Customer Reviews

Hungry Heart : The Music of Bruce Springsteen

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book is a rare find; finally a book that focuses on the music of Bruce Springsteen and uses events in both Bruce's life and the world to explain the changes in his music. As a result, you get great coverage of the music, not a "tell-all" type book. Particularly rewarding is the coverage of so many bootlegs. Mr. Horn's writing style is easy and fun, with references to his own Bruce odessey over the years. If you are a serious Bruce fan, this book is a must.

The author uses 300 pages to review just about every released and many unreleased songs of Mr. Springsteen. Not only do you get the author's opinion, but with many of the songs and albums you get background on the making of them as well as some personal andecdotes (some very funny). The author also spends the last few pages ranking each album, song and which band he prefers. My only complaint would be that I wish the author instituted some type of rating system for each song. The narrative flow wouldn't be interrupted as he could have put the actual ratings in a separate section in the back of the book. Overall though, this is a must-buy for any Bruce fanatic!

An insightful and detailed review of the bulk of Springsteen's songs, delivered in an entertaining fashion. Great book to get you through the between-release doldrums!

Jeff Horn has not written another biography--there are certainly enough of them around. What the author has done is presented analysis of the songs and albums that make up the Springsteen cannon in a manner that no author author has done thus far, possibly because the task of analyzing such a vast catalog was too much for other authors. The prize of this book is Horn's writings on the unreleased songs of the Springsteen catalog, a subject, which most authors who have written about Springsteen, have ignored. A terrific addition to the Springsteen book catalog.

The major problem with this book seems to be the fact it was written circa 1995. Thus the first 266 pages discusses Springsteen's music without paying any reference to "Tracks" and the enormous light it has shed upon the music. There are numerous mistakes within the text, songs attributed to different recording sessions and band members etc. Perhaps more inexcusable are the typos (52 or 56 Channels anyone?). The analysis of the music itself remains at best simplistic, at worst trite, in fact this analysis can be found in more detail yet less space in past articles of Backstreets. Any book which skims over In Freehold, and fails to mention Long Time Comin', perhaps two of Springsteen's most autobiographical songs is criminal. Perhaps also is the author's inability to rent a copy of The Crossing Guard, which contains one of Spingsteens most interesting songs of the 90's. In all I would advise any Springsteen fan to avoid this book, there are others which do it better in half the time i.e. Patrick Humphries.