I was with Steven Hyden on the rating of Bruce Springsteen's studio albums. I think he nails each and every one of them. Nebraska? A little overrated. Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.? Entirely underrated.* But then we get to the live albums and this little aside about Live/1975-85: "The most well-known is Live/1975-85, a three-disc, 216-minute box set that manages to feel both way too long and not sufficiently meaty enough to convey the excitement of the live Springsteen experience."
I must strenuously object. While it's true that I'd probably rather listen to a bootleg (just about anything from 1978 with a special preference for the Winterland Ballroom set), 1975-85 is a solid collection of hits, deep cuts, and covers, one that excellently conveys the breadth of Springsteen's career to the casual fan. Indeed, I would say Live 1975-85 was the most important album in my evolution from casual fan to, um, non-casual fan.
The second disc in particular stands out. From the epic performance of "Because the Night"** to the slightly rockier-than-the-studio version of "Johnny 99," one gets the sense for how these songs play differently live than on the disc. Tell me this isn't great:
I also have to object to Hyden saying that one doesn't get a sense of the live experience from this set. "Rosalita," the quintessential live Springsteen song, during which the band is introduced, pulses with life.
So good. So good.
Again, I may prefer listening to a full-on bootleg sometimes. In part that's because, like any obsessive, Live 1975-85 simply doesn't have have many of my favorite songs. I'll occasionally throw on a bootleg almost solely to hear the amazing extended version of "Prove It All Night" with the piano/guitar intro.***
But that desire doesn't detract from Live 1975-85's generally high level of excellence.
*His description of life as a young nerd listening to "Jungleland" also hit uncomfortably close to home. Remind me to tell you my theory about that song and "Meeting Across the River" sometime.
**I also enjoy this version of "Because the Night" because it allows me to show off a bit and inform neophytes that Springsteen wrote this song.
***Incidentally, Bruce is frequently underrated as a guitarist.