The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.5

The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town Blu-ray Movie Review

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blues.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman May 10, 2011

2010 saw a glut of incredible Blu-ray releases. We got long sought after classic films, a bevy of sparkling new releases, and really wide and fine variety of music-related titles in virtually every genre from rock to pop to jazz to classical. But topping virtually every music reviewer’s Top 10 list last year was the beyond impressive huge boxed set from Bruce Springsteen, The Promise: The Darkness at the Edge of Town Story. This huge assortment of material, put together in a sort of recreation of a looseleaf binder that The Boss himself had used to jot down ideas for songs that would later be incorporated into The Darkness at the Edge of Town, featured an amazing array of both information and performances. The only drawback to that set was its pretty high price tag (listed at well over $100, it's gotten as low as $90 and some change, but it's back up to slightly over $100 right now) which may have prevented some fans who would have otherwise wanted to check it out from springing for it. Though some may accuse Sony (actually Columbia in this instance) of attempting a semi-rare double dip strategy with this new standalone release of the main documentary which was included in the boxed set, the good news is there’s also exclusive content on this new single Blu-ray, including previously unreleased live performances as well as a fun and illuminating sit down with Bruce and his fans, so even those of you who did spring for the first set won’t feel completely ripped off for going back to the well for another drink from Springsteen.

The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town remains the chief focal element of this new standalone release, as it was, at least in terms of documentary content, on the huge boxed set. This spectacularly well done piece, directed and edited by Thom Zimny, gets into one of the uglier aspects of Springsteen’s long and iconic career. Coming off of the huge success of Born to Run, and the virtually unprecedented phenomenon of being simultaneously on the covers of both Time and Newsweek, Springsteen suddenly found himself to be the victim of his own new superstar status. How could someone with a putative “blue collar” ethos keep up the working stiff façade when everyone knew he was raking in untold millions even as he became the new Rock God of the moment? Adding to this dilemma was a really unfortunately breakdown in his relationship with his onetime manager, Mike Appel.

As the documentary gets into in some detail, it was pretty much standard practice back in those days for any new artist to sign away half of his publishing rights to a major publishing firm when he got signed to a big label. Of course in those days, Columbia was the biggest of the big labels, and Springsteen readily and probably happily signed a contract giving up a large share of his publishing rights. But here is where the story gets interesting, and it presents Springsteen as a perhaps naïve young man who nonetheless wasn’t about to not fight for what he thought rightfully belonged to him. Unlike countless predecessors, Springsteen didn’t fork over half of his rights to publishing behemoths like EMI—he forked them over to Appel, who was also functioning as Springsteen’s producer and manager.

When it became clear what an enormous, perhaps once-in-a-generation success story Springsteen was going to be, the fecal material hit the fan, and Springsteen demanded his publishing rights back from Appel. That soon led to a series of recriminations and lawsuits which kept Springsteen and the E Street Band out of the studio and away from touring for an extended period of time as various parties sued each other and the whole sordid mess played out in semi-public.

The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town does an incredibly effective job interviewing virtually everyone who was involved in this debacle, chief among them Springsteen and Appel themselves. While the two seem to have at least partially buried the hatchet, there’s a certain defensiveness evident on both their parts. Appel feels, perhaps justifiably, that Bruce was lucky to have had a friend like Appel who was willing (albeit after some legal wrangling) to return his publishing rights to him. As Appel no doubt correctly notes, that simply would never have happened had Bruce actually signed his rights over to a traditional publishing firm. And the fact remains that Springsteen did in fact sign a contract giving Appel those rights. Appel finds it disingenuous that the legal strategy employed was that it was somehow “unconscionable” (in the strictly legal sense of the word) that Appel should be publisher, producer and manager, as if that trifecta in and of itself gave Appel too much control over Springsteen’s livelihood.

Springsteen on the other hand seems resigned to the fact that his success doomed him to torpedo a valued friendship, perhaps when he needed that friendship the most. At the same time, he’s unapologetic about fighting to get his own publishing rights back, consequences be damned. It’s fascinating to see both of these guys, now well into middle age (and even that is perhaps being charitable), still staking out their positions while at the same time having mellowed somewhat with the onset of age and, hopefully, wisdom.

