I grew up in southeastern Pennsylvania-- Bruce Country -- during the '70's and '80's. At that time he was the Undisputed Heavyweight Champion of Philadelphia rock radio during that period and was a household word shortly after "Born to Run" came out. That's why I chose Mark Hagen's "The Story of..." as my very first review for PRX.
It contains alot of what a rock fan would expect: interviews about the creative process, intriguing outtakes, personal stories, and what happened behind the scenes to make this incredible breakthrough record, which is one of the few that is even worthy of a documentary.
Record producing, for a true artist, is more about the process than the product. That part is left up to the industry execs. Included is the how's, but what's missing are the why's like: what inspired the lyrics? Hagen's simplicity of production is noteworthy, it being no small task to edit alot of information about the process down to one hour and includes almost all the major players (the inclusion of Clarence Clemons both to the band and on the cover at that time being conspicuously absent).
It's always exciting to a music fan like myself to hear about what was experienced by the artist as he/she is producing, yet "The Story of..." is hardly groundbreaking. It does hold the listeners attention just up to the end where the E Street Band debuts in Europe, ending with a recent live version of the title song, contrasting Bruce's (everyone is on a first name basis with him) original youthful hyper-enthusiastic dreams with the more mellow aging rocker.
Though CBS released its full retrospective of Bruce's work years ago, I doubt "The Story of..." will be Bruce's version of "Anthology", but it was a good listen and I sang along with every song. I would recommend it,escpecially to music- oriented stations.