OVer the 2 decades of the 70s and 80s, Bruce Springsteen's music definitely took an about face genre-wise. In The 70s, Springsteens music was folky rock, with elements of things like soul and New Jersey rock. Clarence Clemons and his sax were much more heard in the 70s then the 80s (The E Street Band wasnt together for a large chunk of the 80s). In the 80s, after the epic folk rock album Nebraska, Springsteen went towards a more mainstream sound with the album Born In The USA. It included a lot of synthesizers, as did most mainstream 80s music. Honestyly, I feel that although the patriotism is great, Born In the USA is OVERRATED! I can only stand a few tracks on the album. So with me, I feel that since 70s Springsteen sound was more raw, and realistic, and had more soul. Bruce Springsteen in the 70s is 10000x better than Bruce Springsteen in the 80s.

So, how do you guys feel?

My top 5

Darkness
The Promise
Tunnel of love
The river
Brn in the usa

To be fair, you are looking more at Born itself then Bruce in the 80's.

In the 80's he also had The River, Nebraska & Tunnel Of Love.. 3 of his best albums imo.

The River & Nebraska are classic Springsteen among fans, Bruce in the 70's was a bit more raw yes.

But i think of Bruce in the same way as Prince, Stevie Wonder, Bowie, Dylan etc. Where they had a classic period, where for a decade or longer it was nothing but classic albums.

I think bruce from 73 to 87 was nothing but great albums, and the 90's is when.... thing's got kind of well... boring

So i think they are equally good , i would give The Rver, Nebraska & Tunnel Of Love another listen

Also a lot of the stuff Bruce recorded for Born in The USA and didn't use is excellent. If you haven't got it get Tracks.

In the '70's Bruce's music was far more complex. Starting with "The River" he began to settle into the classic pop/rock song structure, and settled there with "BITUSA".

I miss songs like "Rosalita" and "Jungleland". Not only does Bruce not write them any more, no one does.

That said, Bruce mastered the pop/rock song structure like no one else before or since, IMO.

80s Boss, no doubt

The River (excellent double-album), USA (best pop/rock album of the decade) and Tunnel of Love (adult/contemporary with BALLS and BRAINS) are my top3 Bruce albums

other than some songs off Greetings/E Street Shuffle I'm not a fan of his 70s work...I mean, I respect the ambition/production of Born to Run, but I can't stand the lyrics/overall message, and Darkness is a depressing/cynical album which I don't want to revisit anytime soon...

I ignore Nebraska, is a personal album that he needed to make, but I'll be damned if I want to get near that depressing/bleak schlock again...

[Edited 11/4/12 9:16am]

70's Bruce is not so good singer and vocal melodies are left to be desired.yet the music is more musician oriented .80's Bruce is a much better singer but the music is a bit simple and repetitive.the thing is i love Bruce's guitar playing ,that is the reason i like him.