Bruce Springsteen Songs

Rating:
Summary: Glaringly Incomplete Collection
Review: There's nothing wrong with having most of Bruce Springsteen's lyrics collected in one place. Add some brief comments about each of the albums from which these songs were taken, throw in a few good photos of Bruce throughout the years, and you have a decent book. But...as is so often the case with Springsteen's releases, you get the feeling that this could have been so much more. There's much wasted space- each song is printed in large type over a blank white page. Springsteen's comments are wonderful, but too general and brief. I would have loved to have read thoughts on each song, although I realize that this may have been a formidable task. Finally, there are so many songs missing. Nothing from "Tracks" or the bonus disc of "Essential", none of the various soundtrack or B-sides, and nothing on the many essential songs that appear only on Live 75-85 like "Because The Night". The updated paperback version contains lyrics from "The Rising" and the two new songs from "Live In NYC", but that's really not enough to justify rebuying this book if you own the original hardback. So for an attractive collection of lyrics from Springsteen's major albums (most of which already contain lyrics), I suppose this book does the job. But given that his work consists of so much more, this is disappointingly and unnecessarily incomplete.

Rating:
Summary: Glaringly Incomplete Collection
Review: There's nothing wrong with having most of Bruce Springsteen's lyrics collected in one place. Add some brief comments about each of the albums from which these songs were taken, throw in a few good photos of Bruce throughout the years, and you have a decent book. But...as is so often the case with Springsteen's releases, you get the feeling that this could have been so much more. There's much wasted space- each song is printed in large type over a blank white page. Springsteen's comments are wonderful, but too general and brief. I would have loved to have read thoughts on each song, although I realize that this may have been a formidable task. Finally, there are so many songs missing. Nothing from "Tracks" or the bonus disc of "Essential", none of the various soundtrack or B-sides, and nothing on the many essential songs that appear only on Live 75-85 like "Because The Night". The updated paperback version contains lyrics from "The Rising" and the two new songs from "Live In NYC", but that's really not enough to justify rebuying this book if you own the original hardback. So for an attractive collection of lyrics from Springsteen's major albums (most of which already contain lyrics), I suppose this book does the job. But given that his work consists of so much more, this is disappointingly and unnecessarily incomplete.