London Calling

It’s been a fruitful decade for Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band. Beginning with The Rising in 2002, the reconstituted band have recorded two more studio albums Magic and Working On A Dream and re-released the magnificent Born To Run from 1975. Along the way there have been live albums and live DVDs. Filling in the gaps Springsteen found time for the solo album Devils & Dust, the revivalist Seeger Sessions and the widely acclaimed title track featured in the Mickey Rourke film The Wrestler.

The latest offerings include a DVD set London Calling: Live From Hyde Park and a new compilation CD. The DVD runs at three hours and opens with the title track, a Clash cover performed as a celebration of the venue and a tribute to the late Joe Strummer. The Greatest Hits CD brings together highlights from Bruce’s time with The E Street Band and, on the Australian edition, features bonus live versions of ‘Because The Night’ and ‘Fire’: both of which were previously available on Live 75  -  85. For new comers, the collection is a great place to start.

Having the band reconvene in the wake of 9/11 to record The Rising seems to have inspired the great man both on stage and off. It seems the dawn of 2000 allowed Bruce to figure out what he’d largely been missing in the preceding decade.

"Through the ‘90s I struggled trying to find a sound and a purpose for the E Street Band," he explained last year, "which is why we had that long, long break." "So, during the [reunion] tour, I wrote ‘Land of Hope and Dreams’ and ‘American Skin’. I said ‘Well, these are two songs that are as good as any ones I’ve written for the band in the past, [they] could’ve been on Darkness On The Edge Of Town, could’ve been on The River, these songs could’ve been on any of, what fans think [are] our classic records at that time."

"After the tour we went into the studio. And we cut those things. We didn’t sound quite right. Our production team at that point had simply run outta gas, and run out of options and run out of new ideas. And we just hit the wall."

Then Brendan O’Brien entered the picture and Bruce hasn’t looked back. O’Brien is best known for producing Pearl Jam and has worked on The Rising, Magic, Devils & Dust and Working On A Dream.

"If you don’t have any more ideas, go find somebody that has some. [laughs]. "You incorporate them into your creative life. [Brendan] had a real idea simply about how to record the band powerfully, currently, and true to the band’s identity. So there was enormous excitement. That was a tremendous stimulation for me. And the writing through my fifties has come very, I don’t like to say easily but it’s been fruitful. I’ve had a real prolific time. And, part of it has to do with I think...knowing that, if I’m gonna write something, I’ve got a guy that’s gonna make it sound great."

It seems now, even though he ‘s turned ‘f******* 60’, as he so eloquently reminds us as he climbs a flight of stairs in the Hyde Park DVD, The Boss has no desire to slow down. Inherent is the man’s commitment to creating new music.

"With every record you’re looking to broaden your vision and broaden what you’ve done musically and extend your vision in some way," he explained. "All I’m trying to do is make really well thought out, really well-crafted, inspiring records, and get music to my audience that is relevant to the times we’re living in and the times in their lives."

Seeing the Hyde Park DVD is something of a revelation. The set begins in daylight and the camera work brings you on stage. You see not only Springsteen working up a sweat but interacting with the band, changing the set list and delivering a powerhouse performance.

"Rock music is set in the eternal present," Springsteen said not so long ago. "For me when I was young that was its’ primary message, [it] was now, now, now, now. Live now. And I think, that’s what the band wants when we come out onstage. We are desperate for ‘now’...laughs...very desperate for now. That immediacy and that urgency is what you’re trying to communicate, so people will seize their own day. And, that to me was an essential part of what music communicated to me, it was [inhales] it was a deep breath of ‘now’, a deep breath of the present, a deep breath of life, at the moment that it’s being lived. All the great records fill me with that breath. From any kind of records, punk records, romantic records, pop records. All I know is the records I really love fill me with that breath. It fuels you and keeps you going. That’s the essential purpose I think of  ‘Louie Louie’ or a great Beach Boys’ song or the best punk music they all fill that same function".

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band’s London Calling: Live In Hyde Park DVD and the Greatest Hits CD are out now through Sony.

By Anna Holmes

ENDS