The Boss is back with his latest product, following his cleverly marketed Tracks box set and subsequent tour. The result is a nostalgia package, with the inclusion of a few new songs that have already been featured on an HBO special. Gone are the days when the Boss made full length albums of original music and in are the days of Springsteen and the E Street Band joining the ranks of others tripping down memory lane to cash in on the novelty.
That's not to say that the boys can't still play. In fact, they sound better than they did on the epic live 85 box set. However, this disc seems nothing but a regurgitation of that magic, ("Prove it All Night," "Badlands," "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out") mixed in with the more recent "Murder Incorporated." Die-hard fans will enjoy the stripped down version of "Born in the USA" while casual listeners will miss its anthemic rock beat. For the longtime listeners hoping to get a glimpse of what Springsteen could offer on an upcoming studio album, they have "Land of Hope and Dreams" and the triumphant, yet controversial, show closer "American Skin (41 Shots)." Those two tracks foreshadow the lingering hope that this reunion will be a continuing trend, rather than a passing fad to rake in the dough on the tour, TV special, and this CD.
2.5 tocks
Other coverage for this album
The Phantom Tollbooth 2001Reviewed by Steve StockmanIn some ways I have been waiting for this album for some time and in other ways I knew how much of an anticlimax it would be. I've been scouring bootleg bins (shame on me) in the hope of a good quality record of the last tour that I thoroughly enjoyed when I saw it in Dublin. So that Columbia decided to release an official album of the first E Street Band tour in over a decade pleases me, as it…Similar sounding releases
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