Disco de Bruce Springsteen - Born To Run: 30th Anniversary 3-Disc Set (CD/2DVD)

30th ANNIVERSARY 3 DISC SET

CONCERT DVD Never-before-seen 1975 concert from Hammersmith Odeon, London featuring over 2 hours of music.

DOCUMENTARY DVD Definitive story of "Wings For Wheels: The Making of Born to Run" with new interviews & rare archival footage.

BORN TO RUN CD First time in newly-remastered digital sound. Includes 48 page booklet of rare and unpublished photos.

Análisis (en inglés) - Amazon.com :

The first retooling of any album in the mighty Springsteen catalog is an exemplary labor of love by Columbia. The original 1975 release was the make-or-break record of Bruce's career and arguably still his best collection of material. It is presented here on one disc unsullied by outtakes or inferior versions--just pristine digital remasters of those eight grittily romantic songs of street life that defined the artist's signature styles. The substantial bonuses are two new DVD programs, one featuring a full concert performance by Bruce and the E Street Band on their first date outside the U.S. at London's Hammersmith Odeon in November 1975, and the other a "making of" documentary including band interviews and contemporary concert footage. The whole handsome box truly honors a legendary recording while providing generous value for fans.

The meat of the bonus material is the London show. A mythology has built around it that the band were so disorientated by travel and culture shock and Bruce so enraged by label-generated hype that they gave one of the worst performances of their career. Primitively shot by today's standards, the footage captures the brilliance of the relatively new band's ensemble playing. Highlights include a "Thunder Road" accompanied only by keyboards that opens the show, fiery solos on "Kitty's Back," a dynamic "Saint in the City," and a number of songs that have long since been retired. It's certainly notable how pensive and joyless Springsteen appears when compared to his later, animated stadium persona, but it's also fun to see the far greater role as foil played by Clarence Clemons. As he now testifies in the sleeve notes, putting lie to the myth, on that night they had "gone for broke," and as this writer can bear witness, the British audience exalted the show as the arrival of the greatest live performer of his generation. --Rob Stewart

The Best of Bruce
by guest editor Steve Perry
Steve is the editor-in-chief of City Pages newspaper in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle (1973)
The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle After a folk-rockish debut album that bubbled with ideas and dense lyrical play, this is where Springsteen began to find his voice as a rocker and as a songwriter. The prisoner-of-love romanticism of "Rosalita" and "Incident on 57th Street" hinted at what was coming, and this early version of the E Street Band--jazzier and more spare than later versions, thanks largely to David Sancious's piano--sounds great, if a little ragged, these many years later.

Born to Run (1975) and Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978)
These two records, which belong on any compilation of the top 100 rock albums of all time, sketched the themes that he would spend his whole career chasing, and defined the expectations fans would bring to his records ever after. The first chords of "Born to Run" sounded like freedom itself the first time I heard them on the radio, and the album lived up to them. "Thunder Road" is still the greatest rock & roll love song anyone's ever written. The record sounded so big and impassioned and propulsive it was easy to miss the dread running underneath it. Darkness... put the dread front and center. There are more of his best songs here than anywhere else, even if the sound is muddy and leaden at times.

Nebraska (1982)
After The River (the best record that didn't make this list) and the ensuing tour answered his rock & roll prayers--he was a big star now, not just a perennial critics' favorite--Springsteen holed up in a rented house on the Jersey shore, where he wrote these songs and sang them into a four-track recorder in his living room. The tape was supposed to be a demo for the band, but after several false tries he concluded that the tape he'd been carrying around in his pocket was the record. Quiet and bleak, Nebraska nonetheless grabbed you by the collar and made you listen as surely as his rock & roll records ever had.

Tunnel of Love (1987)
Tunnel of Love The glare and hubbub surrounding the Born in the USA tour (the tour was great--the record itself overrated) made him pull back again, this time to write a cycle of songs about love and fear and self-doubt. After this, Springsteen's first marriage broke up, and he started a family with Patti Scialfa, disappearing for the better part of 10 years, notwithstanding the pair of not-bad, just-disappointing albums he released in 1992, Human Touch and Lucky Town.

