Springsteen Live At Hammersmith '75 DVD
Posted: Fri Mar 03, 2006 9:04 am
(An audio CD of this was just released, the only way to get the DVD is via the Born To Run 30th anniversary box, which is available at yourmusic for $18.)
I've got a fairly ambiguous relationship with Bruce Springsteen's music -- some of it I love (Darkness, Nebraska), some of it I find nearly unlistenable (Human Touch, Tom Joad). He's probably the artist I own the most records by who I don't consider myself a "big fan" of.
What keeps me interested, I guess, is the live performances. I've seen him twice (in '88 and in 2002), and the '02 show in particular was masterful. The '85 live box is full of thrilling performances. Now we have the release of this show, the first full-length Springsteen show released from the "classic" period of '75-'85.
This is highly enjoyable stuff. The 1975 tour was the first outing for the familiar E Street lineup, and they were still young and hungry. And weird. Springsteen wears a blue work shirt and a knit cap. Almost everyone else wears fedoras. Clarence Clemons is decked out in a blinding white suit, while Steve Van Zandt sports an amazing red pimp outfit (complete with white carnation) that is probably exactly what Silvio Dante was wearing in 1975. There's lots of hair and Gary Tallent has a beard George Harrison would envy.
But none of this is distracting, because the video is grainy, murky and poorly lit. I'm sure they worked hard cleaning it up, but the source was clearly in rough shape. The audio, however, is astonishing. The 24 track tapes were apparently kept in a Star Trek stasis field. The 5.1 mix is clear and powerful and sounds much better than most any early Springsteen studio album.
The performances are gritty and committed in a way lacking from recent tours. Don't get me wrong, Springsteen and E Street live is still a hell of a show, but here they pound out the bizarre street operas of the first three albums with a singular sense of purpose. It doesn't hurt that even the "oldies" here are just a few years old and hadn't been played into the ground yet. "Born To Run" is unleashed a half-hour into the set as just another track from the "new album," and is more impressive for it than any of the overblown encore performances of later years. (Even back then, though, Springsteen's catalog was imposing -- at the end of the two-hour show, fans call for unplayed songs like "Blinded By The Light" and "Growin' Up.")
At the bargain yourmusic price, it's worth picking up the BTR box for this alone. I haven't watched the documentary yet, but I spun the CD and found I liked it a bit better than the Mastersound, though I doubt that record will ever sound great. (Oddly, the CD is pressed on a Playstation-style black disc with a faux-LP label side. Maybe that's why it sounds good. )
Ryan
I've got a fairly ambiguous relationship with Bruce Springsteen's music -- some of it I love (Darkness, Nebraska), some of it I find nearly unlistenable (Human Touch, Tom Joad). He's probably the artist I own the most records by who I don't consider myself a "big fan" of.
What keeps me interested, I guess, is the live performances. I've seen him twice (in '88 and in 2002), and the '02 show in particular was masterful. The '85 live box is full of thrilling performances. Now we have the release of this show, the first full-length Springsteen show released from the "classic" period of '75-'85.
This is highly enjoyable stuff. The 1975 tour was the first outing for the familiar E Street lineup, and they were still young and hungry. And weird. Springsteen wears a blue work shirt and a knit cap. Almost everyone else wears fedoras. Clarence Clemons is decked out in a blinding white suit, while Steve Van Zandt sports an amazing red pimp outfit (complete with white carnation) that is probably exactly what Silvio Dante was wearing in 1975. There's lots of hair and Gary Tallent has a beard George Harrison would envy.
But none of this is distracting, because the video is grainy, murky and poorly lit. I'm sure they worked hard cleaning it up, but the source was clearly in rough shape. The audio, however, is astonishing. The 24 track tapes were apparently kept in a Star Trek stasis field. The 5.1 mix is clear and powerful and sounds much better than most any early Springsteen studio album.
The performances are gritty and committed in a way lacking from recent tours. Don't get me wrong, Springsteen and E Street live is still a hell of a show, but here they pound out the bizarre street operas of the first three albums with a singular sense of purpose. It doesn't hurt that even the "oldies" here are just a few years old and hadn't been played into the ground yet. "Born To Run" is unleashed a half-hour into the set as just another track from the "new album," and is more impressive for it than any of the overblown encore performances of later years. (Even back then, though, Springsteen's catalog was imposing -- at the end of the two-hour show, fans call for unplayed songs like "Blinded By The Light" and "Growin' Up.")
At the bargain yourmusic price, it's worth picking up the BTR box for this alone. I haven't watched the documentary yet, but I spun the CD and found I liked it a bit better than the Mastersound, though I doubt that record will ever sound great. (Oddly, the CD is pressed on a Playstation-style black disc with a faux-LP label side. Maybe that's why it sounds good. )
Ryan