Bruce Springsteen - Born To Run: 30th Anniversary 3-Disc Set (CD/2DVD)
|
List Price: Our Price: $22.99 You Save: $16.99 (42%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $16.88 (click here) Category: Music CD See more new music releases 
|
|---|
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
Free Music Notes for Born To Run: 30th Anniversary 3-Disc Set (CD/2DVD)
Free Music Review: Worth the price for the Concert DVD alone.
Hit: 5 Stars
This is not the self-assured swagger of a man whose place in the pantheon of Rock `n' Roll is now well established. There are no anecdotes from the Elmer Gantry of R'n'R. No racks of guitars lined up at the edge of the stage or roadies scurrying around. No Perfect sound or big screens displaying all to the faithful worshipping at the church of Bruce.
In 1975 Springsteen's 3rd album "Born to Run was a do or die. He'd blown that "big advance" Rosie on assembling the best house band in New Jersey possibly the US.
Before the show Bruce had thrown a real hissy fit about the Marquee - to quote "The World is Finally Ready for Bruce Springsteen" - outside at the Odeon at Hammersmith a grimy little place in the West of London. He was angry, nervous and this wasn't a hometown audience. This was 2000plus of knowing London crowd and he was about to take the stage, which had been graced by the Beatles, Van Morrison only the year before and many of the genre's greats.
He'd been hyped by the press - Simultaneous covers on Time and Newsweek. YES. We know the stories.
Firstly to take the stage backlit and open with just keyboard accompanied Thunder Road was brave. The band looked like a bunch of slick pimps Stevie resplendent in red, big collar and all. Clarence looked like he should have just stepped out of a stretch Caddy with leopard skin seat covers (acrylic of course). The rest appeared as if they'd stepped out of a large Buick. In the middle was Bruce a dishevelled hyperactive clown in baggy trousers and a hyperactive hat borrowed from a stevedore. There seems to be a lot of hats on stage.
This is a frantic hungry grasp at the unknown future of a skinny young man desperate to stake a claim. IT'S F#%*(%G MAGIC. This is a life affirming testimony to the glory that can be Rock and Roll. I know that sounds like hype. BUT!!! I know how great it was. I was there. It's still everything I remembered. A gig that I scored a scalped ticket for 10 quid 30 minutes before the show and raved about to everybodies annoyance till he toured the UK with The River some 5 and half years later. When he toured Born in the USA I finally felt vindicated in my belief in this man's artistry.
Forget the slightly soft focus shots and the lack of production values we're now so used to, enjoy a legend in the making.
Having seen Bruce many times since this is perhaps not the slickest or best performance but the stuff that legends are made of.
Free Music Review: The best repackage of a classic album EVER.
Hit: 5 Stars
Wow. What a package.
For a confirmed pathologically obsessed fan of Springsteen, as I adminttedly am, this is akin to finding the Holy Grail.
For a fan or student of rock and roll, this is a phenomenally complete look at one of the greatest rock albums ever recorded.
This set is comprised of three parts.
The first is the sweetly remastered "Born To Run". You can read other reviews of this album, not only on Amazon, but in every book or magazine that ever discusses "all-time great rock and roll albums." It invariably shows up. What you need to know is that it sounds crisp and clear, every instrument balanced in the mix.
The second is the documentary on the "Making Of" the album. It combines fascinating archival footage with current day interviews, and provides a thorough look at not only the nuts-and-bolts of the recording, but the behind-the-scenes pressure Springsteen was receiving from the record company, other band members, etc. Bruce proves to be funny, humble and introspective, without ever taking himself that seriously. There are tantalizing bits of excised song segments, discussions of what works and what doesn't, and why certain musical ideas were selected over others.
The third is an entire Hammersmith concert filmed in November of the year "Born To Run" was released. While the video quality is not what we've come to expect in this era of crystalline DVD concerts, it certainly is not execrable by any means. It's raw, with moments of beautiful color reproductions mixed with muddy, poorly lit scenes.
No matter. I found the peek at the pre-superstar Bruce fascinating. His mix of Van Morrison bop with guitar-slinging solos, howling sax breaks with organ and piano noodling, and high drama (bordering on performance art) with old-fashioned rock-n-roll partying ebullience is wholly original. Watch him "perform" the epic tale of "Jungleland" as if it's a stage reading, and then give in to the rock and rhythms of "Rosalita" as if he's powerless to resist...
What you get here is a pristine remaster of one of the great rock albums, a DVD documentary giving it perspective, and an entire, legendary era-specific concert that shows the performer at the (then) height of his burgeoning career.
This is awesome.
Free Music Review: AWESOME!
Hit: 5 Stars
This is an awesome Box Set. The remaster edition itself is worth the waiting. I can't just wait until Columbia decides to release the whole Springsteen discography on remaster editions, as it has been done with Dylan.
