This Bruce Springsteen documentary captures The Boss singing all 13 songs from his 19th album, Western Stars (my review of the CD can be found here). Springsteen filmed this astonishing performance in a 140-year old barn on his property in Colts Neck, New Jersey. Springsteen is backed by a 30-piece orchestra, his wife–vocalist/guitarist Patti Scialfa, four harmony singers, and a quintet featuring drums, bass, pedal steel, piano, and electric guitar. The sound is fabulous!
Springsteen introduces each song with some thoughts on how he wrote it and the circumstances that fueled the emotions the song evokes. As I pointed out when I reviewed the CD, the songs are more mellow than you’ll find on most Springsteen albums. Some reviewers claim Western Stars is a homage to classic California pop songs from the late 1960s and 1970s. Clearly, Springsteen was influenced by Jimmy Webb.
The beauty of Western Stars depends on Emmy Award winner Thom Zimny who captures the complexity of the film’s subject. If you’re a Bruce Springsteen fan, this is a must-see. If you like music documentaries, Western Stars is one of the best. GRADE: A
Great album. Haven’t gotten around to seeing the movie yet.
Springsteen has always been one of our Rock heroes – we also have several DVDs of his live performances.
The new record and the movie are all over the European media too – with critics raving.
We’ll wait for a DVD – if it doesn’t take too long.
PS:
I looked at the reviews on my favourite music site and besides really positive ones found one with only one star!
Of course I had to look this up – the reviewer was complaining about the quality of the vinyl discs … 🙂
PPS:
Didn’t “The Boss” get very angry because the Repubs used “Born in the USA” in a campaign?
No, thank you. Not a fan at all. I like a couple of his songs and that’s it.
Rick, WESTERN STARS is a first class music documentary.