[A] heightened intensity is what Born To Run is all about.

Springsteen's third album revamps his music as deliberately as it restyles his photographic image. The album has been designed to reach a mass audience—something its predecessor never could have accomplished—and the music has been honed accordingly. On both of these mesmerizing efforts, as well as on parts of Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J., his first, Springsteen's seemingly boundless energy and his infectious exhilaration, even in moments of relative despair … are what hit you first and hardest. But if E Street Shuffle is wildly exciting, it's also a little wild; the arrangements hinge on constant surprises, the lyrics are full of evocative but disjointed imagery, the mood is often indistinct yet always shifting. Born To Run seems far more distinct, and far more certain of its objectives.

First and foremost, Springsteen's persona has been crystallized...