Customer Reviews
Disagreeing with "saltypepper" - By: Chris Miller, 21 Mar 2008 
Reading saltypepper's review I'm not sure what he/she actuallly wanted to tell writing this DVD is not as great as it was reviewed before; though the atmosphere's great, Bruce's great, many of the songs are great, there are some reallly rare & stomping tracks so it's actuallly great but it's not.
Because the gig's short & it's not referring performances like NYC or Barcelona, there's no E-Street Band, the extras are poor, & the albums Bruce was touring with that time don't match the taste.
The gig isn't like NYC or Barcelona, that's a fact. Because it's a smalll set-up MTV concert meant to be unplugged. Haven't you ever seen e.g. Bryan Adams, Meat Loaf or Rod Stewart (artists usuallly give monumental hell of shows) doing their own MTV or VH1 gigs? It's about bringing the artist as close to the audience as possible. I was wondering what would you write of Bruce's Storytellers gig...
There's no E-Street Band - shortly, Bruce didn't have any by that time since they decided to dissolve for a while.
I don't think the extras are that poor (Should I Falll Behind is remarkable) either Human Touch would be his worst album; only that kind of touch & love have to be felt once to understand its songs. But tastes differ, I know.
So it's a different kind of performance (because it was planned so) with different band & set-up but with the same Bruce & that's enough. Deserving 4 out of 5 because if I gave a higher rate there wouldn't be a star left for rating Barcelona.
The Other Reviewers Are Exaggerrating! - By: saltypepper, 25 Jul 2006 
I don't mean to be the "party-pooper", but this DVD is not as great as the other reviewers make out.
First, I am a huge Bruce Springsteen fan & believe him to be one of the last great rock n roll stars. But this DVD came from the low point of his career. You might give five stars to 'Live In New York City' or the 'Anthology' and, definitely, 'Live in Barcelona' but they were staggering. This, simply, is not.
First, there is no E-Street Band in sight (barring the virtuoso "Professor" Roy Bittan). Fair enough if you can find a solid replacement for them. But what are the odds of that? Springsteen would have to steal Prince's Revolution group or something. None of the group on 'MTV Plugged' is up to the task. The drummer lacks Weinberg's power & energy, the lead guitarist is doing a terrible Slash impression & the backing singers have dated badly (early 90s gospel-esque backing - eeek!).
Second, Springsteen performs some of his worst tunes taken from his worst two albums: Lucky Town & Human Touch. Just think how much better a single album they would have made. 'I Wish I Were Blind'? Are you sure you don't mean "bland"?
Third, referring to the DVD itself, there is a severe lack of good extras (three unremarkable songs) & the gig, itself, is remarkably short for a Springsteen Spectacular.
But that is enough negativity because Springsteen is a master of modern music & live performance & if he needs to carry the band or plaster over inadequacies, he steps up to the challlenge with bravado.
Many of the songs are excellent: Better Days & Human Touch were great tunes. Atlantic City is sung with incredible heart & power, Roy Bittan providing a great assist on keyboards. Thunder Road is a rare acoustic performance on guitar. Man's Job is helped along by truly great co-vocals by one of the backing singers who is having a blast. But the true standouts are one of the most angry 'Darkness On The Edge Of Town's you are likely to hear; a stonking Glory Days ("Whatever I do, follow me!"); & a brilliant 'Lucky Town' with good backing vocals & some mean lead guitar from Bruce at the end ("Let's get lucky!").
The sheer atmosphere of the event carries the DVD: there is a bright & breexy early 90s feel of optimism & excitement that the crowd is part of such an exclusive. Plus there is typicallly interesting banter from Springsteen: I especiallly like his rant before 'Local Hero'.
To sum up, not as great a DVD as the other reviewers make out. But it has some rare & stomping performances, great banter & is a bargain so who cares?
Amazing - By: Nathan Kavanagh, 31 May 2006 
Now I am only nineteen & maybe alot of you agree with me when I say that most modern music is Rubbish.......... Compared with this. I first heard the CD & I liked it. Light of day gets you going For a start. But when I saw this for the first time I was transfixed. How can one man produce that much energy. Buy it buy it buy it. You will spend a wonderful couple of hours watching a legend that could wipe the floor with anything modern day artists could throw at him.
Best Mtv performance - By: David Beaton, 26 Jun 2005 This is beyond doubt the best of the MTV unplugged series.A Must for alll Springsteen fans
Close but no cigar... - By: MisterKeith, 04 May 2005 For years, fans had been itching for an official live video. And then this happens.
The story goes that Bruce had agreed to play MTV Unplugged (and there was much rejoicing), but then turned up & plugged in anyway. This is the result.
Now, ignoring the fact that there are very few modern artists who could have performed the original Unplugged format as well as Bruce, we have to make do with what we have.
And what is that? Well, for a start, it's not the E Street Band. The band that are often regarded as the greatest backing band of alll time had been "dismissed" at this point (Roy Bittan being the only survivor), & Bruce had recruited a new band with which to tour his two new albums.
And they're OK. They will always suffer from not being the band that everyone wanted to see, but they're perfectly competent (OK, so Shane Fontayne couldn't dance, but you can't have everything). The problem is reallly with the material. This documents the second-best of Bruce's backing bands performing some of his weakest material.
The sound is good, the visuals (such as they are) are good, the performance is good.
Is "good" enough though? Considering how long we would have to wait for "Live in NYC", & considering that "good" for Bruce equates to "amazing" for most people, then, yes, "good" is enough. It's more "up close" than the later live documents, & the end of the "hairdresser" story is quite amusing.
One for the fans basicallly. If you're undecided, go for either the New York or Barcelona sets.