Well, besides the remaster edition, that Box Set comes with 2 great additions. The first is the documentary, which is excellent. It's nice to see Mike Appel today talking about the recording of his last work with Bruce. You get to see Bruce driving around Freehold and Asbury Park, showing us the house where he composed the whole album on the piano. Some parts of the documentary are Bruce explaining the meaning of the songs (a little bit like what he did on the Storytellers VH1 TV Show). All the members of the band, including Ernest "Boom" Carter and David Sancious (and Lofgren and Scialfa, who I don't think should be there) give us their opinions and experiences on recording the album. Iovine and Landau appear as well on the documentary. Also, as an extra, the first DVD comes with a mini Live show: 3 songs from a 1973 concert. The sound is excellent, and we got the chance to see Vinny Lopez on drums with the first E Street Band.
The second addition is the London Hammersmith Odeon concert from 1972. I had the chance to see a preview on the Glory Days Symposium in New Jersey (September 2005) and we were all shocked by the quality of the sound and the more than just ok image quality. I just watched the whole concert today on my Home Theatre System and the experience was so thrilling I couldn't believe what I was watching. The whole show is just awesome, with the E Street Band kicking asses here and there. It is a great opportunity to see the band back in the early 70's, again, with a great sound and a brilliant set list.
I don't care about the box, or the CD sleeves. I care about the music, and the music is just AWESOME. Of course everything can be done better, but the music, and the movies can't get better. So let's be fair and give this CD what it deserves, which is nothing less than 5 stars. Everybody should own this BOX SET in his/her collection, being Born to Run one of the TOP 10 Best Rock Records ever.
Free Music Review: 30 Years & Still Running
Hit: 5 Stars
Born To Run is the album that took Bruce Springsteen from a struggling recording artist who was almost dropped by his label to simultaneous covers of Time & Newsweek. All the hype surrounding the album is justified as it is a brilliant collection of songs. From the opening harmonica on "Thunder Road" to the closing of the mini-opera "Jungleland", Bruce tells us about Wendy, Terry, Mary, The Magic Rat & Barefoot girl and we hear their stories. Most of the songs deal with escaping one's dull and dreary life for something better. The means of escape are the highways and backstreets. "Born To Run" is an all time classic and I get chills up my spine every time I hear the opening riffs. "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" tells of the origins of the E Street Band. "Meeting Across The River" is underrated and when Bruce played it on his recent tour, it got huge applauses. The production has a big sound to it. On some songs it sounds like a hundred instruments are playing. Bruce wanted a Phil Spector Wall of Sound feel and the album achieves that goal. Jon Landau, his future manager, said after seeing Bruce in concert in 1974 that "he just saw the future of rock 'n' roll". Born To Run helped fulfill that prophecy. Finally, Sony offers a remastered version of the album which one of first to be released on cd in the late 80's. The sound quality is superb and the big sound of the album comes through beautifully. It would have been enough to just have a remastered cd, but this set ups the ante with two DVDs. The first is a full concert from the Hammersmith Odeon in London and it shows a skinny, bearded Boss showing off why his live shows from that era are legendary. The second DVD is a documentary detailing the making of the album and it contains all the key players including Ernest "Boom" Carter who drummed on the title track as well as an integral part of the early E Street Band, keyboardist David Sancious. On top of all that, you get a great booklet that contains unreleased photos. It would be great if Sony takes this approach with other albums in Mr. Springsteen's catalog as this treatment is long overdue for an artist of his stature.Free Music Review: By far his best album and I am not even a big fan
Hit: 5 Stars
I remember when this album was released and I was in Grade School. I remember seeing his face on Time and Newsweek magazines. I remember holding up the album at least a dozen times in the winter of that year. I remember hearing a radio concert from Cleveland in the summer of '78 that I swear was at least 3 hours long. But I was never a Bruce fan. I had just turned into a teenager and Kiss, Alice Cooper, The Sweet, and Deep Purple were my tastes and on my turntable. The song "Born to Run" was on the radio but it didn't do all that much for me.
Fast forward to college and 2 characters from the Philly area, (Philly & Mac) were torturing me with this record, Greetings, and Darkness for 2 whole semesters that by the time I returned home, I actually missed hearing Springsteen. Not that I really liked his music but it did grow on me and I started to miss it. Zeppelin, Maiden, Sweet, and Lizzy are still my favorite bands but when I heard about this upcoming release, I really became excited. Not as much for the album or the documentary (both very well done by the way) but the concert from 1975. When Bruce and his band were hungry and on top of their game. I have to admit, my favorite tunes of his are "It's Hard to be a Saint in the City", "Growin' Up", "I Came For You", and "Rosalita". So I really wanted to see this concert from the Hammersmith. A few of those tunes aren't included here and some of his pre-BTR stuff I really don't care for are here but the concert is fantastic. A little dark but folks let's remember that the time was 1975, lighting and recording technology was what it was. This concert is to really be enjoyed for the energy and the songs, THE Springsteen live experience. This does not disappoint unless the song selecion doesn't include your favorites.
The entire package (album, documentary, concert) is well done and well worth the money. I am surprised that neither the documentary nor the concert weren't released on their own a while ago. A worthy purchase for the casual Bruce fan, a MUST for the true fan of this man and his music.