Bruce Springsteen —
The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle
album review

LYRICS FROM "4TH OF JULY, ASBURY PARK (SANDY)"
The wizards play down on Pinball Way on the boardwalk way past dark
And the boys from the casino dance with their shirts open,
Like Latin lovers along the shore,
Chasin' all them silly New York girls.
Aw, Sandy... the aurora is risin' behind us;
The pier lights our carnival life forever.
Love me tonight, for I may never
See you again . . .
Hey, Sandy girl . . .

Album Review: The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle was Bruce Springsteen's second album, and it remains one of his best. It continued some of the themes he established on his first album—all about the lives of youths, their trials and tribulations, loves found and loves lost, and simply enjoying what life has to offer. Here though, Springsteen adds much stronger songwriting, arrangement, and production values, and the result is a much better album. It has a buoyancy and energy level that was notably missing from some of Springsteen's later works. E Street Shuffle did not produce any hit singles for the Boss, but it did generate many songs that are still among his most appreciated. "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)" is a wild, rambling, raucous song about high school romance, with vivid lyrics that make it easy to get lost in the story. "4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)" is a sweeping, warm-sounding song that contrasts romance with the characteristics of life in and around an amusement park. "Incident on 57th Street" picks up where "Sandy" leaves off, continuing the same sort of story line but adding lush instrumentation to heighten the effect. The opening guitar work in "Kitty's Back" is searing and uncharacteristic, but it works perfectly with the rest of this driven song, which is a testament to the creativity and genius that went into the making of this album. The other four songs on the album are all good listens too. It would take the next album, Born to Run, for Springsteen to make it big with the public, but it was The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle where the Boss found his muse.

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