Born to Run [30th Anniversary Edition]

What's the best way to celebrate a landmark birthday of a musical touchstone? For a blueprint, look no further than the 30th anniversary edition of Born to Run. No new material has been tagged onto the album itself, a decision that makes perfect sense when you consider how iconic the original is. Like Sgt. Pepper or the fourth Led Zeppelin album, Born to Run is a world unto itself, a realm with a beginning and end so defined, and a character-driven story so precise, that it would be almost impossible to tinker with it. The anniversary edition does, however, offer a huge amount of bonus material in the form of two DVDs that tell the story of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band circa 1975 in incredible detail. The first, a concert recorded at London's Hammersmith Odeon, highlights both the power and the often overlooked subtlety that made the Boss stand out from the pack starkly enough to merit those simultaneous Time and Newsweek covers. The choice of a British venue is intriguing, given the degree to which Springsteen was -- and, arguably, still is -- considered to be an avatar of American music. Cultural barriers, however, are all but absent here, as evidenced by the rabid response to the music -- fiery versions of "Spirit in the Night" and the galvanizing "Detroit Medley," as well as more nuanced takes on "For You" and "4th of July Asbury Park" -- and to Springsteen himself, in this instance a looser (goofier, even) performer than he would become in later years. The second DVD, more or less a "making of" documentary, is even more illuminating, as it delves into the mind-set of an artist who had yet to experience real success, and who clearly felt any chance at doing so slipping from his reach. Footage from the era finds Springsteen and his band (some of whom were kicked to the curb in the process) fretting over just about every note on Born to Run, building the songs from spare rock beginnings to the wall-of-sound grandeur that would eventually win over arenas full of fans. That footage, captured over the course of two years, appears alongside more contemporary interviews with the principals, telling the whole story with a minimum of revisionism and self-satisfaction. It's the sort of thing that could even win over Springsteen doubters -- and will offer plenty of food for thought for his legion of admirers. David Sprague, Barnes & Noble