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He knows the fun can’t last, and, more importantly, that unless he acts fast he’ll end up a shell working double shifts at the Shell off Route 72. Springsteen, though cherishing his last lazy days with these childhood chums, is confronted by sadness and bittersweet nostalgia. They’re the colorful, carefree kids that Springsteen loves with all his heart, but ultimately sees as doomed by socioeconomic shackles and the fast approaching burdens of adulthood. The former comprises Bruce’s buddies and flames. There’s the passionate, hyperactive, low class delinquents living their Jersey Shore lives to the fullest and those seeking to avoid a claustrophobic hometown future through exodus and cunning. WIESS champions two distinct character types. It’s this haphazard blend of Black and White freewheeling riffs and deft arrangements naïveté and weltschmerz that drives Springsteen’s poignant portrait of escapades beneath the Jersey boardwalk and escapes to parts unknown. WIESS, which turns 40 this week, is the E Street band’s most visceral and eclectic offering, and it’s no coincidence that the LP coincides with the band’s high water marks of spontaneity and heterogeneity. The impending departures of frenetic drummer Vini “Mad Dog” Lopez and piano man David Sancious rendered the ragamuffin sextet roughly two shades whiter, while the 14-month recording cycle of Born to Run traded youthful recklessness for seasoned precision.

Not only does this snapshot capture the band at their most rowdy and jocular, it’s also their pinnacle of ethnic and racial diversity. There’s a pair of pasty caucasians, two beefy black guys, a lanky latino, and a scrawny, bronzed, struggling singer-songwriter that couldn’t be called The Boss without a healthy dose of irony. Not a single E Street Band member is standing up straight, two sport provocatively unbuttoned blouses, and their footwear ranges from Cuban heeled boots to scruffy Hi Tops and dusty bare feet. The back cover of Bruce Springsteen’s The Wild, The Innocent and The E Street Shuffle ( WIESS) reveals a motley crew.