Springsteen, Bruce / Tunnel of Love (2LP)

Audiences had waited three years for a new Bruce Springsteen album after 1984's Born In The U.S.A. became his best-selling album, spinning off an impressive seven Top 10 singles in America. Compared with that album's maximalist, radio-friendly production, Tunnel Of Love is a sparer album, reliant less on performances from The E Street Band and more on synthesizers and drum machines programmed by Springsteen himself. The LP's lyrical tone is also turned inward, with lyrics that reflected Springsteen's own relationship struggles at the time. Despite the tonal shift, audiences sent two singles-the impassioned "Brilliant Disguise" and the title track (a Grammy Award winner for Best Rock Vocal Solo Performance)-to the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100.