheless, he now felt removed, composing an updated West Side Story with spectacular music that owed more to Bernstein than to Berry. To call Born to Run overblown is to miss the point; Springsteen's precise intention is to blow things up, both in the sense of expanding them to gargantuan size and of exploding them. If The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle was an accidental miracle, Born to Run was an intentional masterpiece. It declared its own greatness with songs and a sound that lived up to Springsteen's promise, and though some thought it took itself too seriously, many found that exalting.
© William Ruhlmann /TiVo
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Bruce Springsteen, Associated Performer, Composer, Guitar, Harmonica, Lyricist, Main Artist, Producer, Associated Performer, Composer, Guitar, Harmonica, Lyricist, Producer - Jon Landau, Producer - ROY BITTAN, Glockenspiel - Garry Tallent, Bass - Max Weinberg, Drums - Mike Appel, Producer - Jimmy Iovine, Engineer, Mixing Engineer - Stevie Van Zandt - THOM PANUNZIO, Assistant Engineer - Clarence Clemons, Saxophone - Greg Calbi, Mastering Engineer
(P) 1975 Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen, Arranger, Associated Performer, Guitar, Main Artist, Producer, Arranger, Associated Performer, Guitar, Producer - Bruce Springsteen, Composer, Lyricist - Jon Landau, Producer - Mike Appel, Producer - Garry Tallent, Bass Guitar - Stevie Van Zandt, Arranger - Jimmy Iovine, Engineer, Mixing Engineer - Max M. Weinberg, Drums - ROY BITTAN, Piano - THOM PANUNZIO, Assistant Engineer - Corky Stasiak, Assistant Engineer - Clarence Clemons, Tenor Saxophone - Dave Thoener, Assistant Engineer - Michael Brecker, Tenor Saxophone - Ricke Delena, Assistant Engineer - Dave Sanborn, Baritone Saxophone - Angie Arcuri, Assistant Engineer - Randy Brecker, Trumpet - Andy Abrams, Assistant Engineer - Wayne Andre, Trombone - Greg Calbi, Mastering Engineer
(P) 1975 Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen, Associated Performer, Guitar, Main Artist, Producer, Associated Performer, Guitar, Producer - Bruce Springsteen, Composer, Lyricist - Jon Landau, Producer - Mike Appel, Producer - Garry Tallent, Bass Guitar - Jimmy Iovine, Engineer, Mixing Engineer - Max M. Weinberg, Drums - ROY BITTAN, Glockenspiel, Harpsichord, Piano - THOM PANUNZIO, Assistant Engineer - Corky Stasiak, Assistant Engineer - Dave Thoener, Assistant Engineer - Ricke Delena, Assistant Engineer - Clarence Clemons, Saxophone - Angie Arcuri, Assistant Engineer - Andy Abrams, Assistant Engineer - Greg Calbi, Mastering Engineer
(P) 1975 Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen, Associated Performer, Composer, Guitar, Lyricist, Main Artist, Producer, Associated Performer, Composer, Guitar, Lyricist, Producer - Jon Landau, Producer - Mike Appel, Producer - Garry Tallent, Bass Guitar - Jimmy Iovine, Engineer, Mixing Engineer - Max M. Weinberg, Drums - ROY BITTAN, Organ, Piano - THOM PANUNZIO, Assistant Engineer - Corky Stasiak, Assistant Engineer - Dave Thoener, Assistant Engineer - Ricke Delena, Assistant Engineer - Angie Arcuri, Assistant Engineer - Andy Abrams, Assistant Engineer - Greg Calbi, Mastering Engineer
(P) 1975 Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen, Associated Performer, Composer, Guitar, Lyricist, Main Artist, Producer, Associated Performer, Composer, Guitar, Lyricist, Producer - Garry Tallent, Bass - Mike Appel, Producer - Louis Lahav, Engineer - Ernest "Boom" Carter, Drums - David Sancious, Keyboards - Danny Federici, Organ - Clarence Clemons, Saxophone
