68 of 71 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The only Springsteen Album you'll ever need, July 16, 2000
By A Customer
Yes, it is the only album you'll ever need, but than again, with over 200 minutes of music, its nearly 5 times longer than the average Springsteen album!
The Live Box Set is an extremely impressive collection of Springsteen, arranged chronologically (with exception of the last track)
The First Track, Thunder Road, is the only one taken from the '75 tour (Born To Run). Its missing its Rock and Roll feel, but stripped to the piano and no guitars or drums, it has a much more intimate feel to it that you can really appreciate.
The Next 8 Tracks are taken from the '78 Tour (Darkness On The Edge Of Town) and interestling enough, only 1 from the album released during that time. Here you'll find many early classics, from Its Hard To Be A Saint In The City, Rosalita and Growin' Up to an previously unreleased "Paradise By The 'C.'" Its also important to note that Bruce covers the song "Fire," a song he wrote, but was never released before, which had become a #1 hit for another group. These are all immaculately recorded, and sound better than their original albums, they are taken from the Roxy, which holds only a few thousand, if even that (some say closer to 1000) so you get that small, intimate feeling
The next several tracks are from the "River Tour" in '80 and '81 and are mostly tracks from his '78 album (Darkness On the Edge Of Town) Including blistering versions of Badlands, Darkness On The Edge Of Town and Candy's Room. Also included here is an electrifying previously unreleased version of "Because The Night" the song Springsteen co-wrote with Patti Smith. Also included is a cover of Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land" and a very good cover at that. 3 of his songs from his recent album are also included in Cadillac Ranch, You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch) and Independence Day. These tracks are nearly all taken from Arenas.
The rest of this collection (final 5 Tracks of Disc 2 and All of Disc 3) are taken from Bruce's most recent tour (when this came out) and his record-breaking one, the Born In The USA tour. First, we have 3 songs from his Album "Nebraska," which, while they don't have the feel they have on his album, sound much better because of first rate recording equipment. Than, there is a thunderous organ version of Born In The USA, which, upon first listen, doesn't measure up to the Album's version, but the more you listen to it, the better it sounds to you.
The highlights of this tour are a version of Born To Run that blows away the album's version, and it is the definitive version of the song. Great recordings of "The River" and "The Promised Land", along with a great cover of the song "War" which makes the original look poor in comparison. An acoustic version of "No Surrender" and a fanstastic horn version of "Tenth Avenue Freezeout."
Overall, the songs sound much better live than they do in the studio, particularly songs from Darkness On The Edge of Town and The River. Some of the songs from Born In The USA sound exactly the same (Bobby Jean, Working On The Highway, Darlington County) and some a little worse (Cover Me) Some great previously unreleased material (Fire, Because The Night, War, Raise Your Hand, Seeds) also helps. The first disc, as you can see by the picture, is supposed to be from small, intimate settings, holding not much more than 1000 people. The second disc, as seen by its picture, is mostly from Arena shows, and the third disc, is from giant, Stadium concerts.
In all cases, the recordings are immaculately done, and are as clear as possible. Springsteen's music sounds better here than on album, and considering the amount of stuff here, this is essential for anyone even remotely interested in Springsteen. There is a reason this is the highest selling box-set of all time! Even though its missing a few songs that should be on it (Blinded By The Light, Prove It All Night, Out In The Street, I'm Goin Down, Dancing In The Dark, Glory Days) it doesn't suffer much from not having them. Get this album today, you won't regret it, and will listen to it rather than to the studio albums.
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29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Gift for Bruce Fans, September 6, 2000
When Bruce released this live album back in '86, fans jammed record stores to wait in line to buy this much anticipated release. Bruce released it as a gift to his fans who had been with him since the beginning and were begging for a live release. Bruce made his name a live act and although no live album can ever replace being at a concert, this album comes the closest to actually achieving that feat. Most live albums are a double or maybe triple album affair, Live 1975-1985 was originally a five record set. From the opening track of a solo Bruce on the piano in "Thunder Road" to the closing "Jersey Girl", we are taken on a musical journey through Bruce's career. We are treated to unreleashed gems like "Seeds", "Because The Night" & "Fire" to covers like "Raise Your Hand", "War" & "This Land Is Your Land" to fiery versions of "Rosalita", "Born In The USA" & "Born To Run" to moving epics like "Independence Day", "The River" and "Racing in The Streets". There are too many great live versions of songs to list and there is no let up from beginning to end. Bruce was so popular at the time that altough this was a pricey five-record set, it was first album to debut at number one since 1976. It's common place nowadays, but a rare feat at the time. Bruce is the king of the stage and this album provides recorded proof of that fact.
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