Bruce Springsteen: Video Anthology 1978-1988

Bruce Springsteen: Video Anthology 1978-1988 (1989)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Any fan of Bruce Springsteen will certainly love watching this program, which collects his music videos up to this point in his career. The majority of the videos come from the Born in the U.S.A. and Tunnel of Love albums but that's not really a bad thing when both albums were so great.

To me the greatest video here is still the Brian DePalma directed Dancing in the Dark, which is still quite powerful even today. This has to be one of the greatest written pop songs in the history of music and the video perfectly captures the mood and spirit of a Springsteen show with a young Courteney Cox getting up on stage for a dance. I love the song I'm on Fire but I must admit that I've always found the music video to be a bit cheesy but hey, at least the song is great! I really liked the Tunnel of Love videos and especially how laid back and much more personal they were with Tougher Than the Rest really standing out.

There are also the greatest hits video of Born to Run that still manages to get me pumped up no matter how many times I watch it. Both War and Fire are still catchy songs and are given nice videos. Obviously fans have probably watched this countless times over the decade but this package (later redone with more songs) is certainly a must.

Although not so much a 'live' release (it features different venues for different song performances) and straight ahead music videos. I actually think this is better because we're seeing Bruce live with the band and we see his music videos that feature our favourite songs of his also. Think of this video as a sort of 'bumper' video release with plenty of Bruce's brilliant material throughout. The video kicks off from a 1978 performance of 'Rosalita' with a 29 year old Bruce wailing away with chicks jumpin' on the stage grabbing him! Lucky guy! The other songs featured include all the popular tunes like 'Born To Run', 'Born In The USA', 'I'm On Fire' and 'Glory Days'. Even some lesser known songs such as 'Spare Parts' (from 'Tunnel Of Love' album) and 'Tougher than the rest' from 'Tunnel Of Love' also which are both live. I like Bruce Springsteen a lot. He has the edge as a showman and musical innovator without losing the plot onstage. Fans will love this video for it's authentic live performances, music videos and classic Springsteen songs. Great! 9/10

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.