So let's talk about those extras...
It has been a bit of a frustrating time to be a music fan. The state of music today is so bad labels have been reduced to re-issuing great albums of the past in 'Deluxe' editions in order to generate some sales. The pisser in this equation is trying to find a way to get people who already bought the album once to buy it again while at the same time attracting folks who passed on the album the first time (or perhaps were in diapers at the time of its initial release). Plenty of these sets fail to deliver the kind of bonus material that will motivate fans to be gouged twice.
Born to Run is not one of them.
I do not mean to give short shrift to the Wings for Wheels documentary but the real treasure in this set is the Live at the Hammersmith-Odeon DVD. This is one of the very few vintage films of Bruce and the boys (back when it was just the boys) and it is stunning.
Springsteen did an interview on NPR's "Fresh Air" program in which he made mention of the band having a great group of songs to choose from each night when they were only three albums into their career. He is dead on! The set list is nearly perfect. The performances are inspired and inspiring. "Thunder Road" is not as rocking but it is every bit as dramatic here. "Lost in the Flood" is a show stopper and "She's the One" sounds even more like the Chuck Berry/Bo Diddley homage here than it does on the album the band were promoting that night. This performance is a rare treat. This is the sound of a band still on the rise in terms of their commercial appeal but reaching their peak as a live band and armed with an arsenal of songs with very few peers (and they were only three albums into their career!).
Watching these young Turks and hearing them perform at this level makes you incredibly thankful someone remembered to record this night in 1975. It makes you jealous of the ones who were in the room this night in 1975.
It makes you wish there was more of this band from this period but that passes quickly because this night and this DVD and this album are more than enough.
Lisa McKay
Well, I can't speak to the extras on this set, because I'm adhering to the rule we have in our house that you don't go out and buy yourself stuff this close to Christmas. And that's okay with me - I'm perfectly willing to wait another month to dig in, but my appetite is certainly whetted by everything I've heard about the Hammersmith footage - I can't wait to see that!
Article comments
1 - Lisa McKay
Thank you, Mark, for inviting us onto your Friday Morning turf for a visit - it's been fun!
2 - Mark Saleski
you're more than welcome lisa.
dang, i thought for sure that me & the dj could make you break your christmas rule!
3 - Lisa McKay
I was tempted, but you have to understand that I'm married to a man who generally has his Christmas shopping done by Thanksgiving ;-)
4 - Mark Saleski
wow! i didn't know guys like that existed.
it's true, i don't see your husband at the procrastinators club meetings.
5 - Paul J. Marasa
Well, gang, as one of the Old Guard--I saw Springsteen in concert at the Tower Theater in Philadelphia in '74--and listened to him prove it all night as he did a benefit for the legendary Main Point north of Philly--and OK I'm from NJ, too, and I was listening to "Mary Queen of Arkansas" when I ran into your discussion here--this is some sort of trifecta--I feel I can add my voice to the Faithful. I think you're right: Springsteen will never be a nostalgia act--just check out the dead-on consistency and completeness of the "Devils and Dust" package--so those Glory Days will never be borin' stories, but just more good songs. There are no oldies, just tunes you haven't heard yet--or in a long time. Thanks for spreading the news.
6 - DJRadiohead
When did they start having meeting for procrastinators?
I guess I just haven't gotten around to checking them out.Fucking awful pun, that was going to be.Saleski, it was fun getting agree with you on something for a change. Lisa... it was a lot of fun to have you in on this as well. Maybe we can do this agin if we get the live package I pray for from this run of solo acoustic shows Springsteen is currently doing. Did you hear about him and Hornsby teaming up on Hymn #251 "Across the Border?"
And Mark, have you checked out "Missing" yet?
7 - ClubhouseCancer
There will be a live DVD of this run -- the shows in Boston were taped for this purpose. The show I saw last Thursday was a huge disppointment, though. It was the only time I've ever seen Bruce (out of too, too many shows since 1980) when I wasn't completely engrossed and transfixed by the performance. I still swear I'm gonna write a real review.
8 - Connie Phillips
Thank you, guys. Again with part two, I really enjoyed the differnt perspectives to the same product, and oh what a product! I feel like the only person who hasn't already purchased this set.
9 - Mary K. Williams
"I feel like the only person who hasn't already purchased this set."
No, Connie, not the only one. Mark thinks he can tempt me into getting this before Christmas, but I'm going to hold out. Then you and me and Lisa can get together and have a Bruce party.
Speaking of party, for me too, it was college when I first heard Born to Run. *sigh*. Just love it!
10 - DJRadiohead
I just don't see how you can let one more day of your life pass without buying this set.
It has been so great!
11 - Mary K. Williams
"I just don't see how you can let one more day of your life pass without buying this set."
Yeah, regarding the set, I'd been meaning to ask those 'in the know' -- Can you get the remastered CD w/o the DVD extras? Because, as much as I like Bruce and the E-streeters, I'm not a huge fan of watching concerts on video.
Not that it'd be horrible to own the whole thing. I"m sure I would enjoy it, just wondering..
12 - DJRadiohead
Unfortunately, to my knowledge, this box set is the only way to get the re-mastered CD.
The Hammersmith-Odeon show is gold, though! Look at young little Max Weinberg and Little Steve! It's hilarious and the performance is amazing!
13 - Mary K. Williams
ok ok I'll put it on my list. : )
14 - Mark Saleski
plus, if you know what you'r doing (and i don't really count myself in that category) you can burn an audio copy of the concert.
15 - DJRadiohead
Yes, well said. I actually have the Hammersmith Odeon DVD's audio content on my iPod. I have actually listened to the show many more times than I have watched it. It's wonderful and transcendant and... well, I am preaching to the choir here.
16 - Connie Phillips
Mary, sounds like a plan to me! It is officially added to my "must have" list so I can be a part of the masses.
17 - DJRadiohead
It's more than being part of the masses. It is baptism and religion and salvation. You will be a better person.
18 - Mary K. Williams
plus, if you know what you'r doing (and i don't really count myself in that category)
Yeah Mark, especially after that debacle in the Berkshires. ::Snickering::