Our next post comes on September 1. It's hard to believe that we have just four months remaining in the year of 2010. But years do move fast. One good thing is that we don't have too long to wait until the coming of Springsteen's great album.

The news of the coming arrival of Bruce Springsteen's masterpiece, Darkness On The Edge Of Town, has sent many fans on a rush to their bank accounts in an effort to begin to sort out the necessary capital outlay to pick this massive set up. The news of its release is all over the internet and has reached into every corner. If this is the first time that you're hearing about this, I'd be surprised.

Back when this album was released, Springsteen had begun to turn into a giant as a result of his constant touring and his long and energetic stage shows. I attended many Springsteen shows that supported Darkness. I started at the lovely Uptown Theater with the opening of that tour and followed it into Evanston and Milwaukee. The album left a mark, much like Born To Run had.

I'm as excited for this as I would be for any nice update of a classic. If this happens to be the first time you have heard of this release, then I've done my job. (Do you have any memories of Springsteen from this period? Love to read about them! Drop me an email with a tale or two...or three.)

Read on:
[from www.backstreets.com]

IT'S OFFICIAL: DARKNESS FALLS, NOVEMBER 16
Six-disc box set tells The Darkness on the Edge of Town Story
The long-awaited Darkness on the Edge of Town reissue, originally expected for the 1978 album's 30th anniversary, has grown to enormous proportions for its release on November 16 as The Promise: The Darkness on the Edge of Town Story. The 30th anniversary set for Born to Run comprised three discs, and it would have been reasonable to expect the same for Darkness; instead, this just-announced set doubles down, with six discs: three CDs, and three DVDs. (A 3-CD/3-BluRay edition will also be available.)

For this deluxe edition, the discs will be packaged with an 80-page notebook containing facsimiles from Springsteen's original notebooks from the recording sessions, which include alternate lyrics, song ideas, recording details, and personal notes in addition to a new essay by Springsteen and never-before-seen photographs.

So we're looking at more than six hours of film, and more than two hours of audio. Let's break it down...

CD1: Darkness on the Edge of Town Digitally remastered for the first time (and in our view, the album most in need of such treatment)

CD2 and CD3: The Promise Two discs (which will also be released separately as a 2-CD set and a 4-LP set) containing 21 previously unreleased tracks from theDarkness sessions — songs that, as Springsteen writes, "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." Of this material Bruce also writes,"Darkness was my 'samurai' record, stripped to the frame and ready to rumble… But the music that got left behind was substantial." All 21 songs have been mixed by Springsteen's long-time collaborator Bob Clearmountain. According to long-time manager/producer Jon Landau, "There isn't a weak card in this deck. The Promise is simply a great listening experience."

The Promise Disc 1

• Racing in the Street ('78 rock version)
• Gotta Get That Feeling
• Outside Looking In
• Someday (We'll Be Together)
• One Way Street
• Because the Night (original studio recording)
• Wrong Side of the Street
• The Brokenhearted
• Rendezvous (original studio recording)
• Candy's Boy

The Promise Disc 2

• Save My Love (Listen now at Brucespringsteen.net)
• Ain't Good Enough For You
• Fire (original studio recording)
• Spanish Eyes
• It's a Shame
• Come On (Let's Go Tonight)
• Talk to Me (given to Southside Johnny)
• The Little Things (My Baby Does)
• Breakaway
• The Promise
• City of Night

DVD1: The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town. The documentary directed by Grammy- and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Thom Zimny. The 90-minute film combines never-before-seen footage of Springsteen and the E Street Band shot between 1976 and 1978—including home rehearsals and studio sessions—with new interviews with Springsteen, E Street Band members, manager Jon Landau, former-manager Mike Appel, and others closely involved in the making of the record. The documentary will first screen at the prestigious Toronto Film Festival on September 14 and will make its television debut on HBO on October 7.

DVD2: A mix of E Street new and old: first the modern-day E Street Band tackles the Darkness album from start to finish (remember back in December, when Bruce and the E Streeters were doing some closed-door filming at the Paramount Theater?), then a wealth of vintage clips from the Thrill Hill Vaults document theDarkness-era band, both in-studio and live.

Darkness on the Edge of Town (Paramount Theater, Asbury Park, NJ, 2009) 
A performance of the album in its entirety, shot in HD without an audience and recreating the stark atmosphere of the original album.

