mariakm's review against another edition
3.0
surprisingly hard to get through considering Im such a fan
satyridae's review
3.0
The very first concert I ever saw was Bruce Springsteen. It was his first big tour, and it pretty much ruined me for all the lukewarm performances of the rest of the 70s. Hell, it pretty much ruined me for everybody except Iggy Pop and Leonard Cohen and Loudon Wainwright III. Nobody ever cared as much as Bruce, and we responded so fiercely to him in the Rust Belt where I first heard him. I've seen him several times and his shows are always balls-to-the-wall flat out intense and wondrous but the magic of that very first show remains shiny in my memory all these decades later. I've married and fallen in love and divorced and worked and played to his music. I've bought (bought!) all of his albums.
I am not an unbiased reader, in other words. I'm not coming to this book a virgin. I don't need to be converted. I already know he's a genius.
Marsh is a bigger fan than anyone, and he makes no secret of it. He knows and loves Springsteen in real life, and his admiration colors the book. His deep musical knowledge brings a lot to the table. The book is very, very analytical as far as the music goes, and less analytical about the life of Bruce. I don't have a sense of Bruce in situ, living his actual life, the way I do of Keith after reading Keith Richards' autobiography- but it's okay. The sense of Springsteen as a private, maybe even shy person is enough. The music is what matters in the end.
As a consequence of reading this book, I've listened to literally nothing but Springsteen songs for a week. I've marinated in Rosalita, wept every single time The Rising played, and still get goosebumps from the title track from Nebraska. It's been fascinating listening and reading at the same time. I feel like I know the songs a little better now.
The book is recommended only for fans, I think. It's repetitive and goes into more detail regarding concert set lists than even I wanted to read. And Marsh says "star-maker machinery" at least once in every single chapter. I wanted to hit him over the head with a Joni Mitchell album after about the hundredth repetition.
I am not an unbiased reader, in other words. I'm not coming to this book a virgin. I don't need to be converted. I already know he's a genius.
Marsh is a bigger fan than anyone, and he makes no secret of it. He knows and loves Springsteen in real life, and his admiration colors the book. His deep musical knowledge brings a lot to the table. The book is very, very analytical as far as the music goes, and less analytical about the life of Bruce. I don't have a sense of Bruce in situ, living his actual life, the way I do of Keith after reading Keith Richards' autobiography- but it's okay. The sense of Springsteen as a private, maybe even shy person is enough. The music is what matters in the end.
As a consequence of reading this book, I've listened to literally nothing but Springsteen songs for a week. I've marinated in Rosalita, wept every single time The Rising played, and still get goosebumps from the title track from Nebraska. It's been fascinating listening and reading at the same time. I feel like I know the songs a little better now.
The book is recommended only for fans, I think. It's repetitive and goes into more detail regarding concert set lists than even I wanted to read. And Marsh says "star-maker machinery" at least once in every single chapter. I wanted to hit him over the head with a Joni Mitchell album after about the hundredth repetition.
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