The Ghost of Tom Joad (1995)
The Ghost of Tom Joad Some call it Nebraska II, but his second acoustic album was not a repeat of his first--the characters and settings had changed, and their circumstances were more expressly desperate, and social--though it did share the same interest in what happens to people whose isolation or marginal status renders them invisible.

The Rising (2002)
The Rising Everybody, including Springsteen, seemed to think it was a record about 9/11, but the subject was broader--death and loss as seen from more than halfway down life's road. Dave Marsh nailed it: "A middle-aged man confronts death and chooses life" Brendan O'Brien's production sounds great.

Análisis de usuario (en inglés) - 2005-11-15

- 30 Years & Still Running

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.

Análisis de usuario (en inglés) - 2005-11-15

- Incomparable! It does not get better than this. Raw, magnificent passion!

If you like Bruce then you already have this, know what it means and understand. If you're thinking about getting this then don't think twice it's alright. If you are not interested then how comes you've read this much already!? The album easily stands the test of time. It is quite simply the essence of what rock'n'roll music is all about. The passion, innocence and power of the songs still have an enormous effect on me 30 years later. I had tears in my eyes by the end of Thunder Road and was walking on air at the end of Jungleland. In 1975 rock music had lost it's spark and passion. It was treading water. What most people don't understand is that this album woke the whole industry and record buying public up. The hype that followed was incredible but not Springsteen's doing. The fact that 30 years later he is still such a major important artist says everything about his character and talent. The Hammersmith show? I WAS THERE! It changed my life. I had never understood how powerful music could be. I was 21. Had seen the Beatles at the same venue! But this was unbelievable stuff. Nobody in those days moved around the stage like he did, orchestrated a band like he did and wrote the songs he was writing. The interaction between band members was fantastic and noone else had it. To be able to see the show 30 years later means so much. I ask any fan of rock music to buy this set. If you're not sure what to expect then great. You will be amazed. I haven't even had time to watch the Wings For Wheels doc. That's for tonight. This is what it is all about. 5 stars is nowhere near enough!

Análisis de usuario (en inglés) - 2005-11-29

- Even long time fans will find new discoveries

First, a technical issue:
Another reviewer was incorrect. This release DOES NOT contain the Sony DRM/rootkit software. Don't take my word for it, look at Sony's official list:
Amazon doesn't like URL's but you can Google "Sony DRM albums" and find many resources...icluding Sony's own...that list the offending albums. This one is not one of them.

Now:
I am fortunate enough to have grown up on the Jersey shore, and knew who Bruce Springsteen was before 1975. I've followed his growth since then, and have seen him in a number of his tours over the year. I'm an unabashed, unapologetic fan, and he is the only artist of whom I own every title in their discography.

So do this: watch the "Making of Born to Run" DVD first, and then listen to BTR again. In the car --where this album was meant to be played-- or by yourself. The eight songs on this album are damned near each one a home run. Collectively they are an amazing piece of American music making that have stood the test of time.

Then watch the Hammersmith concert video. And if you've been a fan for as long as I have, you'll certainly wonder where the last 30 years when and why Bruce and the band look so old:-)

Just a fine piece of Springsteen and E Street history. You won't be sorry.

Análisis de usuario (en inglés) - 2005-12-06

- From the coastline to the city, all the little pretties raise their hand

I'll assume that you already know the music. The remix provided no great revelation (did anyone ever say, "I like Born to Run, but if it were mixed better it might really be something special"?) However, this entire set may be seen as an opportunity to embrace the work in a new light, or at least, at a new time in your life. And it turns out that the songs you know by heart are truly great. We learn from the "Wings for Wheels" video that Bruce was looking to make sweeping, cinematic songs, and of course he succeeded in spades; the piano introductions that mark most of these songs serve to set the mood in a very cinematic, dramatic way. "Thunder Road" is an invocation, and thus it appears first on the record; the opening is, as Bruce said on the recent Behind the Music, an invitation. And we go along for the ride, and it is spectacular. Think of the way "Jungleland" opens, the violin and piano; the scene perfectly set.

