I wasn't a huge Springsteen fan when this album came out on October 10, 1980 (I was 15 at the time). I was familiar with him, especially "Born to Run". I think I really knew him as “the guy who wrote Blinded by the Light as sung by the Manfred Mann’s Earth Band”. Hungry Heart was the first single released from the album and it really hit me for two reasons. One, I had just gone through a breakup with some girl and two, it was such a great song. The music was so upbeat but the lyrics were kind of sad. Every time I heard that song on the radio, I had to stop what I was doing and listen. I finally decided to buy the album and what an album! It was a double set covered inside with pictures of the band and the lyrics were included in the album! No more replaying a song over and over to decipher the lyrics. It was the fun rock songs on the album that caught my attention first, Cadillac Ranch, Ramrod, You Can Look and of course my all time favorite, I’m a Rocker! But as I listened to the entire album, I discovered another Springsteen, the reflective one who spoke about America through the eyes of regular people. Fade Away, Stolen Car and of course The River all spoke of people who hadn’t found their dreams and or maybe had dreams snatched away by fate, bad luck or lost love. This album made me a Springsteen FANATIC. How great is this album. I can proudly say that not only did I buy the album, I have also bought the 8 Track, the Cassette, the Compact Disc AND I have the entire album downloaded to my IPOD! If you want to start an 80’s album collection, you can’t go wrong by starting it with this one and if you have an 80’s album collection but don’t have this album, well your album collection just ain’t complete!