Bruce Springsteen/Tokyo,Japan 1988 Upgrade

This time, not only the youthful and energetic 1977 tour, but also the upper version of the recording of Springsteen’s 1988 Japan tour, which is very memorable for us, will be released at the same time. This visit to Japan was a special occasion, namely, the first time that an Amnesty International-sponsored concert was expanded into a world tour. Springsteen was singled out as the performer. Thanks to the help of Peter Gabriel, who had already decided to join Amnesty, Springsteen readily agreed to participate. At the time, he was in the middle of a US tour to promote his album “TUNNEL OF LOVE” released the previous year. Originally, the entire year of 1988 would have been spent on the world tour for that album. Although the album was not as big a hit as “BORN IN THE U.S.A.”, it was a big hit in Japan after the big break that followed the album. Originally, it was thought that the Japan tour would have been a part of the “TUNNEL OF~” tour, but as a result, the 1988 Japan tour was realized in a different form. First of all, Springsteen’s activities in 1988 changed drastically due to his participation in the Amnesty International tour. In short, the “TUNNEL OF~” tour ended early. The tour that started at the end of February ended in less than half a year. It was a much smaller scale than the “BORN IN THE U.S.A.” tour that took more than a year. And the Amnesty tour that started in September was a package tour with other artists, so Springsteen could not perform his usual marathon show. Naturally, a shortened set list was inevitable. However, the number of songs from the album that were played had already started to decrease around the time the “TUNNEL OF~” tour crossed Europe, and this was further reduced by participating in Amnesty. The proportion of songs from “TUNNEL OF~” on the Amnesty tour was only one song. Basically, it was only “Brilliant Disguise”, only the first day at Wembley Stadium, where “Spare Parts” was played instead, and only Oakland, which took place just before the Japan performance, played two songs, “Brilliant ~” and “Tunnel Of Love”, but basically it was only “Brilliant ~”. On the final day of the Amnesty tour, in Argentina, where the TV footage is famous, no songs related to “TUNNEL OF ~” were played at all. This phenomenon was unique to package tours, where there were other performers and they were not only in front of their own fans. The set list was significantly changed, but it was easy to understand that it was a comeback to the “BORN IN THE U.S.A.” tour. There is no denying that the “TUNNEL OF ~” feel has disappeared as a result. However, 1988 was a time when the afterglow of the big break with “BORN IN ~” was still lingering. On the contrary, fans from all over the world who witnessed Springsteen’s stage on the Amnesty tour were enthusiastic about the easy-to-understand set list. Japan is no exception. Springsteen enthusiasts had been waiting for the “TUNNEL OF~” tour to be held in Japan, listening to the live broadcast from Stockholm (the full version was also released last year as an official download!) in real time, even though it was only the first half of the show. However, when Springsteen landed at the Tokyo Dome for Amnesty, he performed a completely different stage. However, considering that he had greatly increased his fan base during his first visit to Japan in 1985, there must have been many fans who welcomed the reappearance of the “BORN IN~” pattern. In addition, the release of the “LIVE 1975-1985” box set in 1986 also played a role in prolonging the afterglow. The enthusiastic reaction of the audience to the 1988 Amnesty Japan performance, which is being released this time, was truly amazing. This is especially true since the opening begins with the title song of the album due to the revival of the “BORN IN~” pattern. Rather, the impact of “Born In The U.S.A.”, the only song that has reverberated in the Tokyo Dome to date, is so moving that it is even moving. At the time, an excerpt from this opening was broadcast (naturally a pro shot) on commercial television news that started at 10 p.m., but since it was short, there were no fans who recorded it, and it has now become almost forgotten. Regardless, it is surprising that the sound image is surprisingly on-recorded, even though it was recorded at the Tokyo Dome in 1988, when there were many acoustic defects. However, this sound source was not released for the first time, but was released in “HUMAN RIGHTS NOW! IN TOKYO”. However, for this release, the master cassette was obtained from the recorder. As mentioned in a separate article, it contains a long recording of scenes other than the performance, such as before the encore. What is even more noteworthy is the natural recording state unique to the master. Although “HUMAN RIGHTS NOW! IN TOKYO” was released relatively recently, it was equalized with a rather strong feeling. The negative point that was compounded by this was that it was released with a high pitch. Although “HUMAN RIGHTS~” certainly reduced the cassette-like roughness of the original sound source, there was a strong feeling of pitch deviation that offset it. In that respect, this time it is much more natural, and the pitch has been accurately adjusted, so it has a clear upper feeling that cannot be compared to “HUMAN RIGHTS~”. In front of the revival and shortened version of the “BORN IN THE U.S.A.” tour pattern that made the music magazines of the time say “That’s a foul”, this is a fun audience recording that realistically conveys the bubbly excitement unique to 1988. Even though it can’t be called an honor student level, I was surprised at how well the performance was captured without being drowned out by such a fever. When the encore began with a cover of “Chimes Of Freedom,” which had been featured since the start of the 1988 tour, the reaction of the audience on the left side who shouted “Bob Dylan, yay!” was amusing. The 1988 Tokyo Dome was a unique performance in Japan in a good way, and you can be sure to enjoy it with plenty of nostalgia! Live at Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan 27th September 1988 TRULY AMAZING/PERFECT SOUND(from Original Masters) Disc 1 (60:35) 1. Intro. 2. Born in the U.S.A. 3. The Promised Land 4. Cover Me 5. Brilliant Disguise 6. The River 7. Cadillac Ranch 8. War 9. My Hometown 10. Thunder Road 11. Dancing in the Dark 12. I’m on Fire Disc 2 (39:41) 1. Glory Days 2. Born to Run 3. Raise Your Hand 4. Twist and Shout incl. La Bamba 5. Chimes of Freedom 6. Get Up, Stand Up