Thrill Hill Vault, 1976-1978
From studio rehearsals to live performances, clips here include brand new cuts of the Phoenix footage, re-edited by Thom Zimny.

• Save My Love (Holmdel, NJ 76)
• Candy's Boy (Holmdel, NJ 76)
• Something in the Night (Red Bank, NJ 76)
• Don’t Look Back (NYC 78)
• Ain't Good Enough For You (NYC 78)
• The Promise (NYC 78)
• Candy's Room Demo (NYC 78)
• Badlands (Phoenix 78)
• The Promised Land (Phoenix 78)
• Prove It All Night (Phoenix 78)
• Born To Run (Phoenix 78)
• Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) (Phoenix 78)

DVD3: Houston '78 Bootleg: House Cut A holy grail of sorts, this is the complete show from December 8, 1978, at the Summit in Houston, TX toward the end of the tour for Darkness on the Edge of Town. They're calling this a "bootleg house cut," as it's the footage that appeared on-screen at the concert.

• Badlands
• Streets of Fire
• It’s Hard to Be a Saint in the City
• Darkness on The Edge of Town
• Spirit in the Night
• Independence Day
• The Promised Land
• Prove It All Night
• Racing in the Street
• Thunder Road
• Jungleland
• The Ties That Bind
• Santa Claus is Coming to Town
• The Fever
• Fire
• Candy's Room
• Because the Night
• Point Blank
• She's the One
• Backstreets
• Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
• Born to Run
• Detroit Medley
• Tenth Avenue Freeze-out
• You Can't Sit Down
• Quarter to Three

Dr. Jahnke has reviewed the just released King of Power Pop! by Paul Collins.

I want to alert TAP readers to the fact that I have finally put together a FaceBook fan page that you can access and join by clicking on the badge below.  What this offers is the exact same thing as my Twitter feeds provide and that is first buzz on upcoming releases and free offered downloads, many announcements  that beat our main post, sometimes by days.  We also provide a Google BUZZ page that expands on most of the Twitter/FB feeds. On Buzz, you can even hear the music stream if a stream is offered.  There are still things that I'm working on in the FB page, like calender notes as well as links to great sites like The Second Disc.  I invite you to join us at our FB page and bookmark it.  Visit it daily and you'll be rewarded with much news and info.  Of course, you'll still want to come to the main MusicTAP page for our noisy commentaries.  Remember, with our Twitter feeds, you can elect to receive the news bursts as text on your mobile phone keeping you effortlessly up to date with stuff.  Lots of choices.  Find one, or two, that fits.

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There are more than a few LPs coming out that bear noting. Watch for vinyl issues of For We Are Many from All That Remains (Razor & Tie - October 12); The Witmark Demos: 1962-1964 (Bootleg Series, Vol 9) for Bob Dylan (Columbia - October 19); The Vinyl Mono Box for Bob Dylan (Columbia - October 19); Living Proof by Buddy Guy (Silvertone - September 28); Hollywood Town Hall, and Tomorrow the Green Grass from The Jayhawks (American Recordings - October 19); Come Around Sundown by Kings of Leon (RCA - October 19); Fly Me To The Moon: The Great American Songbook, Volume 5 by Rod Stewart (J Records - September 28). That's a start because more is coming. like The Vinyl Conflict for Slayer (American Recordings - October 12).

Here's a cool release for the Digital world: Sony BMG Music UK will release B-Side Babies (1994) for Adam Ant on September 7.

New West Records will release The Grand Theatre, Volume One from Old 97's, planning the release for October 12.Atlantic Records plans the CD/DVD Edition of Live In Philly 2010 from Halestorm, scheduling for October 19.

Legacy/Experience Hendrix plan the 2CD/1DVD Deluxe Edition release of BBC Sessions for The Jimi Hendrix Experience as well as Blues (in a CD/DVD set), both on November 2. A 2LP issue of Blues is expected on the same date. In addition, Legacy will release an 8LP Box for Jimi Hendrix called West Coast Seattle Boy: The Jimi Hendrix Anthology, also on November 2.

Hear Music will release National Ransom by Elvis Costello on November 2.

IMV Blueline plan the DVD release of Attack In Switzerland: Live In Concert featuring Motörhead, on October 19.

I've discovered an upcoming Jethro Tull 3CD Deluxe Edition of Stand Up (1969) that is currently being released as an import (of course, it is). It is scheduled for Import release on October 5. I'm sure a US domestic release follows.