Time and Newsweek put Bruce Springsteen on their covers in 1975, but "rock 'n' roll's future" — as the Boss was dubbed back then — had to wait until 1980 until mass fame came a-calling.
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The ditty that did the trick was "Hungry Heart" — his first Top 10 hit — from The River, the ambitious 20-song double-album Springsteen & the E Street Band are performing start-to-finish on their current tour, which stops Tuesday at the American Airlines Center.
Today, nearly 36 years after The River was released, it's easy to spot its flaws. Too many tunes sound like cannibalized versions of other Springsteen songs, including some on the same album.
But it's still one of his finest albums — a brilliant balancing act between rock 'n' soul exuberance and the grim realism he'd explored on 1978's Darkness the Edge of Town and dove even deeper into on 1982's Nebraska.
Here's a look at The 10 Best Songs on The River.
1. "The River": With Ronald Reagan about to take office, Springsteen didn't see a shining city on a hill, but a bleak valley of depression for lower and middle class Americans. He tells that story vividly in a dire ballad with the most haunting harmonica-and-guitar intro in rock history.
2. "Hungry Heart": He originally wrote it for the Ramones but wisely kept it for himself. Boasting just eight lines and a chorus, "Hungry Heart" is a deceptively simple portrait of how complex marriage really is.
3. "Cadillac Ranch": It's named after the West Texas art installation, but "Cadillac Ranch" is really just a high-octane boogie in praise of gas-guzzling escapism: "Open up them engines, let 'em roar/Tearing up the highway like a big old dinosaur." Lean and mean, but not very green.
4. "Independence Day": Inspired by the Boss' hometown of Freehold N.J. and his troubled relationship with his father, "Independence Day" is the pensive cousin of "My Hometown" — but with a clearer ending: The protagonist escapes his dead-end town before it ruins him.
5. "The Ties That Bind": Everlasting love is just an ugly myth in a lot of Springsteen songs, but it's the unabashed message of this soul-pop gem, driven by the best jangling guitars this side of Peter Buck.
6. "Point Blank": Written right after Darkness on the Edge of Town came out, "Point Blank" is a gorgeous country-noir lament about big dreams squashed by fate: "You wake up and you're dying ... You don't even know what from." One of Springsteen's saddest songs, it's also one of his best.
7. "You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch)": This funny romp about frustration — sexual and otherwise — shows Bruce was listening closely to Elvis Costello and other new wave acts at the time.
8. "I Wanna Marry You": Another bittersweet look at matrimony, this one's more optimistic than "Hungry Heart" and more soulful too, thanks to its strong Drifters vibe.
9. "Two Hearts:" This concert staple borders on punk rock, thanks to Mad Max's jackhammer drumming. Yet the key is the edge-of-your-seat organ, which reminds you just how important the late Danny Federici was on The River and in the E Street Band in general.
10. "Out in the Street": Driven by Springsteen's rawest vocal performance on the album, "Street" is four joyous minutes of blue-collar emancipation. The workin'-for-the-weekend storyline is tired, but the all those glorious whoa-oh-oh-oh-OHs boost the energy level tenfold.
Listen to all 10 River essentials via this Spotify playlist.
Thor Christensen is a Dallas writer and critic.
