Bruce Springsteen refers to his classic 1976 album Darkness on the Edge of Town as "my 'samurai' record...stripped to the frame and ready to rumble." Raw and bristling with anger and exhilaration, Darkness was culled from more than 70 songs written at the time -- a number of which now show up in a massive, six-disc (3-CD/3-DVD) box set arriving November 16 via Columbia. In addition to the remastered original ten-song album, the box includes The Promise, a full 21-track album of rarities and outtakes mixed by Springsteen's long-time collaborator Bob Clearmountain. These tracks "perhaps could have/should have been released after Born To Run and before the collection of songs that Darkness on the Edge of Town became," reflects Springsteen. "There isn't a weak card in this deck,"adds long-time manager/producer Jon Landau. "The Promise is simply a great listening experience."
On the DVD front, there's the 90-minute documentary The Promise: The Making of Darkness... from award-winning filmmaker Thom Zimny (and debuting on HBO October 7). A second DVD includes a 2009 live rehearsal video where Springsteen and band performed Darkness in it's entirety AND twelve more songs taped live in NY, New Jersey and Phoenix 1976-78. A third DVD is a full 26-song live performance "House Cut" recorded in Houston in 1978 for in-concert jumbo-screen telecast during the show. And did we mention the 80-page book of Springsteen's notes, rare pics and recording info? Without a doubt this collection -- six hours of video and two hours of audio -- is one of the finest catalog reissues ever assembled. See the full track listing and watch a preview of The Promise DVD documentary after the jump.
0 comments:
Post a Comment