Customer Reviews

Glory Days: Bruce Springsteen

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4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Although I've valued Dave Marsh's musical taste and criticism over the years, this book is an embarrassing suckup to Bruce. Marsh criticizes Springsteen's fans for resisting elements of Born in the USA and its accompanying hoopla, but never fairly addresses the possibility that they may be correct in assessing the album's failures. Other reviewers are right that in Marsh's mind, Springsteen can do no wrong, both musically and personally. The low point of this book for me was his fawning over not only Dancing in the Dark (one of my most depressing moments as a Springsteen fan was the disappointment I felt when the long awaited new single turned out to be this synth-driven throwaway), but the dance remixes of the Born in the USA singles. Yuck! Even more frustrating is the fact that Marsh never questions the judgment of Jon Landau as he pushes the reluctant Springsteen towards superstardom. It was clear to me the compromises Bruce made to gain such popularity.

This is one of the worst books written on a rock subject because Marsh completely fawns over this guy. Springsteen, in Marsh's eyes, can do no wrong. To Marsh, every record he put out is brilliant, every quote Springsteen says should be taken as gospel. You get some insight into his recording process, but the way Marsh absolutley loves this guy makes reading this book very difficult. I can understand liking a persons' music and who he is but as a professional journalist Marsh takes it WAY overboard. Marsh should have shown at least some ojective restraint, but he doesn't....

First off, let me say that I really liked "Born To Run", the first part of this story, when it came out. I bought "Glory Days" hoping for more of the same, only to find that Dave Marsh had apparently gone from being a fan of Bruce Springsteen to being something of an apostle of the man. I guess that's fine for some, but although I'm a fan of some of his music, I can't see anything about Bruce that would lead me to think he walks on water. A little bit of objectivity could have gone a long way in this book.

The first review of this book that appears here is way too harsh. It's true, The author is MARRIED to Bruce Springsteen's manager, but still, the attitudes and opinions presented here are for the most part, very reflective of what people attracted to Bruce because of the BORN IN THE USA album have felt about his music. This book does not deal with the earlier, grittier Springsteen of the 70's and 90's, but with the larger than life Pop Icon he became in the '80s. For cryin' out loud, Ronald Reagan was trying to co-opt Bruce's lyrics. So, in my opinion, Marsh's worshipful prose is easily understood once put into context. This book is not a bad edition to any serious Bruce fan's Library. Just consider the source.

This book is a collection of material documenting Springsteen's activities throughout the 1980s. In writing this book, Marsh, a music writer and long-standing fan of Springsteen's, collected interviews from Springsteen himself and many of Springsteen's friends and colleagues in the 1980s. The book covers roughly the period between the tour after "The River" and the release of the 75-85 Live album. Marsh includes discussions of the makeup of the E Street Band, Springsteen's songwriting and recording processes, critical interpretations of Nebraska and Born in the USA, and blow-by-blow descriptions of tours and some of their individual concerts. The book is illustrated with 3 sections of black and white photographs, mostly tour footage.

Since Marsh is such a good friend of Springsteen's, the book presents a very sympathetic biography; in this book, Springsteen can do no wrong or even make any bad decisions. Marsh's accounts of Springsteen's writing processes are quite illuminating. It is fascinating to read how albums such as Nebraska and Born in the USA were written and recorded. On the other hand, Marsh includes voluminous amounts of material that are of lesser interest, such as his critical interpretations of album tracks, or details of events at individual concerts. Marsh also manages to insert some of his personal opinions that are hardly relevant for the topic, such as "most leftists are uncomfortable around rock and roll; they prefer folk music--in particular the pseudofolk produced by white, acoustic urban writer-performers of topical songs". Hmmm...how very interesting....On the whole, if the material in the book had been cut by about half, the remainder would have made a remarkable, readable account of this period in Springsteen's career. As it is, the book is a bit too thick with unnecessary details and opinions, but within all the fluff are some great stories documenting Springsteen's life in music.

Granted, Marsh is a big fan and friend of Springsteen, but this book is incredibly well-researched and gives you a lot of insight into the music and performances of Springsteen leading up to the Born in the USA phenomenon. A quality read if you're interested in Bruce and I highly recommend it.

This is not an awful book, as other reviews have suggested. Dave Marsh's unabashed enthusiasm for Bruce's music should not be taken as gospel. Do you believe everything you read? Heck no! As with any rabid fan's writing, "Glory Days" contains its share of deification, but a closer look might reveal things of which you were not previously aware. "Dancing in the Dark" does indeed possess a rather dark set of lyrics, but I, like many other Springsteen fans, had dismissed it as synthetic fluff. What a mistake! What insight on the part of the writer, in this and many other instances! What a great book!

In David Marsh's biography of one of the best rockers; of his era; he portrays the life story of Bruce Springsteen in his book, Glory Day's. The book starts off with the telling of Springsteen's emense popularity throughout almost all the nations in the world. Springsteen scheduled more concerts in different countries than could be imagined by any fan. He was a man who tried to play as many concerts as he could, to try to give the much desired music to his awaiting fans. Bruce's music was extremely popular in the 1980's as he toured throughout the world.
In the beginning of this book, Marsh states that Springsteen's career started up with the release of the album "Born in the U.S.A." on June 4, 1984. People referred to the album as the base for the start of his career. Marsh dictates all the little details of Bruce Springsteen's career starting with release of "Born in the U.S.A." all the way through the individual concerts on each individual tour. He wrote about them to magnify the talents and achievements of Springsteen's life and career. Marsh depicted the unappreciated things that Springsteen did for his fans and that were not taken note of or recognized by some of his fans.
Dave Marsh writes in a couple different types of styles about his opinions and views on Springsteen and his music. Marsh first writes about him in a type of constructive criticism. This up to the reader mainly to decide whether he is actually going after Bruce or is maybe implying something that Bruce could have done differently. The other way Marsh writes about Springsteen is in a larger than life overwhelming presence figure in the music world at that time. He writes about Bruce as if he were a god like figure. He also writes it to say that he was grossly underestimated for being a part of some of the most new music at that time. Marsh tried to make it clear that Bruce did more for his fans than ever could be expressed like the way he did. "After Leeds, the Born in the U.S.A. tour, about a year on the road, had played 128 shows with a total attendance of 2.9 million." (p. 321) Bruce played each concert with the same excitement he did as when he played his first show.
I thought that Dave Marsh was a bit to critical at times, however fair in others. He tried to show the general public that Springsteen was an amazing musician that played with the same vigor even if he played 128 shows in a year he loved playing each and every one of them. It was a quick read at times and at others I thought the details were overwhelming and not needed. Marsh did a nice job at complimenting Springsteen at his accomplishments and his superb playing contributions to the music world.