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Born in the U.S.A. (1984)

Where the lyrics of Born in the U.S.A. take you, and where it was really made.

Several songs on this 1984 blockbuster began as demos Springsteen recorded alone in his Colts Neck bedroom for the Nebraska project.

Key places

Power Station, where the band tried full-band versions (1984)

Recording site Power Station Studio — In April 1982, Springsteen and the E Street Band regrouped at the Power Station in New York City. There he tried to rerecord Colts Neck demos as full-band versions for the next album. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

The Hit Factory sessions of 1983 (1984)

Recording site The Hit Factory — Springsteen and the E Street Band reconvened at the Hit Factory between May and June 1983. The sessions included re-recordings of Cynthia and My Hometown along with new tracks. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Born in the U.S.A.: seventh studio album by singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen
• Released June 4, 1984 through Columbia Records
• Produced by Springsteen, Jon Landau, Steven Van Zandt and Chuck Plotkin
• Recorded in New York City with the E Street Band
• Sessions ran about two years, from January 1982 to March 1984
• Some songs originated from the demo tape for the previous album Nebraska (1982)

Background

• Following the conclusion of the River Tour in September 1981, Springsteen rented a ranch in Colts Neck, New Jersey
• He read Ron Kovic's Born on the Fourth of July during the tour and met Vietnam War veterans in Los Angeles
• The Vietnam theme inspired tracks including Vietnam, Shut Out the Light and Highway Patrolman
• Director Paul Schrader asked for music for a planned film titled Born in the U.S.A., which was later abandoned
• Springsteen reworked Vietnam using that film title to create the song Born in the U.S.A.

Recording

• The recording sessions yielded between 70 and 90 songs
• Full-band attempts at the Power Station in April 1982 did not satisfy Springsteen and his co-producers
• Sessions moved to the Hit Factory between May and June 1983 with the E Street Band
• Van Zandt had left the E Street Band the year before, so these were the first sessions without him
• Bob Clearmountain began the mixing, and the final track count was twelve
• Bob Ludwig mastered the album at Masterdisk in New York City

Cover

• The photograph shows Springsteen with his back to the camera against an American flag
• Photographed by Annie Leibovitz; cover designed by Andrea Klein
• Some commentators believed Springsteen was urinating on the flag, which he denied

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Born September 23, 1949 in Long Branch, New Jersey; grew up in Freehold, New Jersey.
• Inspired by Elvis Presley and the Beatles, began playing with local bands in the 1960s, including the Castiles, Steel Mill and the Bruce Springsteen Band.
• Formed the band that became the E Street Band in October 1972; the name came into use in September 1974.
• Signed to Columbia Records in 1972 by John Hammond; debut album Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. released January 1973.

Members

• Performs solo and with the E Street Band, his backing band since 1972.
• Long-time members include Clarence Clemons, Danny Federici, Steven Van Zandt, Roy Bittan, Max Weinberg and Patti Scialfa.
• Clemons died June 18, 2011; Federici died in 2008.

Career

• Born to Run (1975) brought worldwide fame; Born in the U.S.A. (1984) became one of the best-selling albums of all time.
• Won an Academy Award in 1994 for "Streets of Philadelphia"; inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999.
• Has sold more than 140 million records worldwide; holds 20 Grammy Awards and a Special Tony Award.
• The 2023–2025 tour with the E Street Band was among the highest-grossing tours in history.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Rolling Stone's Debby Miller said the album was as well thought-out as Nebraska, but with more sophistication and spirit
• Critics praised the album's storytelling and musical performances
• Some critics called it a more commercial version of Nebraska, easier for a wider audience to digest
• The Washington Post's Richard Harrington was negative, writing that Springsteen had taken listeners down mean side streets too often since Darkness on the Edge of Town
• Born in the U.S.A. was voted the best album of 1984 in the Pazz & Jop critics poll

Reappraisal

• In later decades it has generally been regarded as one of Springsteen's best records
• Pitchfork's Sam Sodomsky called it the apex of Springsteen's imperial era, bold, brilliant and misunderstood
• Rolling Stone ranked it 85th on its 2003 list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, 86th in 2012 and 142nd in 2020
• NME named it the 428th greatest album in its 2013 list
• Q magazine's Richard Williams criticized Springsteen's exaggeration of his usual characters as a deliberate attempt at commercial success
• The Gazette's Bernard Perusse wrote in 2003 that by Springsteen's standards it was a weak batch of songs

Records

• Best-selling album of 1985 and of Springsteen's career
• Topped the charts in nine countries, including the U.S. and the U.K.
• Worldwide sales of over 30 million copies
• U.K.: certified three times platinum by the BPI in July 1985 (900,000 shipments)
• U.S.: certified seventeen times platinum by the RIAA in May 2022 (17 million copies)
• Inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2012

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The album was the first compact disc manufactured in the United States for commercial release.
• Born in the U.S.A. was supported by a record-tying seven top ten singles.
• Five B-sides came from outtakes, and all five later appeared on the 1998 compilation Tracks.
• The cover has appeared on lists of the best album covers, placing at numbers 31 and 42 on Billboard and Rolling Stone's lists.
• Springsteen later wrote that he put a lot of pressure on himself to reproduce the intensity of Nebraska.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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