COUNTDOWN: Top 50 Music Albums Of All-Time.

Arghus wrote: »

Everybody should just post up their personal top 10's at the end.

It was a one per band situation for me too, just felt like the right way to do it.

According to Robert Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s (1990), Born in the U.S.A. may have seemed more conservative than Springsteen's previous work but it showed him evolving on what was his "most rhythmically propulsive, vocally incisive, lyrically balanced, and commercially undeniable album".

AllMusic's William Ruhlmann interpreted the album as an apotheosis for Springsteen's reoccurring characters from his past albums and said that Born in the U.S.A. "marked the first time that Springsteen's characters really seemed to relish the fight and to have something to fight for".

Richard Williams was more critical in a retrospective review for Q magazine, writing that Springsteen had exaggerated his usual characters and themes in a deliberate attempt at commercial success. Williams added: "The decision by someone who grew up in the '60s to exploit the American flag on the cover and to bury the anti-war message of Born In The USA beneath an impenetrable layer of clenched-fist bombast ... was, in the era of Reagan and welfare cuts, downright irresponsible."

The title track has become one of the most misunderstood songs in popular music. According to Greg Kot and Parker Molloy, the chorus of the song gave the feel of a positive, patriotic anthem, but the lyrics depicted the difficulties and marginalization working-class Vietnam veterans had to face returning to their country. Written during the early 1980s recession in the United States, "the crestfallen verses mock the empty slogan in the chorus", Kot said. Because the lyrics were overlooked, the song was used by politicians during rallies, campaign events, and victory speeches.

In 2003, Rolling Stone ranked Born in the U.S.A. number 85 on their list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and 86 in a 2012 revised list.

In 2013, it was named the 428th greatest album in a similar list published by NME. 

The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. It has sold over 30 million copies.

The Edge had been listening to electronic dance music and to industrial bands like Einstürzende Neubauten, Nine Inch Nails, the Young Gods, and KMFDM. He and Bono advocated new musical directions along these lines.

In contrast, Mullen was listening to classic rock acts such as Blind Faith, Cream, and Jimi Hendrix, and he was learning how to "play around the beat".Like bassist Adam Clayton, he was more comfortable with a sound similar to U2's previous work and was resistant to proposed innovations. Further, the Edge's interest in dance club mixes and drum machines made Mullen feel that his contributions as a drummer were being diminished.

Producer Lanois was expecting the "textural and emotional and cinematic U2" of The Unforgettable Fire and The Joshua Tree, and he did not understand the "throwaway, trashy kinds of things" on which Bono and the Edge were working.

Compounding the divisions between the two camps was a change in the band's longstanding songwriting relationship; Bono and the Edge were working more closely together, writing material in isolation from the rest of the group.

U2 found that they were neither prepared nor well-rehearsed, and that their ideas were not evolving into completed songs.The group were unable to reach consensus during their disagreements and felt that they were not making progress. Bono and producer Lanois, in particular, had an argument that almost came to blows during the writing of "Mysterious Ways".

During one tense session, Clayton removed his bass guitar and held it out to Bono, saying, "You tell me what to play and I'll play it. You want to play it yourself? Go ahead."

With a sense of going nowhere, the band considered breaking up. Brian Eno visited for a few days, and understanding their attempts to deconstruct the band, he assured them that their progress was better than they thought. By adding unusual effects and sounds, he showed that the Edge's pursuit for new sonic territory was not incompatible with Mullen's and Lanois' "desire to hold on to solid song structures".

Ultimately, a breakthrough was achieved with the writing of the song "One". While working on "Sick Puppy"—an early version of "Mysterious Ways"—The Edge played two separate chord progressions sequentially on guitar at Lanois' encouragement, and finding inspiration, the group quickly improvised a new song that became "One". It provided reassurance and validated their long-standing "blank page approach" to writing and recording together.

"At the instant we were recording it, I got a very strong sense of its power. We were all playing together in the big recording room, a huge, eerie ballroom full of ghosts of the war, and everything fell into place. It was a reassuring moment, when everyone finally went, 'oh great, this album has started.' It's the reason you're in a band—when the spirit descends upon you and you create something truly affecting. 'One' is an incredibly moving piece. It hits straight into the heart."

 —The Edge, on the recording of "One"

The album has been affiliated with progressive rock, pop, heavy metal, hard rock and avant-pop.It contains a diverse range of influences including folk, skiffle, British camp and music hall, jazz and opera.Each member wrote at least one song: five of the songs were Mercury contributions, four were written by May, and Taylor and Deacon had one song each.The closing track was an instrumental cover of "God Save the Queen", the British national anthem, for which May was credited as the arranger.

For their first two albums, much of Queen's songwriting combined contemporary progressive rock and heavy metal, which led to a "Led Zeppelin meets Yes" description of the band.However, starting with Sheer Heart Attack, Queen began drawing inspiration from their everyday lives, and embraced more mainstream musical styles, a trend which A Night at the Opera would continue. Lyrical themes ranged from science fiction and fantasy to heartbreak and romance, often with a tongue in cheek sense of humour.The Winnipeg Free Press noted that the group blended "clever, often poignant lyrics with attractively-arranged melodies".

"I did discipline myself... Take vocals, because they're my forté – especially harmonies and those kind of things. On Queen II we've gone berserk. But on this album I consciously restricted myself. That's brought the songwriting side of it across, and I think those are some of the strongest songs we've ever written."

— Freddie Mercury

"It has a couple of the heaviest things we've ever done and probably some of the lightest things as well. It's probably closer to Sheer Heart Attack than the others in that it does dart around and create lots of different moods, but we worked on it in the same way we worked on Queen II. A lot of it is very intense and very ... layered."

— Brian May