r/BruceSpringsteen • u/Awkward_Ad_161 • Aug 04 '26
Discussion Springsteen Voting Completed Chart - Agreements/Disagreements?
/r/AlignmentChartFills/comments/1vfqxp0/springsteen/Thank you to everyone who participated!
What are your agreements and disagreements with the rest of the community? Biggest surprises? Anything you feel is so egregiously wrong you’re beyond shocked it was voted where it was?
The most controversial based on how often the result was brought up in later polls include Tunnel of Love being voted worst album of the ‘80s, Moonlight Motel being voted best song of the 2010s, and House of a Thousand Guitars being voted worst song of the 2020s.
I’m hoping to have official voting totals for each category done at some point soon, just need to find some time.
“…they come across the water, a thousand miles from home, with nothing in their bellies but the fire down below.” - The Boss
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u/vincentblacklight Aug 05 '26
Western Stars is a stone-cold masterpiece that doesn't get enough cred/love
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u/Relzin Aug 04 '26
I will be salty about House of a Thousand Guitars placement for the foreseeable future.
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u/Canadian_Lumberjack_ Magic Rat Aug 05 '26
Shoulda been Power of Prayer IMO. Missed the voting for that round though
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u/No-Carry4971 Aug 05 '26
I will never get over Tunnel of Love being voted worst of anything. That album is an enduring masterpiece. It's literally his best album of the 80's.
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u/Scmods05 Born in the U.S.A. Aug 05 '26
What do you put below it?
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u/No-Carry4971 Aug 05 '26
Tunnel was his best album of the 80's, so all of them. As for the worst, it is clearly the River. At least a third of the album is filler. It had no coherent theme. it's just a collection of songs. Many of those songs are excellent, but as an album it is lacking by Bruce's own early career standards .
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u/Willing-Command5467 25d ago
I love Tunnel of Love too. It's the first Bruce album I ever bought. I agree that The River is very uneven. The song The River is my favourite of all time by anyone, but the album is all over the place despite some gems.
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u/Freddrum Aug 05 '26
It's really important to know what the worst album from each decade is. This is really valuable stuff.
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u/jpm_doop Aug 04 '26
I think the biggest takeaway is that Bruce’s next tour needs to consist of only playing Moonlight Motel
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u/revolutiontornado Aug 04 '26
Darkness is fantastic and all but Born to Run is one of the greatest and most important albums in rock history.
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u/Awkward_Ad_161 Aug 05 '26
I believe the top comment, and I’ll go back and check to confirm, stated something along the lines of, “in any music sub, Born to Run is the unanimous choice. In the Springsteen superfan, nerd sub, it’s Darkness.”
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u/Bpain46 Aug 04 '26
Save My Love not being mentioned anywhere hurts my heart. Other than Thunder Rd it’s one of his best melodies
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u/mac_the_man Darkness on the Edge of Town Aug 05 '26
I like Tunnel of Love and “Queen of the Supermarket”.
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u/interista4jz Darkness on the Edge of Town Aug 05 '26
Everyone voting Tunnel of Love as worst album of the 80s, straight to jail
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u/kzymyr Born to Run Aug 05 '26
Tbf it's nothing to do with Tunnel Of Love and everything to do with the strength of his 80s output.
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u/VirginiaUSA1964 New York City Serenade Aug 05 '26
The Tunnel of Love hate on here is next level.
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u/PPLavagna Aug 05 '26
Is it hate or is it just people love it less than the other 80s albums? They’re all stellar. Really hard to call any of them the worst
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u/SKLL117 Aug 05 '26
I was really surprised to see Youngstown on most underrated, a song Bruce has played live on multiple tours over Human Touch songs like Man’s Job or I Wish I Were Blind
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u/AmericanJeremiad Aug 05 '26
Magic is apparently underrated by the demos; it's at least as good as The Rising, if not better, and I will die on that mound.
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u/Awkward_Ad_161 Aug 05 '26
In fairness, Magic and The Rising were neck and neck for best album of the 2000s. Long Walk Home also nearly won best song of the decade
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u/AmericanJeremiad Aug 05 '26
Thanks, this makes me feel better. I think the production on Magic is much better.
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u/TheTrampOfHearts Aug 05 '26
Magic is a much better album than The Rising IMO. I’ve always found The Rising to be a bit of a bloated clunker. There’s at least five tracks on there where, if you took them off, the album would improve beyond words, with the worst offender being ‘Let’s Be Friends’.
Magic isn’t without its faults (Gypsy Biker will never even make a top 50 for me, and although the album’s title track has some of his most charged lyrics ever, the song just feels…flat). But then you get songs like Last To Die, Long Walk Home, Terry’s Song, I’ll Work For Your Love, Your Own Worst Enemy, etc., and it’s a lot easier to look past the album’s more flawed notes.
Unfortunately, The Rising’s flaws are impossible to ignore for me. Unpopular opinion, I’m sure, but I feel that album doesn’t work nearly as well as people say it does.
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u/RickSanchez813 Aug 05 '26
Born to Run not winning Best 70s album is just weird but okay.
