A closer look
The dawn of pristine, scratch-free, digital audio in America wasn't ushered in by classical Mozart or synth-heavy pop, but by a guy from New Jersey yelling about the working class. In 1984, the very first commercial CD pressed on American soil at the CBS Records plant was Bruce Springsteen’s 'Born in the U.S.A.' It was a wonderfully ironic collision of eras: a gritty, incredibly cynical rock album lamenting the decay of the American dream was chosen as the luxurious flagship product for an overpriced, futuristic audio format that required people to buy a $1,000 piece of stereo equipment.
