Bruce Springsteen-Darkness On The Edge Of Town (1978)


 

Artist: Bruce Springsteen

Title: Darkness On The Edge Of Town

Label: Columbia

Format: CD

Catalog Number: CK 35318

Year of Release: 1978

Country and Year of Edition: Canada reissue likely post 2005

Sell Price: $9.49

Sell Date: 7/31/26

Condition: VG+/VG+

Discogs Last Sold:  7/24/26 NM/NM $4.50

Low: $2.00

Median: $4.25

Average: $9.66

High: $34.95

Current low price: $3.50

Curren Number on Sale at Discogs: 6

Have/Want: 283/108

Where Sold: Paoli, PA

Time It Took To Sell:  3 years

Where and When Bought: Facebook marketplace lot

Gwiz-gau Letter Grade: A+

Sad To See It Go: No

"Poor man want to be rich, rich man want to be King, and a King ain't satisfied until he rules everything."-Badlands

"Mister. I ain't a boy. No. I'm a man. And I believe in a Promised Land."-The Promised Land

This is the first Springsteen album I ever heard and remains my absolute favorite.  I bought the record for my Dad, so since it came out June '78, I'm going to guess Christmas of that year.  I don't think it was as late as April '79 but that is entirely possible since I was still in 3rd grade.   He read about it in Stereo Review and had mentioned being interested in hearing it.  Whenever it entered the household it was played heavily by my Mom in her short rotation deep into '79 and '80.  

Listening in headphones this morning, I realized the Roy Bittan piano is a bit louder than I remember or the way my head wants to hear it. I'm not sure if it was this particular CD mix.  I grew up with the record in the 70's and got my own copy before the CD era for my collection.  I never purchased it on CD until I got it in a lot a few years ago. 

Anyway this is the middle of the holy Trinity of Bruce albums: Born To Run-Darkness-The River with Nebraska and Born In The USA being their own things.  What sets these three apart is that even though they are highly produced records, they don't date and sound great in any era.  When you put Darkness up against any of the others, you might come to a different conclusion of what is better, but I still like this one best. ' "Candy's Room" was the big standout for me as a kid probably because of the way the buildup of the song is constructed from the spoken lyric and the drum roll intro.  "Adam Raised A Cain" I would parody as "Adam Raised A Vein" and tighten my wrist, until someone noted that was an artery not a vein.  Oh well, 8 year old Mad Magazine errors.

Nowadays "Badlands" and "The Promised Land" carry the day if only for the impactful lines noted above.

They shape a world view that Stereo Review never could.

FOR FURTHER REVIEW:

Born To Run (1975)

I'm On Fire b/w Johnny Bye Bye (1985)

Glory Days b/w Stand On It (1985)

Born To Run: 30th Anniversary Edition (2005)

Patti Smith Group-Easter (1978)

Randy Newman-Trouble In Paradise (1983)



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