Bruce Springsteen briefly considered scrapping his 1975 album *Born to Run* after hearing its mastered version, because he disliked the sound of his own voice and felt uneasy about choices made during recording. The incident matters because the record became his breakthrough and is widely regarded as one of rock music’s defining albums.

Springsteen recalled listening to the master with producer Jimmy Iovine during a tour and joking that it should be thrown into the hotel pool rather than released. He was 24 when he made the album; despite his doubts, it went on to sell more than six million copies in the United States and establish him among rock’s leading artists.