Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. Stone", Lester Bangs hailed Springsteen as a daring new artist who sets himself apart from his contemporaries with songwriting that either has a serious meaning or showcases his uninhibited gift for verbose, overloaded lyrics and rhyme schemes. "Some of [his words] can mean something socially or otherwise", Bangs said, "but there's plenty of 'em that don't even pretend to, reveling in the joy of utter crass showoff talent run amuck and totally out of control". Peter Knobler wrote in "Crawdaddy" that "he sings with a freshness and urgency I haven't heard since I was rocked by 'Like a Rolling Stone'
Weird NJ the legend of the "Hookerman" Lights and the life of Zip the Pinhead. Subjects covered include the Evil Clown of Middletown, Midgetville,"Gates of Hell," Shades of Death Road, Clinton Road, Demon Alley, and the Devil's Tower. The painting of a grinning face named Tillie from the Palace Amusements building in Asbury Park has appeared in many "Weird NJ" books and on the magazine covers. In 2003 a "Weird NJ" book, made up of content from earlier issues, was published. The next year saw the follow-up "Weird US", covering sites and stories across the country. That led to a series of