Album of the Week: Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J.

by: Daly Tongren

In honor of the release of Bruce Springsteen’s new album, High Hopes, I decided to cover one of his best, older works for Album of the Week.

Unlike a lot of my favorite bands, I did not grow up listening to Bruce Springsteen. I instead began to acquire a taste for The Boss’ sound during high school, the first time I heard “Lost in the Flood” off of his debut album, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. I fell pretty hard and fast from there on out.

Most people are familiar with the opening track “Blinded by Light,” as made popular by Manfred Mann’s Earth Band. The cover is a completely different take on the original song. Instead of relying on a keyboard, Bruce’s “Blinded” features funky horns that create a lighter tune for the entire song. Greetings features other high energy, upbeat tracks such as “Growing Up” and “For You,” which are both perfect drive down an open highway with your hand out the window, singing at the top of your lungs songs.

As I mentioned earlier, “Lost in the Flood” was the first Springsteen track that got me hooked. I think it’s safe to say that it is the true masterpiece of the album. An epic in itself, the song features some of Springsteen’s earliest satiric verses that he has become known for. “And everybody's wrecked on Main Street/From drinking unholy blood.”

For those who aren’t too familiar with the grovely, sarcastic punk that Bruce Springsteen truly is, Greetings is a great place to start. The entire album has a carefree, jazzy sound that makes you crave the summertime.

Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. was listed by Rolling Stone as the 379^th greatest album of all time on their list of 500. It is Springsteen at some of his finest, and the best amateur hour you could imagine.