Bruce Springsteen: Under Review 1978-1982 - Tales of the Working Man

Bruce Springsteen: Under Review 1978-82 (2007)

*** (out of 4)

The "Under Review" series has featured such artist as Bob Dylan and Neil Young. This one here takes a look at Bruce Springsteen by quickly going over albums "Born to Run" and "Born in the U.S.A." but mainly focuses on the three that he made in between those two. Most people consider "Born to Run" his breakthrough while "Born on the U.S.A." is one of the biggest albums in history. Anthony DeCurtis, Chris Sandford, Timothy Bracey, Robert Christgau, June Skinner Sawyers, Jim Cullen and early E Street band member Vini Lopez discuss "Darkness on the Edge of Town," "The River," and "Nebraska." If you're not familiar with the series, basically what you get are some "experts" who talk about the albums, the songs and various other things that the artist might have had going on in their lives. If you're a Springsteen expert then there's nothing here that you're not going to already know but I personally always enjoy these "talking heads" videos because you can hear other people's thoughts on the albums and their meanings. The album that gets the most talk is without question "Darkness" as the men interviewed pretty much breakdown every single song and discuss their meanings as well as any possible connections to the previous album and even future albums. I think every die-hard fan can make their own connections or they like to talk about the "meaning" behind certain lyrics but what's discussed here is pretty entertaining. How authorized these "Under Review" documentaries are can be debated and while there's a little live footage and a brief archival interview with Springsteen, the majority of the running time is just these experts talking.