Search - Bruce Springsteen :: Born to Run-30th Anniversary Edition

It either resonates or it doesn't.

jblyn | Maryland, USA | 10/20/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The folks who nay-say the Boss usually go for the throat with remarks like, "sentimental, pretentious, one-dimesional, etc.," but, to me, those and similar adjectives could describe much of popular music anyway, expecially these days. I think that unless you're talking about field recordings, most of the "music has to be authentic" arguments are a shuck. Music doesn't HAVE to be anything except able, somehow, to make a connection with the listener, on whatever level, and we listen or not in direct proportion to how that connection is established. I just wanted to get the "authentic" straw man out of the way before I comment on BORN TO RUN.



I've liked some Springsteen albums better than others, but I keep coming back to this one because of that inexplicable connection. I didn't grow up in South New Jersey, skip school, go racing in the streets, etc.., but when I hear a song like "Thunder Road," yeah, I do relate to wasting my "summer praying in vain /for a saviour to rise from these streets," or listening to a high school buddy learning to make HIS guitar talk. On this album, Bruce Springsteen performs the same magic that Brian Wilson and Mike Love did in the early Beach Boys recordings: he makes you feel like you're part of a teenage past completely concocted from his experience/imagination. Oh, there are probably places where shared experiences match up, but that's not really the point. I suspect that one reason that BORN TO RUN works so well---besides the fact that musically it's superb---is that those who like it can imagine themselves in Springsteen's narratives, or at least be in sympathetic accord with them. And if you aren't, no question, you're going to find it over-the-top.....but a little over-the-top never hurt anybody.



The extras with this 30th anniversary set are all worth the money, especially if your a behind-the-music documentary junkie. But, end of the day, it's the album they are built around that I keep returning to, and it sounds as good on the car stereo now as it did back in the day...and "authentic" be damned!

"

Excellent

R. Stangroom | u.k | 06/02/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Excellent concert, how i wish i was old enough to have gone to it. Do not expect 2010 picture and sound quality (although the quality is very good), i understand that it took nearly a year to match up and clean up the (mostly)silent film footage with the audio. If you are in any doubt, go over to y**tube and watch thunder road from this concert, spellbinding.

Ninety percent of the few negative reviews concern the fact that Sony are involved with this release. So what i say, i dont care if lucifer is involved, its too good to miss."