Big rock is back. You may have noticed. Firstly, The Killers took their shot at being the World’s Best Band with their second album Sam’s Town. The critics said they failed - instead handing the title to Arcade Fire following their second release Neon Bible. Even the Kings of Leon, with their new album, Because Of The Times, reverts to big bass guitars and songs that can fill stadiums. Big, boomy and noisy is the order of the day. Who’s to blame for turning everyone into meglomanics?

Well, apparently, it’s Bruce Springsteen - the pioneer of ambitious, some would say over-ambitious, rock. Only problem is, I’ve never heard any of it, so I can’t verify this. It’s the usual stuff that put me off. The headband, rolled up sleeves, groin-hazard jeans, and just like Ronald Reagan, misunderstanding Born in the USA for patriotic fervour. Dancing badly with Courtney Cox in the Dancing in the Dark video sealed his fate. I was never going to take Bruce seriously after such bad behaviour. In my head, I had put him alongside Hasselhoff, Schwarzenegger and Bon Jovi - Americans who are loved by many for their kitsch value, but not cool in my school.

I’ve been told I’m wrong. Repeatedly. I’m told that if I love the Killers, Arcade Fire and Kings of Leon, I’ll also love Bruce. So in an attempt to work out where I had gone wrong, I spent a couple of weeks listening to Born to Run, arguably his greatest album, and nothing else - all in an attempt to discover Bruce. The “shuffle songs” option on my iPod is officially banned.

My first listen of Born to Run isn’t that successful. I like way the harmonica gently lulls me into the opening track Thunder Road, but even that feels like stepping back in time. It all feels dated. Sax solos from the 70s always do. I enjoy the song, Born to Run, but only because it feels familiar - as if I‘ve heard it before on an advert for mobile phones. For whatever reason, it just doesn’t sound as loud as the Arcade Fire, and before you suggest it, no, turning up the volume doesn’t help.

What am I missing here? Before a second attempt I decide to speak to some real Bruce fans to tell me what they’re hearing. Gary Graff author of The Ties That Bind: Bruce Springsteen A to E to Z tells me Born to Run is romantic and dramatic, even melodramatic - and still very relevant. “The themes of Born to Run are present today” Graff says. “It’s about the desire to escape, the desire for a better life, the desire to get laid.”

It‘s also uncynically ambitious. “Bruce Springsteen has said he was taking his shot at making the greatest record of all time with Born to Run” said Kevin McClave, a diehard fan of nearly 30 years who has seen Springsteen an astonishing 39 times live. “There’s an innocence and romanticism to it.”

Gary and Kevin just seem so excited that I’m hearing it for the first time, as if they wish they could do it all over again. Their enthusiasm pushes me back to the album. And after a couple of more listens I start to really get it. Suddenly, I can hear that Tenth Avenue Freeze Out is a head bopper that Stevie Wonder would be proud of, and it gets my foot tapping on the tube into work.

The next day, Springsteen’s lyrics and voice suddenly hit me as brilliant. As I’m struggling to finish my morning porridge, Springsteen brings me out of my pre-work torpor. I have the sudden urge to put on some aviators and drive, drive real fast. Bruce urges it: “Just wrap your legs round these velvet rims, and strap your hands across my engines” he sings.

Gary Graff had warned me this would happen: “With Born to Run you want to hit the highway, roll down the windows, and drive real fast down the interstate,” says Graff. “My kids make fun of me, but I notice they do it too. Whenever we go on a road trip, the first thing they play is Born to Run”.

Unfortunately, I soon realise forcing my clapped out Toyota Corolla into fifth gear down the North Circular just isn’t the same.

And I’m starting to hear all sorts of current music in Springsteen’s songs. David Gray and Ryan Adams count Springsteen as a major influence. Badly Drawn Boy is a self-confessed Springsteen junky, and the name of his new album Born in the UK is a nod in Bruce’s direction. Joanna Newcome, her of the hauntingly childish voice from Orange’s blackout in New York ad, has named her new EP Joanna Newcome and the Y Street Band. Springsteen’s backing band is famously called the E Street band.

Brandon Flowers of The Killers isn’t ashamed to say he poached from Springsteen, especially for their latest album Sam’s Town. “Nobody can write lyrics like [Springsteen], it takes my breath away,” said Flowers recently.

Bruce may have even been partly responsible for McFly:

“When I came home from school, instead of watching The Tweenies, I’d roll my sleeves up like him, put a band around my head and watch Springsteen live”, Danny Jones of McFly has said. Bruce has a lot to answer for.

To my ears, other bands that seemed to have picked up Springsteen’s baton are U2 and the Counting Crows. What all these bands have in common is a naked ambition to write great songs that may just mean something to you. You’re probably unlikely to include Lily Allen, Arctic Monkeys, or The Streets in a mixed tape to give to someone you really fancy. Those British artists cover pretty much the same ideas as Springsteen, but only with ever-so-clever wordplay and with reference to last night’s jaunt to the kebab shop. Sarcasm is my favourite form of wit, but sometimes you want to hear something a little less knowing.

And that’s where Springsteen and his protégé’s like Arcade Fire come in. I’m a proud new convert. After telling everyone for the past few months that I love The Killer’s Sam’s Town, I realise this is a mere misguided crush. Born to Run was starting to turn into the real thing. And I’m thinking of starting to settle down with Bruce for some time to come.

Explore Music

• Proms

• Festivals

• CD Reviews

• Live Reviews

Editor's choice

• Hitchcock's 50 most memorable moments
• Vote for musical perfection
• Proms Podcast with Matthew Barley