"Tenth Avenue Freeze Out," "Night" "Backstreets" and "She's the One" are stone cold classics that still raise the hair on your arms when he plays them live, and will when you listen again here; "Meeting Across the River" ages far better than we might have thought. "Born to Run" is one of the 10 greatest rock'n'roll songs ever written. For me, though, the one song that benefits most from a fresh listen is "Jungleland." Sweeping in its grandeur, over 9 minutes long, and the culmination of the story songwriting Bruce began on his first two albums. The vocalizing he does after the final, whispered "Tonight... in... jungle... land..." may be one of the greatest rock vocal performances ever. He says it all in those closing moments, without saying a thing.

Watch the documentary first; it provides an informative window into the creative process, and places the Born to Run record in historical context. Then listen to the album. Then play the concert DVD. At the time, this was thought to have been a disappointing performance by the E Street Band, but the proof is there on the tapes. This is an opportunity to see one of the great live rock'n'roll bands of all time, unchallenged, at THE quintessential time in their evolution. It is the first tour with the classic Born to Run line-up: Max Weinberg and Roy Bittan actually joined the band during the recording sessions, as did Miami Steve, who isn't even on the album. This is Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band as they live in your mind's eye: skinny, scraggly, unkempt; big hats, bonded together with a whole lot to prove, and intent on proving it (all night) at any cost. The sheer thrill of youth and rock'n'roll and "making it" has maybe never been captured so succintly before. These are moments you can never recreate; maybe these musicians are more skilled now, but they will never be 25 years old with everything on the line again. The hair on your arms WILL stand up when you watch this concert, and you will experience a rock'n'roll epiphany, a little taste of old time religion and redemption delivered with piano, glockenspiel, Fender telecaster and brassy sax.

Análisis de usuario (en inglés) - 2005-11-26

- "Run" out and get this for your Springsteen fan on the Xmas list

A great album sounds better and Springsteen fans will be experiencing nirvana (no, not the band silly--the other nirvana)with the concert DVD. The cinemascope production makes this album sound bigger, bolder and with better depth than before.

The CD remaster sounds terrific. The booming production makes the previous CD sound tinny by comparison and captures the raw power of the original vinyl release. There aren't any extra tracks or outtakes and that's a pity because you know there have to be some around somewhere. By the way, Amazon refers to this as the "first retooling" of any Springsteen album. That's not quite true--"Born to Run" received a 20 bit remaster limited edition release about a decade ago. That remaster sounded very good but this new version has better clarity and depth.

The Hammersmith/Odeon Concert from 1975 is the crown jewel here for fans. This concert which hasn't been available on DVD before looks quite good with solid sound as well. Springsteen performs most of "Born to Run" as well as classics such as "It's Hard to Be A Saint in the City" and "Spirit in the Night". It's an entire vintage concert with the Boss and his band in top form.

The "making of" DVD covers everything from the pressure that Springsteen was working under to produce a hit album for Columbia Records to working with the band in the studio to achieve the sound he wanted for the album. Finally the "Hype" of Springsteen that threatened to overtake the value of the album and the artist is also discussed. Featuring vintage footage and new interviews, it's a marvelous glimpse into the creation of one of the top ten albums of all time. There are also three performances from 1973 recorded in Los Angeles-"Spirit in the Night" "Wild Billy's Circus Story" and "Thundercrack".

The whole package comes in a large cardboard box with a cardboard replica of the original vinyl packaging for "Born to Run" and cardboard holders for the DVDs. The CD features a label that mimics the Columbia label for the original "Born to Run" and looks like vinyl on both the top and bottom (it's an unusal looking CD in that it's all black except for the label area). I do agree that these probably should have been released in something a bit sturdier but that's pretty minor and easy to fix--go out and buy some jewelboxes. Finally, there's a booklet with numerous rare and previously unreleased photos of Springsteen and the band. A brief essay from Springsteen's book "Songs" is included. The 1975 concert also has a couple of paragraphs written by Springsteen about the experience of seeing and performing in London for the first time.

30 years later it's still a great album given a deluxe presentation by Columbia. A great Christmas package for the Springsteen fan in your family whether they be middle aged or teenagers.

Lista de discos de Bruce Springsteen

Disco de Bruce Springsteen - Born To Run: 30th Anniversary 3-Disc Set (CD/2DVD)