Good list, great write-ups. I disagree with a lot of the rankings, but I’ve got no real problem with any of your top 10 — other than the fact that “Thunder Road” HAD to be in there.
But I’ll still never understand your reasoning for leaving “Land of Hope and Dreams” and “This Hard Land” out of the list all together. Surely, they were better choices than some of the other non-album tracks you included.
lallolupo said:
Great, great post. All together a real labor of love. I agreed more with the songs analysis than with their ranking, but I guess everybody has his own Bruce list in mind. Only thing I can’t understand: Is there a reason you left out absolut jewels like LAND OF HOPE AND DREAMS and THIS HARD LAND? THere must be an explanation, otherwise people might think you’re a sort of cold reviewer…
Thanks for the effort anyway, I know Bruce himself had a look at it and found it nice.
Greetings from Italy,
“Stay hard, stay hungry, stay alive!”
SB24 said:
Great job, thorough explanations, and while I can’t agree with a lot of the ranking order, the reasoning for them holds up. I do agree with LP though, that Thunder Road is ranked about 15 places too low. It gives me the same reactions as you feel every time you hear Born to Run, alway has and always will.
Jbev said:
To all,
Thank you all so much for the comments throughout the entirety of this list. Thanks to all of you who linked to this list as well. And to Lallolupo, if you do have access to Bruce, please tell him how honored I am that Bruce took a look at this list.
As for some of the concerns: The biggest seeem to be with songs that were left off the list, a la “Land Of Hope And Dreams” and “This Hard Land”. When I decided to keep the list at 200 songs, I also decided that I would include all of the album tracks, which took up about 165 spaces. That left about 35 spots for non-studio album tracks. There were several of those that just had to be there, a la “Streets Of Philadelphia”, “41 Shots”, “Pink Cadillac”, songs that loom too large in the Boss legend to be ignored.
That left precious few spots to fill out of 200, and it was my call on what songs deserved those spots. So, while “Hope And Dreams” and “This Hard Land” and “Thundercrack” and others certainly are among Bruce’s best 200 songs, they fell victim to a numbers game.
Also, there were no cover songs included, hence no Seeger Sessions or “Trapped” and “Jersey Girl” on the list either.
I look forward to reading all of your future comments, good and bad, and I’d like to thank everyone again for their support.
Jbev
Ali said:
I can’t really argue with the top 10 (especially the love for Jungleland). But while this is a fantastic work, there is no way Tunnel of Love is only #80. No way.
Kirsty said:
The top 3 are perfect…a real labour of love, well done.
Chels said:
Brilliant list. I loved the way it was written, particularly because you’ve taken a great deal of time to think about what is most important to say about each one.
I don’t agree with all of your placings, I guess I am one of a select few who likes Human Touch and Lucky Town, but those aside, I’ve got similar opinions about all the songs.
Personally, Born In The USA is not in my top 10, but I can’t argue with your top 5.
Interesting read. I’m off to listen to Born To Run at full volume so the neighbours can appreciate it’s glory!
Excellent work. Really enjoyed your list. Great insights and appreciate the personal sharing. Of course I have some different ideas about where songs should be ranked. That’s what so great about music – it’s so personal. We all get to make our own lists.
Still, we share the same deep love and respect for the music of Bruce Springsteen. And that is truly special.
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Casey said:
As a Bruce die hard and consistent show goer, I admire the time you took to make up this list and tank you for that. That said for a true Bruce fan to see Brilliant Disguise in a top ten that doesnt include Thunder Road or The River is almost tough to forget. And a list as a whole that has Waiting on a Sunny Day and Working on a Dream (The songs true Bruce fans head to the bathroom for during shows) but leaves out Land of Hope and Dreams and so many others is just really difficult to deal with. Love the passion – disagree with some of the rankings.
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Elia said:
Thunder Road can’t be only at #18. It must be placed in top 5.
