
It's maybe that striving that leaves me feeling this is an album that tried too hard at times.

You can hear The Boss reaching for the heights he would scale on his next album. Because listening for the first time here and now in 2018 it's almost impossible not to hear it through the filter of what came after it. I'd love to go back in time to '73 and hear this album in its own right. The kind of album that will be fun to go back to if he ever gets it together enough to make us care. "The size and style of Springsteen's talent is suggested by the title, which I like, and this is very good in spurts, but it never coalesces. The truth is, The Wild, The Innocent & the E Street Shuffle is one of the greatest albums in the history of rock & roll." ( AllMusic) He would later make different albums, but he never made a better one. "The album's songs contain the best realization of Springsteen's poetic vision, which soon enough would be tarnished by disillusionment. While it may not have the same scope and grandeur of the album following it, Springsteen's mega-hit Born To Run, it contains more than ample doses of the lively spirit, youthful enthusiasm, and endearing optimism that made Bruce Springsteen not only a household name, but the epitome of the American experience." ( Sputnik Music) "The Wild, The Innocent, & The E-Street Shuffle is The Boss at his finest. Electric Light Orchestra - On the Third Day.Robert Fripp and Brian Eno - (No Pussyfooting).Mahavishnu Orchestra - Between Nothingness and Eternity.Bob Dylan - Dylan Outtakes recorded 1969–'70.

Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Brain Salad Surgery.The Beach Boys - The Beach Boys in Concert.
