Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Bruce Springsteen seven first albums are without a doubt the canon of Bruce's music career. All music fans, not only Bruce's fanatics, will probably have at least 3 or 4 of his first albums. Bruce's hard core fans (me included) have already all of his albums in cassette, vinyl, CD, Box sets, and many bootlegs of his live shows and outtake sessions. The question that needs to be answered here, then, is whether it is worth buying these CDs one more (last?) time or not. And the answer, to save you the time of reading mine or any other reviews, is a bold YES. First Listen: I have purchased the CD box set, not the vinyl, so this is the one I will be commenting on. Because Amazon is so gracious to give away the mp3 version of every album you buy, I had the opportunity to listen to all of the MP3s before I got my hands down to the actual CDs. I first listened to all of the 76 tracks from my computer, which has some very decent M-Audio Studiophile AV 40 Active Studio Monitor Speakers. But still, these are compressed tracks (MP3s) sounding via computer speakers. The difference was already notable, especially with Greetings..., The Wild..., and The River. Second Listen: Then, I listened to the whole thing again but this time using my PSB M4U 1 Over-Ear Audiophile Headphones with Remote & Mic (Black). I cranked up the volume to a 75-80%, and then I started to notice the real difference between the old CDs and the new 2014 remastered versions. A couple of examples to be very specific. Ex. 1: "Spirit in the Night" from Greetings. Around minute 2:12 (this is the chorus). I can clearly hear the hand clapping AND congas! I never realized there were congas recorded in this song. Ex. 2: "Independence Day" from The River. Around minute 2:21 (this is Clemons' sax solo). it starts with a clear brief drumming intro, then the solo, and you can hear the separation between the piano and the bass, and the imaging of the sound is done so well that the drums are clearly placed right behind, but you can tell the separation between all the ppieces of the drum set. This one song, for example (and Point Blank as well!), is one of the best examples of what exactly you are getting here. The River is one of the albums that benefits the most from this remastering. I had become so tired of the dull sound of the old The River CD transferring than The River became one of the least listened CDs among Bruce's discography. Now I can listen to this whole Rock N Roll stravaganza in all his glory! Third Listen: This time I created a Play List on my iTunes where I included the 76 newly remastered 2014 versions with all previous MP3s from the old CD transfers. Then I carefully placed every new track next to the old one, and listened to the whole thing with my headphones. Holy Cow! Did I still need another reason to be convinced these remastered are worth every penny? This was it! You can tell the difference crystal clear here. This is the point where I will discuss one of the most delicate aspects of this box: Nebraska. It is vox populi Bruce poorly recorded this album at home, and that is how it was basically released because there was really nothing sound engineers could do at the time. Thanks to the Plangent Remastering Processes used here, tape hiss is gone now, and both guitar and voice is fully enhanced with greater clarity and fullness. This is way more noticeable than the actual hiss. An analogy that may explain this very well is that the music has been "dusted off." All over the 7 albums, output volumes have been adjusted and balanced, so they are louder throughout, but in balance with the imaging of all of the other recorded instruments. Bruce's voice is up front where it is supposed to be, but all instruments and voices can also be heard and differentiated throughout. This is what in my opinion creates the idea of 'clarity', which for the human ear means you can 'kind of see' where the instruments are placed (left, right, in front, or behind) the same way it would feel if you were actually attending a live performance. Fourth Listen: The last listen before writing this review had to be, of course, once I got my hands down to the real CDs. No more compressed audio files here (MP3s). I have two high end stereo systems at my place, so I am really getting a state of the art audio experience. One is system is run by a Pioneer A/V receiver, the other one is a DENON. One has Harman Kardon speakers, the other one PSB. The first one CD I played was Nebraska, and a miracle fills out the room! Then Born in the USA, and happiness and joy fill me in. Then The River, and I am totally convinced that these remasters are absolutely a must have, that this is not a rip-off (as some have suggested), and that they just got it totally right! Last thoughts: I of course own the Born to Run and Darkness DeLuxe Boxes. These remasters ARE newly done for this Album Collection, not the same that were previously done for the DeLuxe boxes. The technology used is different. As I indicated above, this time they used the Plangent Process (this is noted in the credits that accompany the box), which in my humble opinion yielded slightly better results. It is hard to make a list ranking these albums in comparison to their old CD counterparts, but if I had to, this would be it: 1. Greetings ... 2. The Wild ... (adequate credit should be given to Mike Appel, who produced these two first records)3. The River 4. Nebraska 5. BITUSA 6. Born to Run 7. Darkness. For the casual listener (non hard-core Bruce fan), this is an excellent opportunity to get Springsteen's canon at a very affordable price. By the way, Amazon price went down twenty bucks in a week. I paid $74.99 and the price is $60.99 as I am writing this. Considering you get the MP3s as a courtesy, purchasing this box on Amazon is absolutely a no brainer. I have uploaded a video on youtube where you can watch me unboxing this beauty. Unfortunately it is too large to be uploaded directly here on Amazon. Here is the link (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5vLZBQOEQY&feature=em-upload_owner#action=share). Next week is Thanksgiving (and Black Friday sale), and Christmas is around the corner, so I'd say this box is destined to be a hot cookie that will most likely sell by the thousands. This music defined my growing up as a teenager, and made me the man I am today. This music means the world to me, and I owe it a whole lot. Being able to listen to it under these circumstances is a just a blessing. It keeps me singing, dancing, playing, hoping, thinking, and believing again. And they give me a slightly hint of sadness when I realize that music this good, life-changing albums as these seven are, hasn't been produced for a long time. Enjoy the music, click YES if you found this review helpful, and HAPPY LISTENING! Peace out! P.S. Did I mention that Born in the U.S.A. is just an ecstasy? Totally mind blowing this time around! P.S.(2) Did I say I love Bruce Springsteen? Thank you BOSS for this gift!