It Was The Best Of Springsteen Album Covers, It Was The Worst Of Springsteen Album Covers

A little something I didn't address in my upcoming book

Hello again!

Thank you for still following this infrequently updated newsletter! I am honestly amazed and touched that people not only continue to follow this thing, but I somehow seem to consistently pick up new followers every week. Why? I have no idea! Perhaps you — like me — hope that I write this newsletter more often in the future. I have made a promise to myself to do just that in the back half of 2024.

(Some of you have even pledged money, on the chance that I might try to monetize the newsletter in the future. I have been thinking more and more about doing this, and I’d be curious to hear feedback on whether you’d be interested in paying me for this …)

My problem (and my blessing!) is that I am currently busy doing other things. One of those things is my upcoming book, There Was Nothing You Could Do: Bruce Springsteen’s Born In The U.S.A. And The End Of The Heartland. The book drops May 28, and is available for pre-order now wherever you buy books. It’s a book (obviously) about Born In The U.S.A., which turns 40 on June 4. But it also covers Bruce’s career before and after the record, as well as the changes that occurred in America and rock music since 1984.

If you liked my other books, I think you will like this one.

I started doing press for the Bruce book last week, and one question that has lingered with me is: Is there anything you wish you had written about in the book but didn’t? At the time I said something like, Of course not! The book comprehensively covers all of my pertinent thoughts Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen! It’s perfect! That’s right, I said perfect!

But the more I thought about the question, the more undiscussed topics came to mind. One of them was Bruce Springsteen album covers. Now, I do briefly discuss the (frankly confusing but always fascinating) state of Bruce album covers in a footnote. But I have way more thoughts about this topic than a mere footnote could ever cover.

Hence, this Substack newsletter.

As most Springsteen fans will tell you, there are two well-known facts re: Bruce album covers:

1. His album covers from 1973 to 1987 are consistently cool and hard as hell.

2. His album covers from the early ’90s up through today are (with maybe one or two exceptions) awful.

To illustrate this, let’s first look at Bruce’s five best album covers, according to me.

1. Born To Run

Grizzled. Hairy. Sweaty. Leather-jacketed. Leaning against Clarence’s backside-d. Classic. Iconic. The hardest. The best.

2. Darkness On The Edge Of Town

Bruce is fond of putting his own mug on the album cover. It’s the common link between his “great cover” era and his “awful cover” era. No matter what year it is, Bruce’s face is likely going to be staring back at you when you pick up his latest record. This is the finest example of said phenomenon. I don’t know what Frank Stefanko’s secret is, but he absolutely pulled that indelible “Darkness On The Edge Of Town feeling” out of big ol’ Bruce’s face.

3. Tunnel Of Love

“Hello there. I’m the handsomest goddamn 39-year-old who ever lived. What’s your name, baby girl?”

4. Born In The U.S.A.

We all know Bruce’s face. But are you acquainted with his ass? Well, if you’re a citizen of the United States in the mid-1980s, you are going to be seeing it constantly now.

5. Nebraska

In the book I make the case that Nebraska is a post-punk album. It starts with the album cover. If Ian Curtis had toured America with Joy Division instead of taking his own life, the followup to Closer would have looked like this.

Alright, now let’s look at the five worst Springsteen album covers.

1. The Ghost Of Tom Joad

The lyrics on this album are specific and thoughtful and thoroughly researched. It’s his most writerly record. The cover is the opposite of that. Terrible font, ugly image, completely unappealing aesthetic. It looks like something Metallica would have rejected as the art for the maxi-single release of “Until It Sleeps.”

2. Working On A Dream

I refuse to believe this was the best cover-art option presented to Bruce. Unless Bruce thought going in, “This record has ‘Outlaw Pete’ and ‘Queen Of The Supermarket,’ it needs an appropriately mid cover to convey what’s about to hit the listener.”

3. Human Touch

You have seen Bruce’s face! You have seen Bruce’s ass! But what about … Bruce’s wrist? Look out, he’s wearing bracelets now!

4. Magic

Love this album. Probably my favorite Bruce LP of the 21st century. But I don’t get this cover at all. It looks like Bruce just woke up. It looks like Bruce is about to have a colonoscopy. It looks like Bruce was just told that magic does not exist. What are we doing here, Boss?

5. Letter To You

Another album I like a lot. And I get that the snowy motif echoes the “lion in winter” themes of the record. But it’s also another Bruce cover with a gray-brown color scheme that puts you right up into Bruce’s grill. Remember the horse from Western Stars? Why not put a mastodon on the cover of Letter To You?

Honorable Mention: The “Most Middle” Bruce Album Cover aka The One That Is The Best And The Worst Simultaneously

Lucky Town

I actually write about this cover a lot (maybe too much?) in There Was Nothing You Could Do. I hated it when it came out, but I love it now. And this is related to me now being around Bruce’s age circa Lucky Town, and my status as a suburban dad who likes to wear barely buttoned shirts around the house.

Self-Promotion Time

1. I interviewed DIIV, whose upcoming album Frog In Boiling Water is one of my favorite albums of 2024.

2. On Never Ending Stories, my weekly Bob Dylan podcast, I talked about Bob’s reunion with Al Kooper on the excellent 6/26/96 live tape from London.