Dem boyz are back this week and are traveling back to the 80s to drop the needle on 'Born in the USA' by Bruce Springsteen. His most popular achievement, which threw off seven Top Ten hits and became one of the best-selling albums of all time. It has been certified 17× Platinum by the RIAA, having sold over 17 million units in the United States, and over 30 million copies worldwide. Born in the U.S.A. topped the charts in nine different countries, including the United Kingdom and Australia, becoming his most commercially successful album and one of the best-selling albums of all time. It is a pristine and precise record whose synth pads, massive drums, and front-and-center vocals represent the defining qualities of the 80s mainstream rock production.With strikingly somatic sounds, the music and melodies begin to feel alive. Most of the songs were recorded live by the band in just a few takes, with Springsteen shouting cues and can be heard whooping and hollering off mic.

Fascinatingly, Born in the U.S.A. did become a pivotal moment in Springsteen’s career, but perhaps not in the way he may have wanted: he arguably didn’t make another good album until The Ghost of Tom Joad 10 years later, another mostly acoustic project, and then not for another eight years until The Rising in 2002. The records in this middle period found Springsteen slowly drowning into the pop sound he had pioneered on Born in the U.S.A., often creating cloying and forgettable works. Born in the U.S.A. is not just Bruce Springsteen's biggest-selling LP, but one of the most popular recordings ever released. The anthemic title track is a song so intrinsically woven into American culture that most BBQ’s and get-togethers still jam it to this day and are likely to be passed down from generation to generation for as long as BBQ’s and get-togethers exist.

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