Bruce Springsteen - The Wild, The Innocent & the E Street Shuffle (Top 500 Countdown Update)

What makes this album so brilliant is how it ties r&b and jazz together with rock and pop to present a very unique sound. Other artists have blended jazz, rock, and r&b together, but what makes this album ultimately work so well is that it does it with a great pop sensibility. The tunes are infectious and even though they can be a bit long winded they don't drag because the song keeps changing and presenting itself with one hook after another. The only throw away song for me is "Wild Billy's Circus Story." But the second side of this album, is possibly one of the best sides of any album so it makes up for one weak song. "Incident on 57th Street," "Rosalita," and "New York City Serenade" present a truly amazing 24 minutes of music. Springsteen would completely leave this sound behind after this album and it makes sense since there was really no where to go with it but down.