In 30 or 40 years, music critics are going to look back at the 80's and see the dire straits of rock 'n' roll. Pop music was huge, but rock and roll, aside from hair bands and aging 70's stars didn't see too much promise. I know that some new wave lovers are going to jump on my back for saying that, and I do believe that U2, the Police and the Clash were among the best bands of the 80's. However, when it comes to finding the one guy who never got suckered into the gimmicky 80's and stayed true to Rock 'n' Roll and continued to write powerful lyrics, you'd have to look no further than Bruce Springsteen. This anthology follows the Boss from his post-Born to Run hype to his peak in popularity in the mid to late 80's. This anthology is a testament to Springsteen's skill as a performer. The showstopping live performance of 'Rosalita', in which Bruce summons the spirit of Elvis by enticing 5 separate girls to run onstage and kiss him, is among the greatest live performances ever caught on film. It borrows 'Thunder Road' and 'The River' from the No-Nukes Film. It then moves into his teen idol years of 1984-1986. His explosion on the pop scene in 'Dancing in the Dark', directed by De Palma and featuring Courtney Cox. His holy trinity of videos directed by John Sayles, 'Born in the USA', 'Glory Days', and the best video of this entire collection, 'I'm on Fire'. It moves into live performances of 'My Hometown', 'War', a peculiar acoustic version of 'Fire', and a masterpiece summary of the Born in the USA tour in 'Born to Run'. The video for 'Brilliant Disguise' is one drawn out shot for 4 minutes of Bruce playing an acoustic guitar. 'Tunnel of Love' and 'One Step Up' are powerful videos as are the live performances of 'Tougher than the Rest' and 'Spare Parts'. That ties up all the loose ends. This is a good indication of just how huge an impact that Bruce had on Rock and Roll in the 80's. Overall, this anthology is a must own for die hard Bruce fans and pleasantly enjoyable for the fans passing by.
