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Darkness on the Edge of Town is het vierde studioalbum van Bruce Springsteen, dat werd uitgebracht op 2 juni 1978. In Nederland bleef het album 21 weken lang in de Album Top 100 staan en behaalde het goud.

Hoewel Darkness on the Edge of Town minder enthousiast werd ontvangen dan zijn voorganger, Born to Run, waren de recensies veelal positief. Critici prezen de liedteksten en de volwassen thema's waarover Springsteen zong. Onder zowel de recensenten als de liefhebbers wordt het samen met Born to Run als de het beste beschouwd . Tijdens liveoptredens brengt Springsteen nog regelmatig nummers van het album ten gehore.

Darkness on the Edge of Town is the fourth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen, released on June 2, 1978, by Columbia Records. The album was recorded after a series of legal disputes between Springsteen and his former manager Mike Appel, during sessions in New York City with the E Street Band from June 1977 to March 1978. Springsteen and Jon Landau served as producers, with assistance from bandmate Steven Van Zandt.

For the album's lyrics and music, Springsteen took inspiration from sources as diverse as John Steinbeck novels, John Ford films, punk rock, and country music. Musically, the album strips the Wall of Sound production of its predecessor, Born to Run (1975) for a rawer hard rock sound emphasizing the band as a whole. The lyrics on Darkness focus on ill-fortuned characters who fight back against overwhelming odds. Compared to Springsteen's previous records, the characters are older and the songs are less tied to the Jersey Shore area. The cover photograph of Springsteen was taken by Frank Stefanko in his New Jersey home.

Released three years after Born to Run, Darkness did not sell as well as its predecessor but reached number five in the US, while its singles—"Prove It All Night", "Badlands", and "The Promised Land"—performed modestly. Springsteen and the E Street Band promoted the album on the Darkness Tour, their largest tour up to that point. Upon release, critics praised the album's music and performances but were divided on the lyrical content. It placed on several critics' lists ranking the best albums of the year.

In later decades, Darkness has attracted acclaim as one of Springsteen's best works and one that anticipated later records. It has since appeared on various professional lists of the greatest albums of all time. Outtakes from the recording sessions were given to other artists, held over for Springsteen's next album, The River (1980), or later released on compilations. Darkness was reissued in 2010, accompanied by a documentary detailing the album's making.