1980: The River by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. This was a stacked year: the Clash’s London Calling came out in January 1980 in the U.S. (December 1979 in the U.K.), Judas Priest’s British Steel in April, and AC/DC’s Back in Black in July. None had a chance of overtaking The River, an album I love second only to Born to Run. I did a review of the album itself here, so I’ll just say this: it’s the one Springsteen album that almost comes close to what a live E Street Band show is like. Almost.
