Darkness On The Edge Of Town - BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN****

Badlands/Adam Raised A Cain/Something In The Night/Candy's Room/Racing In The Street/The Promised Land/Factory/Streets Of Fire/Prove It All Night/Darkness On The Edge Of Town

After the commercial breakthrough with his previous album, singer songwriter Bruce Springsteen reinforced his position as spokesman for the blue collar audience with the somewhat strident Darkness On The Edge Of Town. (US:5 UK:16)

“Springsteen's music screams white, American working class. If you get into that mindset, you can enjoy it in that context. If you're not in that mindset, you won't. This album is probably his hardest with more electric guitar than on any other album. The biggest knock on this is the overly strident tone. His vocals are really over the top in places and it seems like he's straining too hard to get his point across on some of these songs, particularly Adam Raised A Cain.”

“Its not an easy album to love as its theme is almost entirely bleak, but it has a real live in the room feel which lets the songs really breath and the emotions flow. There are some moments where his vocals are a bit over dramatic, but generally Springsteen keeps these to a minimum.”

“For this work, Springsteen turned his attention to the underbelly of ordinary life, in part evoking how the passage of time is less romantic than realistic. Musically and lyrically, he exhibited sophistication and an increasing ability to convey his songs in mature and moving ways. In a sense, this is him emerging from adolescence into adulthood.”

“This is the hardest rocking and most straightforward rock album that Springsteen ever presented. It's an album expressing the disillusion of a working class that has been raised on anthems, but lead dime-a-dozen lives.”

“This is an album that shows his success did not distract him from the themes he had dealt with so far. He still sang about hopes rising and falling, the working class and the city.”

“This one strikes deep into the soul. It is dark and moody, gritty, depressing and emotionally draining. However, the music is so powerful that you come away feeling inspired.”