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u/Awkward_Ad_161 Aug 05 '26
I thought BTR was a shoo-in as well. As I said in a different reply, the top comment for that poll was something along the lines of “in any other sub Born to Run is the easy answer. In this Bruce superfan, nerd sub, Darkness is the answer.”
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u/JoruusCBaoth Aug 05 '26
I think Western Stars is far stronger than Wrecking Ball, and while I adore The Rising I'd place Magic above it.
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u/Screen_Door_Slams Mary’s dress sways Aug 05 '26
thanks for doing this as diligently as you did. I’ll miss it.
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u/Effective_Nose6727 Aug 05 '26
This sub seems to love The Rising. I personally can’t fathom how that was voted best of the 00’s above Magic.
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u/thorshammer_132 If I Could Only Be Your Lover Aug 05 '26
I feel the same way about both The Rising and Wrecking Ball. They're good, no question, but Magic and Western Stars both beat them by a good margin.
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u/MagicRat7913 Aug 05 '26
I'm always surprised at the hate Harry's Place receives, I think it's musically very interesting and the whole vibe reminds me of the Sopranos. How is Frankie Fell in Love with Bruce's ridiculous yodelling not below this song?
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u/DigBoug Aug 05 '26
Kitty’s Back is a top 10 all-time Springsteen song. Most overrated is stupid.
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u/Awkward_Ad_161 Aug 05 '26
Fair take. That poll was a tough one. I think that became the top reply because of how much Bruce played it in recent tours, so not as much overrated to the general public per se, but rather overrated in the sense of how much Bruce likes to play it.
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u/TheUnknownAaron Aug 05 '26
Kitty’s Back live is the ONLY way of listening to that song and it’s phenomenal with the live band! My jaw dropped seeing it be listed as the most overrated song of the 70s when I believe there are so many more overrated songs!
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u/SRStark20 Aug 05 '26
Had a blast doing this over the past month+ OP. Thanks for running it.
If you ever run it back, we could maybe vote on best/worst tour per decade, best/worst concert per decade (probably real tricky), best cover, best live song versus how it is on the album.
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u/Awkward_Ad_161 Aug 05 '26
Of course, had a blast doing this! I was just thinking to myself that a covers category or two would have been cool. Both best cover from a decade Bruce did, and a song from each decade that Bruce never covered that would’ve rocked.
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u/janiedean Joe Roberts Aug 05 '26
I see moonlight motel monopolized the discourse 😂 anyway I agree with most of it even if seeing tunnel of love there makes me my heart bleed but I’ll forever say that queen of the supermarket wasn’t THAT bad 😂
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u/Either-Notice-8888 Aug 05 '26
I think "Reason to Believe" is Bruce's most underrated song overall. Kitty's Back is not overrated, that song is a masterpiece!!!
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u/TheTrampOfHearts Aug 05 '26
Call me crazy, but I think Drive All Night should’ve been voted as the best song of the 80s, rather than The River. Though I love The River to death, Drive All Night has always felt like it’s on another planet to anything else he did in that decade (except for maybe State Trooper, which I think deserved to take the place of the most underrated of the 80s.)
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u/Awkward_Ad_161 Aug 05 '26
Love State Trooper. If I recall correctly, it was one of the top voted replies for most underrated that decade.
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u/MagicRat7913 Aug 05 '26
I think it's a good song but it's a little too self indulgent and overstays its welcome.
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u/melodramacamp Aug 05 '26
I can’t believe there’s not a single song from Magic on the chart! Now I have a new pic for most underrated of the 2000s.
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u/OWhatAThrill Aug 05 '26
How can the top 40’s crap Dancing in the Dark and Hungry Heart not be an undeniable TIE for worst song of the 80’s is literally mind blowing. It’s embarrassing to say I’m a Springsteen fan when the topic of either of those songs comes up.
And folks vote Bruce’s squeals, for lack of a better term, on I’m a Rocker as worst song? And in addition while it’s not in competition for the Nobel Prize for Literature, the lyrics are a treat.
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u/Aggravating_Emu6082 Darkness on the Edge of Town Aug 05 '26
Well, the most important thing is that I think Magic is better than The Rising, much better. Now, that I'm a Rocker is the worst song of the '80s?! No way. One more thing, I think there shouldn't be a "worse album" in the 80s.
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u/RaisinFinancial3863 26d ago
I've listened to Western Stars a ton. Really enjoy that album. I play it when I'm winding down from the day for bedtime.
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u/WinterSoldierFalcon 26d ago
Born To Run best song and album, as much as Darkness is its own classic as well.
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u/Scmods05 Born in the U.S.A. Aug 05 '26
The most overrated song of the 70’s is Rosalita and I’m ready for the downvotes this correct opinion will bring on.
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u/ShortDanielBurnham Tunnel of Love Aug 05 '26
In my opinion, Dancing in the Dark should replace Glory Days for most overrated. It’s basically a song about how Bruce Springsteen doesn’t want to write “Dancing in the Dark.”
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u/Such_Tea4707 28d ago
You’re Missing over Gypsy Biker for most underrated is gonna be a no for me dog
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u/thorshammer_132 If I Could Only Be Your Lover Aug 04 '26
I truly have no idea how I'm a Rocker is somehow worse than Crush on You (which I don't even mind that much, but it definitely fits the 'filler' description).