Playing out against all of the legal entanglements is Bruce’s struggling efforts to keep writing and recording, albeit privately. We get a huge assortment of rehearsal footage, along with actual studio footage once the messy lawsuits have been settled. It’s clear that while The Darkness at the Edge of Town was born out of intense personal and professional troubles, those very hassles are what give the album its depth and at times almost oppressive melancholy. Springsteen is one of the few artists to have withstood the media onslaught that comes with “overnight” superstardom, and that fact it was coupled with a very problematic lawsuit makes his triumph all the more remarkable. But what is completely evident is that the steel spine which seems to be inherent in Springsteen’s persona was “earned,” perhaps not a given, at least not in the early days. The twin terrors of being the world’s most famous rock star and having to sue one of your best friends made Springsteen realize in ways perhaps he wouldn’t have otherwise that he had to be the master of his own fate, for better or worse. The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town proves that it has been manifestly for the better.

The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

As with the big boxed set, there is variant quality to be had throughout this release as well. The entirety of this release is encoded via AVC and is in 1080i, with most of the release in 1.78:1 (occasional moments of the documentary are in 1.33:1). My original review of the big boxed set included this description of the documentary, which of course still holds true:

Moving down the quality scale, but only slightly, is the Making Of documentary, which is presented in 1080i. The contemporary interview segments look great, and frankly a lot of the archival footage is surprisingly sharp, too, at least when the small millimeter formats of the original source elements are taken into account. The black and white studio footage looks a good deal sharper than the color rehearsal footage. While the studio footage is certainly not up to modern day standards, it's decently sharp with acceptable contrast. The rehearsal footage is invaluable as a resource, but the image itself is pretty soft, with bleeding colors and a lot of grain.

Both of the supplements included on this Blu-ray sport very sharp image quality. Color has perhaps been artifically boosted on the live performance, and so saturation is a bit overwhelming at times, but fine detail is really astounding and the concert footage includes fantastic close-ups of all of the band. The Q&A suffers perhaps from an amped-up post processing style that sees various segments in black and white interspersed with color footage. If you can get past that directorial choice, the image itself is very sharp and well defined.

The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Sony/Columbia have done themselves proud with three outstanding audio options, two lossless and one standard Dolby. The lossless options (available as well on the supplements) are LPCM 5.1 (48kHz/24-bit) and 2.0 (48kHz/24-bit), and the Dolby option is a traditional surround 5.1 mix. The LPCM options are simply incredible, brilliant sounding without ever tripping over into harshness. The 5.1 mix is extremely well positioned across the soundfield, with excellent utilization of discrete channels and with a very robust and appealing low end. Fidelity is simply incredible throughout. There are some issues with regard to the historical footage and the ravages that time has visited on those soundtracks, but even those issues seem minor when compared to the astounding quality of everything on this Blu-ray taken as a whole. The live concert is amazing sounding, with crisp sonics and spot on fidelity, and even the Q&A segment sounds very appealing.

The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

OK, now for the good, never before seen, stuff. To Sony/Columbia's credit, they have beefed up this release with some excellent, albeit brief, bonus material:

• Songs from The Promise Concert (1080i; 30:13). Unfortunately I haven't been able to dig up much information on when or exactly where this live concert was filmed. It's evidently in Asbury Park, as the sunburst windows in back of Bruce and the band are the same as those that surround the famous carousel, but it is manifestly not The Paramount, where the main filmed concert in the big boxed set took place. This is, unlike that concert, an actual live performance before an appreciative audience. Bruce and the boys tear through five songs, including a nice holiday number replete with lots of Santa hats. Their set list:
  Racing in the Street ('78)
  Gotta Get That Feeling
  Ain't Good Enough for You
  The Promise
  Blue Christmas
• Bruce Springsteen: A Conversation With His Fans (1080i; 21:20). There aren't a whole lot of Sirius XM stations devoted (largely) to the output of one artist, but E Street Radio on that satellite service tends to specialize in all things Boss. This nice, intimate extra has Bruce showing up at the studio with a handful of excited fans who won a lottery to ask their questions in person. This "interview" of sorts features E Street Radio's Dave Marsh as facilitator and emcee, and it was part of the big promotional push that Bruce undertook for the release of the big boxed set. This is a very appealing, low key outing that shows why Bruce is so beloved as the iconic "Everyman" of modern day rock.

The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It's rare that I ever recommend double-dipping, but in this case, it's warranted. It may not even be a case of double dipping for many, as that $100-plus price tag on the big boxed set probably scared off all but the most ardent Springsteen fans. But here for a much more consumer friendly price Boss aficionados can get this really illuminating documentary as well as a fine (if brief) concert outing and the fun (if similarly brief) Q&A conducted for Sirius XM. It's a very appealing package with superior audio and well above average video. Highly recommended.