So... are either of these past two shows on silver CDs, or are they still just CDR? I bought the FLAC for Roxy, and haven’t yet pulled the trigger on this ‘81 show. I wouldn’t mind getting Passaic at some point either. But while I also would prefer physical media, I don’t see the point of spending on CDRs that are likely to rot with time when I can buy the files, burn ‘em to my own CDRs for less, and also save them on an external HD. I’d heard that some shows were actually getting pressed on silver discs — and both Roxy and this ‘81 show certainly deserve that treatment — but I haven’t heard about these.
Yeesh, forgot about that one! Probably Brooce's worst opening track ever — at least until "Outlaw Pete" anyway.
Years ago, somebody on another BS message board summed it up well. "For longtime fans of the 75-81 era, the Born In The USA album/tour was like a big sugar-laden dessert at the end of wonderful gourmet meal. It looked good on the plate, everyone gobbled it up, and everyone got a huge sugar crash."
I agree, about Bono. As for Marsh, I have plenty of opinions about that egotistic gasbag. I will get myself banned if I say too much. Let’s just say I had the misfortune of stumbling across him on the radio a few Sunday mornings back (on Sirius XM’s “Spectrum” channel) and he was going on some ridiculous tirade about the “worst book he’d ever read” or some such nonsense. Maybe there was more to it, but I’d had enough after several minutes of him ranting about how the author got some information ABOUT MARSH HIMSELF WRONG. No mention of the name of the actual book or author, as far as I could tell, just Marsh whining about the author, erroneously, wrote that Marsh’s Rolling Stone Record Guide (A piece of trash I once borrowed from a library, and nearly threw in the garbage so no one else would have to read it) consisted of previously published reviews from the magazine. Apparently that was wrong, the reviews (Such as they are) were all new and it got Marsh’s knickers in a twist. THE HORRORS! I finally turned him off and made a point of not stopping at that channel on Sunday mornings again. Anyhow, that seems to fit with any previous times I’ve heard or read that guy. Don’t know what anyone sees in him. Part of it, for me, is his over-the-top worship of Bruce (Who is great, but far from perfect), but his visceral hatered of a number of my other favorites. He just comes off as a nasty, mean-spirited jerk much of the time. Frankly, Marsh is lucky to have made the living he has. He’s not that talented, and his opinions hold no more weight than anyone else’s. If t weren’t for Springsteen, he’d be living a menial existence, and probably bouncing from job to job, getting fired because none of his co-workers would be able to stand him. Sorry for going off topic. Can’t stand him (You may have noticed).
I stood right next to him at the soundboard at one of the Asbury Park Holiday gigs. Didn't talk to him, but listened and observed him interacting with people all night. All I will say is the general perception of him is right on the money. In his first book, he reported that Bruce played "with his back to the audience" for most of the first 1975 Hammersmith gig. Keep up the good work.
Yes, still CDR as far as I'm aware. I could burn 'em myself. Just laziness I guess! Passaic is well worth getting, simply because it is one of the best quality archive releases so far. Certainly in the top 5 as far as sound quality goes and miles better than Agora and Houston. I haven't heard The Roxy so I can't comment on that one.
As far as sound and general live ambiance, I actually like the common radio broadcast bootleg(s) a bit better. At least the Nug’s release isn’t “doctored” like the few live tracks from the show that were included on the old “Live ‘75-‘85” box. The show itself is killer, probably my all time favorite live Springsteen recordings.
After listening for a week now, I don't necessarily think it's the hottest show from the 81 tour, or the best recording/mix, but its got a number of great moments and I am still very happy to have it. PS. I bought the CD. Mainly because I'm a Luddite, and I like the cover shot.
Sorry to threadjack, but I'll make this quick. I like U2 just fine, but they're far from my favorite band. Saw them in 1992 on the Achtung Baby tour in Chicago. I wore my favorite Cubs hat that I had had for years to show and our seats ended up being directly in front of the B stage that the band came out mid-show for a short acoustic set. As the band was turning up, Bono saw the hat I was wearing and motioned for me to give it to him. It was super cool of him to wear it while singing the 2-3 acoustic songs, but inside I was fuming knowing I wasn't going to see it again. After they were done and heading back to the main stage, Bono reached out to hand it back to me. As tons of hands were reaching out to grab it from him, he said something like "this gentleman was kind enough to lend it to me, so please let me hand it back." With that, it was like the parting of the Red Sea and he gave it back to me. After that, that dude is OK in my book. On a related note, I was wearing the same hat 26 years later when the Cubs won the Series. Thanks Bono...
It's funny how some people say Bruce should have listened more to Steve's advice, but besides 'Men Without Women ' Steve's solo output is not exactly stellar. I saw him on the Voice Of America tour and it was to say the least a very poor performance. Props to his production work for Southside Johnny, but perhaps the view that Landau forced him out (so he could be the only one advising Bruce) are incorrect, but it was a more natural parting of the ways.
I've been buying all the CDs for the actual archival (i.e., up through 2013) releases on CD, and doing mp3 downloads for the handful of newer shows that interest me.
I would agree. MWOW and Soulfire are great. Most everything in between is less than stellar. And some of those live performances from the 80s were downright bad. I saw a few of them. Walked out of at least one.
Steve's own output is irrelevant because Steve's contribution to Springsteen's creative process was helping with shaping the sound, arranging, editing, sequencing, etc. of Bruce's material and overall vision. His input was valuable during The River and clearly valuable during the early phases of the BITUSA session work. It is not as if Landau was a songwriter or accomplished artist, but like Van Zant, he brought something important to the table that helped Springsteen realize his artistic goals.
Steve's own output is important as it can help differentiate between what is 'Steve ' and what is 'Bruce'
I never thought that Stevie is as talented as a songwriter as Springsteen is. But, having said that, I think that he is a good producer. The heavy handed sound on Bruce's "recent" output (see Magic's horrible sound as an example) would not have happened had Steve been able to be vocal about the whole thing. That's obviously just my opinion, what do I know? I've seen Steve current tour a couple of times and the shows are joyful and I must recognise that they are a good chance to readress him as a great writer a son well, not in Bruce's league, but there are definitely plenty of gems in his career. J
And FWIW, I thought that Born Again Savage was inspired as well, maybe not perfect, but I quite liked many of the songs. Haven't listened recently, that's true. J
I know the mastering stands to be different - very different - but does anyone have a running list of how many performances from the 75/85 box have seen the light of day on the archival releases? Is it very many?
$12.95 for the FLAC and burn your own? I dunno. Just seems like a solid deal to me. The fact that we've gone from, like, 3 Springsteen live albums to 30+ in under 4 years renders most format nitpicking moot for me. There's no way we'd have any of these if digital distribution wasn't available as a primary outlet. Roxy '78, Tempe '80, East Rutherford '84, and not the NYE show, but a different night from the December '80 Nassau run. I imagine something from the '85 Giants Stadium shows is inevitable, as is Winterland '78.
But this is the last one, right? P. S. The cover shot can also be found on and printed from the interwebs.
I thought it was an edit, too, so I pulled out an old dub of an audience recording of the show -- and it's NOT an edit! The audience tape is exactly the same with an abrupt start into "Shake." Weird. I've never heard anything like it before, but it seems to be the way they played it.