Imbedded within the double-disc running time of {^The River} is a single-disc album that follows up on the themes and sound of {^Darkness on the Edge of Town} -- wide-screen, mid-tempo {\rock} and stories of the disillusionment of working-class life and the conflicts within families. In these songs, which include the title track, {&"Independence Day,"} and {&"Point Blank,"} {$Bruce Springsteen}'s world view is just as dire as it had become on {^Darkness}, but less judgmental. {&"Independence Day,"} for example, is a father-and-son {\ballad} that has little of the anger of its {\hard rock} counterpart on {^Darkness}, {&"Adam Raised a Cain."} {$Springsteen}'s heroes again seek to overcome their crushing troubles through defiance and by driving around, and though {&"The River"} repeats the soured love theme of {&"Racing in the Street,"} he also posits romance as a possible escape, sometimes combining it with one of the other solutions, as on the eight-plus-minute {&"Drive All Night."} But there is also another album lurking within {^The River}, and it is a more lighthearted {\pop/rock} collection of short, sometimes humorous songs like {&"Sherry Darling"} and {&"I'm a Rocker."} At times {$Springsteen} combines elements of the two, as on {&"Out in the Street,"} perhaps the album's quintessential song, a catchy, up-tempo number that sounds like something from the early '60s and echoes the theme of {$the Vogues}' 1966 hit {&"Five O' Clock World."} {&"Hungry Heart,"} which became {$Springsteen}'s first Top Ten hit, combines a rollicking musical track with a more sober lyrical theme that emphasizes longing over disappointment. But a better guide to {$Springsteen}'s development are the songs {&"Stolen Car"} and the album-closing {&"Wreck on the Highway,"} gentle, moody {\ballads} imbued with a sense of hopelessness that anticipate his next record, {^Nebraska}. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide