 According to biographer Peter Ames Carlin, Springsteen had developed a "renewed passion for full-band rock 'n' roll" with "The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle".Sputnikmusic critic Adam Thomas later wrote that the album departed from the folk influences of Springsteen's 1973 debut album "Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J." and was instead characterized by "a grand fusion of nostalgic rock 'n' roll and soulful R&B".The back photo for the album featured six members of Springsteen's backing E Street Band standing in a doorway of an antique store on Sairs Ave in the West End section of Long Branch, New Jersey.