Bruce SpringsteenThe River

Two records, two Springsteens stacked side by side: the sweaty, crowd-room rave-ups and the hushed, harmonica-and-piano desolation. "Sherry Darling" kicks the doors open with frat-house shouts and the E Street Band's live abandon, "Hungry Heart" bounces along on a girl-group lilt that nearly hides its opening line about a man walking out on his wife and kids. Then the room goes quiet. The title track, drawn from his sister and brother-in-law's shrinking dreams, trembles with the same weariness that haunts "Independence Day," a son saying goodbye over Roy Bittan's piano. The celebration and the loss never resolve. That's the whole point. Drop the needle and let both halves wreck you.