By the late 1990s, fans of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band had to be wondering if they'd ever get to see their heroes perform live together again.

In the '70s and '80s Springsteen had taken his legendary backing unit from the bars of the Jersey shore to the stadiums of Manila and Dublin, only to decide in 1989 that it was time to make some changes. He parted ways with his longtime partners in crime and recorded a pair of new electric albums with session musicians, then toured with an almost entirely new band behind him. A tantalizingly brief reunion to record new material for 1995's Greatest Hits didn't develop into anything more, as Springsteen immediately reversed course to release the solo disc The Ghost Of Tom Joad and embark on his first-ever solo acoustic tour.

The trigger for the band's true reformation turned out to be Springsteen's 1999 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. A month after reuniting for the induction ceremony, Springsteen and the E Street Band -- including both original guitarist Steve Van Zandt and replacement Nils Lofgren -- launched a massive two-year reunion tour, hitting arenas and stadiums across the globe as they had done in their 1978-1988 heyday.

There was always the chance that a live album chronicling this particular tour could have been a disastrous idea. The band was ten years older, didn't have a new album to tour on, and had already been captured live as well as anyone could ever hope on 1986's exhaustive five-LP, three-CD box set Live 1975-85. What was left to say or hear or get excited about?

A lot, judging by the contents of Live In New York City.

Springsteen has never been one to rest on his laurels -- why else would he ever have parted ways with the E Streeters in the first place? -- and his drive to keep it fresh shows up all over these two discs. There are a whole host of songs here never before captured live on an official release. "Lost In The Flood" (from Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ) goes from footnote to highlight here, its hammering choruses igniting; "Mansion on A Hill" (from Nebraska) turns into a very pretty country-gospel duet with harmony vocalist/spouse Patti Scialfa; "Atlantic City" (also from Nebraska) becomes a ringing, thundering full-band anthem; "Youngstown" (from Tom Joad) is made over into a harrowing electric nightmare; and "Murder Incorporated" (from Greatest Hits) and "My Love Will Not Let You Down" and "Don't Look Back" (from Tracks) make their live debuts with powerhouse performances.

There are also two entirely new songs, the somber, powerful "American Skin (41 Shots)" and the soaring, fervent "Land Of Hope And Dreams." I wouldn't rank either with his best work, but they're both solidly-crafted tunes that show Springsteen still has plenty left to say. "Land" especially captures the sense of redemption that the shows on this tour were all about -- the renewal of an old idea that listeners can achieve both hope and salvation through rock and roll.

Several songs previously captured live receive new interpretations here. "The River" is transformed by Clarence Clemons' long, jazzy sax intro and a new arrangement focused on Roy Bittan's electric piano and Danny Federici's accordion. "If I Should Fall Behind" -- a love song off of 1992's neglected gem Lucky Town -- morphs into a touching friendship anthem featuring Lofgren, Clemons, Scialfa, Van Zandt and Springsteen all taking turns on vocals. And old standard "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" is made over as a vamping r&b revue, providing Springsteen with the musical backdrop for both band intros and a long, funny, rousing sermon on the power and the glory of rock and roll.

Some things never, change, though -- and you don't want them too. "Badlands" is still one of the most potent songs any band has ever played live anywhere, anytime. The wordless sing-along near the close soars with the power of a gospel chorus 20,000 strong, personifying in pure sound the sense of community and union achieved at Springsteen shows. "Jungleland" is still a thrilling, dynamic mini-rock opera, my personal highlight from this tour. And "Born To Run" -- which was snuck on here at the last minute and doesn't even show up on the track listing -- is simply a three-guitar blowout, played with all the passion and fervor it demands.

My vote for best individual performance on this album, though, has to go to the man behind the drum kit, mighty Max Weinberg. Listening to his early 1975-78 studio work, you hear a talented kid still finding his way. Listening to him on this album, he sounds like what he has become -- one of the great drummers in rock and roll. The precision thunder of the backbeat he pounds into tracks like "My Love Will Not Let You Down," "Ramrod" and "Born To Run" is a thing of joy to behold, and his rhythm-section partnership with bassist Garry W. Tallent has never found a deeper pocket.

If there's a flaw to this album, it's in the sequencing and packaging. The track listing is meant to track the shorter DVD of the same name that was released at the same time. Thus you get the edited 13-song concert presented on the DVD sequenced first, followed by "six additional performances" plucked from different parts of the original set. This is a disappointing cut-and-paste job for those of us who caught several shows on this tour and appreciated the thought Springsteen puts into pacing and sequencing his live shows. Of course, in the age of CD burners and online set lists, it isn't a hard problem to fix…

Minor quibbles aside, Live In New York City effectively captures the second coming of one of the great musical units in rock and roll history, and is both a worthy effort and a worthy purchase.

Rating: A-

User Rating: A-

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