It Was 40 Years Ago Today...

Springsteen is like climate science, it really doesn't matter what you think. It is what it is. Undeniably, Springsteen and the E Street band are one of the greatest recording and performing artist the world has or will ever see!
I'm just say'n ✌️

Dylan's latter recordings starting with time out of mind are some of my favorites from him so he broke that model to a large extent in my mind.

Thanks but no thanks. I'll take Sarah Vaughn.

I agree that Bruce circa 1975 to 1983 was probably the best live act I've seen together with Prince (whose music I do not like nearly as much). And I have seen them all live since the late 60s except the Beatles, Hendrix and Janis (ie I've seen Stones, Zep, Who, U2 in their prime and after). By the way all of the above acts put on great shows---among my favorite of all time, but Bruce was always a step above--I always felt that he was born to play live, loved to play live and the audience felt it. Plus he has tremendous stage presence and charisma as well as a great sense of humor. Unfortunately, he sold out big time with Born In the USA. What an awful pop record that was. And what a step down for a genuine artist. He occasionally pops out a great album but nothing has been in the league of Wild and Innocent, BTR or, especially Darkness. This is just my humble opinion. Based on films I've seen (eg Monterey Pop) Hendrix may have been up there. Beatles too.

Andrew, when I said early in their careers, I didn't necessarily mean their first several albums (although for some of the artists that I listed, I feel that those albums included a lot of their best work). I meant to say that rock and roll seems to be a young person's game, and that much of their best music is written and performed in their teens, 20s and 30s. Of course there are exceptions; I agree with Mapman-Dylan's Time Out Of Mind is among my favorites of his albums.