Best Albums !: Bruce Springsteen. Born in the USA (1984)

Born in the U.S.A. is the seventh studio album by Bruce Springsteen, released in 1984.

In contrast to his previous album, the critical favorite Nebraska, Born in the U.S.A. featured anthemic, radio-friendly arrangements and 1980s production incorporating Springsteen's first use of synthesizers. The album reached Number One on Billboard's 200 Chart on July 7, 1984 where it stayed until August 4. It spawned a record-tying seven Top 10 hit singles in the United States, and is by far the best-selling album of Springsteen's career with over 15 million copies sold in the U.S. alone. It was also a critical success, being voted as the best album of the year in The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop critics poll. In 2003, the album was ranked number 85 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. In 1989, it was rated #6 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the The 100 Greatest Albums of the 80's.

Born in the U.S.A. became the first compact disc manufactured in the United States for commercial release, when CBS Records opened its CD manufacturing plant in Terre Haute, Indiana in 1984. Discs previously had been imported from Japan.

"Dancing in the Dark" was Springsteen's biggest hit single, reaching #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. (It was kept out of the top spot by Prince's "When Doves Cry".) The song featured up-tempo synthesizer riffs and noticeable syncopation, both a first for Springsteen. A dance-oriented remix was even made for it, by Arthur Baker. Springsteen pulls a young, short-haired Courteney Cox onstage in a Brian De Palma-directed music video for the track. The video helped launch the actress's career.

"Cover Me" was a dance track originally intended for Donna Summer. "My Hometown" is based on 1960s racial and economic tensions in Springsteen's hometown of Freehold. "No Surrender" and "Bobby Jean" reflected in part the departure of Steven Van Zandt from The E Street Band.

The title track, "Born in the U.S.A.", a stinging tale of the hardships suffered by returning Vietnam veterans, is one of Springsteen's best known songs, and has accumulated a considerable amount of folklore. The song's anthemic feel (and the music video, which featured scenes of waving flags and pastoral American communities reminiscent of a political campaign ad) led to widespread misinterpretation of the track's meaning. (A darker, acoustic version of the song appears on the Springsteen collection "Tracks," and is sometimes performed live.) Springsteen was praised by President Reagan as a great patriot; several days later at a concert, Springsteen introduced the track "Johnny 99" (about a laid-off factory worker who kills a store clerk and is sentenced to 99 years) by saying that he didn't think Reagan had heard this song.