(P) 1975 Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen, Associated Performer, Composer, Guitar, Lyricist, Main Artist, Producer, Associated Performer, Composer, Guitar, Lyricist, Producer - Jon Landau, Producer - Mike Appel, Producer - Garry Tallent, Bass Guitar - Jimmy Iovine, Engineer, Mixing Engineer - Max M. Weinberg, Drums - ROY BITTAN, Harpsichord, Organ, Piano - THOM PANUNZIO, Assistant Engineer - Corky Stasiak, Assistant Engineer - Dave Thoener, Assistant Engineer - Clarence Clemons, Saxophone - Ricke Delena, Assistant Engineer - Angie Arcuri, Assistant Engineer - Andy Abrams, Assistant Engineer - Greg Calbi, Mastering Engineer
(P) 1975 Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen, Associated Performer, Main Artist, Producer, Associated Performer, Producer - Bruce Springsteen, Composer, Lyricist - Jon Landau, Producer - ROY BITTAN, Piano - Mike Appel, Producer - Jimmy Iovine, Engineer, Mixing Engineer - Richard Davis, Bass - Randy Brecker, Trumpet - THOM PANUNZIO, Assistant Engineer - Corky Stasiak, Assistant Engineer - Dave Thoener, Assistant Engineer - Ricke Delena, Assistant Engineer - Angie Arcuri, Assistant Engineer - Andy Abrams, Assistant Engineer - Greg Calbi, Mastering Engineer
(P) 1975 Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen, Associated Performer, Guitar, Main Artist, Producer, Associated Performer, Guitar, Producer - Bruce Springsteen, Composer, Lyricist - Charles Calello, Arranger, Conductor - Jon Landau, Producer - Mike Appel, Producer - Jimmy Iovine, Engineer, Mixing Engineer - Garry Tallent, Bass Guitar - Max M. Weinberg, Drums - THOM PANUNZIO, Assistant Engineer - ROY BITTAN, Piano - Corky Stasiak, Assistant Engineer - Dave Thoener, Assistant Engineer - Suki Lahav, Violin - Ricke Delena, Assistant Engineer - Clarence Clemons, Tenor Saxophone - Angie Arcuri, Assistant Engineer - Andy Abrams, Assistant Engineer - Greg Calbi, Mastering Engineer
(P) 1975 Bruce Springsteen
Album review
Bruce Springsteen's make-or-break third album represented a sonic leap from his first two, which had been made for modest sums at a suburban studio; Born to Run was cut on a superstar budget, mostly at the Record Plant in New York. Springsteen's backup band had changed, with his two virtuoso players, keyboardist David Sancious and drummer Vini Lopez, replaced by the professional but less flashy Roy Bittan and Max Weinberg. The result was a full, highly produced sound that contained elements of Phil Spector's melodramatic work of the 1960s. Layers of guitar, layers of echo on the vocals, lots of keyboards, thunderous drums -- Born to Run had a big sound, and Springsteen wrote big songs to match it. The overall theme of the album was similar to that of The E Street Shuffle; Springsteen was describing, and saying farewell to, a romanticized teenage street life. But where he had been affectionate, even humorous before, he was becoming increasingly bitter. If Springsteen had celebrated his dead-end kids on his first album and viewed them nostalgically on his second, on his third he seemed to despise their failure, perhaps because he was beginning to fear he was trapped himself. Nevertheless, he now felt removed, composing an updated West Side Story with spectacular music that owed more to Bernstein than to Berry. To call Born to Run overblown is to miss the point; Springsteen's precise intention is to blow things up, both in the sense of expanding them to gargantuan size and of exploding them. If The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle was an accidental miracle, Born to Run was an intentional masterpiece. It declared its own greatness with songs and a sound that lived up to Springsteen's promise, and though some thought it took itself too seriously, many found that exalting.
© William Ruhlmann /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 8 track(s)
- Total length: 00:39:22
- Main artists: Bruce Springsteen
- Composer: Bruce Springsteen
- Label: Columbia
- Genre: Pop/Rock Rock
(P) 1975 Bruce Springsteen
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