With his help, Springsteen created a street-life mosaic of suburban society that owed much in its outlook to Van Morrison's romanticization of Belfast in Astral Weeks. His chief musical lieutenant was keyboard player David Sancious, who lived on the E Street that gave the album and Springsteen's backup group its name. Springsteen's wordy lyrical style, lush stories and landscapes and the jazzy improvisational style of the music make this my all time favorite Springsteen record.Bruce Springsteen expanded the folk-rock approach of his debut album, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J., to strains of jazz, among other styles, on its ambitious follow-up, released only eight months later. They have their own magic, but it's a different kind of magic. I'm just saying that this album has a certain magic to me that isn't there on his other albums. Bruce's classic period has very few, if any, rivals. I don't want my adoration of this album and this version of the band to cast a shadow over magnificent albums like Born to Run, Darkness on the Edge of Town, The River, Nebraska, etc. In the end, Bruce still had a wealth of great albums and material still to come. Bruce had a vision and while I think he'll take outside opinions from someone like Little Steven, he's the one that makes the final call and I think that is where the real shift in style can be found. I think the improvisational feel of this album differs from the controlled sound of the work following. In the end, I think Bruce, being somewhat of a control freak from some accounts, and this version of the band couldn't exist forever. The difference in musicians really sets this album apart from Bruce's work after they were out of the picture. Sancious brings the songs to life and gives them their musical character. The jazzy inflections of David Sancious is the MVP of this album outside of Bruce's lyrics. I think Max is the better overall drummer, but there is just something about the reckless abandon style of Vini Lopez that I adore. That being said, the early version of the E Street Band has always been incredibly special in my mind and I hate that it didn't last longer. I love listening to Max, Roy Bittan, Little Steven and Nils Lofgren play and I think they are huge in helping Bruce convey his message. I've loved every version of the E Street Band. The lyrics on this album force you to pay attention and never let you ignore them. Bruce has never lost the ability to paint a beautiful picture with his words, but I don't think he ever did it as well as he did on his first three albums, particularly this one. There is plenty to love melodically and musically speaking, but the lyrics, stories and vibrant characters found in the grooves of this album are nothing short of a masterful stroke of genius. Such was the case with this album the first time I heard it. That being said, there are occasions in which lyrics are so good and powerful that they grab me immediately. That's not to say that I don't love a good lyric, but it's not the first thing I gravitate towards. The lyrics are generally the last thing I really pay attention to. Next, I'll disect the instrumental parts and sounds. This isn't an exact science, but it rings true more often than not. For me, if the tune doesn't stick in my head and I can't hum along, the song doesn't grab me and make me want to listen multiple times. When I listen to music, the first thing that generally grabs me is the melody. His body of work is so impressive that I tend to go back on forth on how I rank his albums, but the one unchainging aspect of my thoughts on his catalog is that TWTI&TESS is at the top of the heap. Bravo, folks! I don't have anything to add that differs much from what many others have said, but I'll give it a shot in my own not so eloquent way. There are a lot of really nice and beautiful posts in this thread about this album and it's impact on people's lives and music listening.
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