The Tempe tracks were all done by Clearmountain and sound better than anything in the Archive. They all sound fantastic.
Sounds good- but as I’ve claimed from day 1; there’s too much ambience in the mix. The arena, so to speak, is too prominent imo. The surround mix especially suffers from this! I’m sure Clearmountain disciples disagree, but I find Tempe to be far from his best work
I'm the furthest thing from an audiophile, but I like a fair amount of ambience. I'm one of the few people that loves the 75 Tower show.
If you are releasing an archive live set monthly it simply isn't possible to have a physical release with bells and whistle packaging, nor should it be expected. The fact that these things are coming out at all is a minor miracle. They are very reasonably priced, but obviously people still want to have something to complain about. In the first 30 years of his career there was one live show released in full (on a DVD), in the last few years he has released about 30 archive shows in full including many shows that rank with the best ever recorded. Enjoy it while it lasts, guys.
I actually like the Los Angeles show because it's more representative of the concept of the TOL Express concept. I say get them both because they both have their merits. I like the 8/20/84 for Drift Away.
Always amazes me that on discussion boards people label 'constructive criticism' as 'complaining'....Are we all just meant to say, 'Bruce just released another archive. It's really great!' Are the Archives a good thing? Yes, of course. Could they be better? In my opinion, yes. There's no law saying Springsteen has to release one Archive a month, and I'm in the camp that would favour a slower release schedule if it meant releases of similar quality to what the Stones, or Dylan are doing. Hell, even what Springsteen has done with the Born To Run/ The Promise/The River boxes. 'Reasonably priced' is going to come down to individual judgement. The Mp3s are cheap enough I guess, but beyond that I would say no. They just released London '81, that is missing the guitars for the first set. I fail to see how anyone can be happy with that.
Stockholm is brighter, the drums sound totally fake, but I'll admit it's more pleasing to the ear. The L.A. show is better because it's closer to the concept of the tour at that time. Both are essential. Setlist-wise obviously the show evolved toward the end. I was at the L.A. show.
Those drum triggers were awful. The intro to Roulette on roses & broken hearts sounds like a tractor trailer pile up.
Currently watching the Phoenix '78 footage on blu-ray, mixed by Bob Clearmountain. It doesn't get better than this I guess. In the same league as Passaic 2nd night in terms of sound and performance, IMHO off course. Can we please have the whole show?!
I'm pretty sure that they didn't film any more in Phoenix than what we already have. But maybe they let the multitracks run for the whole show. Seems weird to get all that equipment out in the desert for just a handfull of songs
Stockholm '88 is a great show. Born in the USA part II. I haven't heard the complete LA because I'm not that into ToL and the mix isn't great either. For the '84 show, go with 8/20. Better show and much better mix. And you get a little bit of Steve too!
I don't know. I have been very critical of some of the mixing and mastering choices. But I feel that London '81 is mostly good. The missing guitar on Born To Run is annoying for sure. I'm listening to Tempe '80 now and it's not a guitar lovers paradise either.
The lack of guitars in the archive series (and the 2014-16 instant live series) is weird. Reunion era is 3 guitars (not counting acoustic by Patti/Soozie), and yet they are very modest in the mix.
Valid point about the drums. They stood out to me on first listen, same with NYC 2000 actually, but I think my ears have adjusted over time.
I'll need to give Tempe another listen. It's not that I specifically love guitars, but when the riff is an integral part of the song like it is on Born to Run, and a few songs later Darkness on The Edge of Town, then not having it there is really off putting. The question is, as these are multitracks, why are the guitars missing? Is it the source tape, or the ears of the mixer? I mean, later on the piano is mixed louder than the acoustic on The River! The guitars only really resolve themselves around about Two Hearts.
Definitely the mixers choice. I have no idea why. Probably because someone told him!? "Focus on Springsteen's voice, Bittan's piano and Weinberg's drums. Oh, and keep Clemons solos up there too." That's what many mixes sounds like to me
Of the 2 84 shows the second one has a cleaner mix but the first one has more atmosphere.Choice depends on which of those 2 factors is more important to you. Of the 2 TOL shows LA is the only one that truly represents the theme of the tour.By the time he got to Europe and was back in stadiums it had gone a fair way back to BITUSA lite.That being said the sound on Stockholm is a bit better although LA is good by Toby Scott standards.I prefer both of these shows to either of the BITUSA shows.As someone posted above time has not been kind to the 84/5 tours compared to what came before and afterwards.
I don’t think it’s weird considering guitars are usually buried on a lot of his studio songs and concerts. It’s nearly impossible to clearly distinguish all three guitars during an E street show. Drums and keys play a huge driving roll in their overall sound. It’s not your typical guitar riffing “Classic Rock” band.
That's true. And that's why it's so weird to have three electric guitars and one acoustic. Just for show
I don't know if there are any 84/85 shows that comes close to Stockholm ''88? I think the Born in the USA tour is extremly cheesy and very out dated. And not very Rock n Roll due to the lack of guitars in favor of drums and synths. I only listen to a few of the summer '84 shows. When he played indoors and Max hadn't got that ridiculous drum trigger. I really like the first night of '84 for example. When the band opens with a great Thunder Road! Jungleland and Backstreets and Born to Run was also really good in '84. And the Nebraska songs and a few other acoustic ones... That's pretty much it for me. And Steve was a major loss