Loved this book with photographs of Springsteen and the E Street Band that I’ve never seen before. As an avid fan, I’m always looking to expand my knowledge of one of the greatest musicians and rock bands of all time. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN: AN ILLUSTRATED BIOGRAPHY by author Meredith Ochs is a biography of the artist that begins with his childhood in the blue collar environment of New Jersey which he grew up in and has always been associated with him, along with the unique sound he strove for and found success with due to his persistence in the earlier days of his career.

Overnight success is not something that can be said of Springsteen or his band mates who were eventually made famous and known as the East Street Band, and the importance of their influence and input that created a soundboard for his ideas, also well documented is the artist’s OCD-like obsession with details of his most successful songs and albums.

Several famous and lesser known pictures of Bruce and his band members help give a window into the development of Bruce Springsteen and his various band members, and would be of interest to all interested in the life and career of the artist.

4 stars.

This pictorial overview of Bruce Springsteen’s life is thin and not all that necessary after Bruce’s own award-winning autobiography BORN TO RUN. There is some insight here on his early life and career. But a true Bruce fan will not be surprised by much in this book. But it is about Bruce, so it has that going for it.

Springsteens career path on the basis of his albums

Meredith Ochs promises an illustrated biography. And the reader gets really a lot of photos. Especially those from the 70s were new to me, it was fun to see Bruce with lots of hair on his head and in his face.

The biography part on the other hand is not very distinct. There are a few facts about Springsteens beginnings, and then his albums function as the red thread in describing Bruce Springsteens career. Why some of the songs were written, which people joined Bruce on his road to success (and mostly stayed for a very long time), how his music style evolved. Most of the times this was too "technical" for me, I was missing some heart in this story, some anecdotes, something to get a better feeling for this outstanding musician - the really interesting stuff.
However, one really interesting thing I learned is that he used to write lots and lots of song for an album. And from those 60 or even 90 songs they then picked only a few for release on the album. Which means that there should be a massive amount of material lying around in some drawers that might see the light of day one time.

Ochs did a very great job in garnering a lot of information from lots of different sources. And decorated it with many photographs, but mostly from various gigs Springsteen played around the globe. So after a while they just get more of the same. For a more personal view on him I should better read his autobiography.

This impressive collection of images showing Bruce Springsteen throughout his life is accompanied by elucidating text describing various stages of his life from his childhood through the present. I've been a Bruce Springsteen fan since the 1980s, but unlike some people, have become a bigger fan as he's become more outspoken on social justice and political issues. I am by no means an expert, so I did learn a lot from this book. It's a quick read, and the photographs are fabulous. It's definitely a must-read and view for serious Bruce Springsteen fans. #BruceSpringsteen #NetGalley

Meredith Ochs’ visual biography of Bruce Springsteen is a gem.
The photographs and story flow well with each other. Additionally, there are a nice combination of candid and live shots.
It’s an absolute must for any fan of “The Boss”.
A job well done!
#MeredithOchs #BruceSpringsteen #visualbiography #NetGalley

Bruce Springsteen was my very first crush. So when I saw this book I had to jump on it. There was so much information I had no idea included in this book. Thoroughly impressed. The pictures were wonderful.

A must read for Springsteen fans: great illustrations and well written.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I love Bruce Springsteen and love learning about him, his music and his thinking behind his life and luscious. This is a great addition to the growing library shelf of works that help listeners go behind the man and his music. Well done.

I went to my first Bruce Springsteen concert when I was seventeen. It was the Born in the USA tour that took Bruce and his band to Europe, filling large stadiums with outrageous fans. It was an unforgettable experience. I have been following him and the E Street Band ever since; I saw them play in several European cities, making precious memories, never seeing the same concert twice, as the playlist always changes. And every time I see them play, it's an exciting, new experience. Going to a Bruce Springsteen concert is knowing you are always in for something special, a unique, unmatched treat you can not explain to people who have never been there. The energy, the way Bruce interacts with his fans, the intimacy, even when there are 50,000 others, the music. Let's not forget the music. Bruce and his band are the best musicians around; their experience, their enthusiasm, their skills, their energy...I have seen a lot of other bands play, but not one singer, not one band is able to match what Bruce and the band manage to give.

This book is a well documented biography. The photo's are interesting, seeing how Bruce has changed throughout the years, a documentation of his growth as an artist as well as a man. Having read Bruce's own biography, there was nothing new to read here, but still I liked where the author took us. The question about the loyalty of his fans is one that intrigues me too. If you ask me, I'm not even sure if I could answer that question myself. There's just something about the man that appeals to me, speaks to me. He's genuine. Unlike other rockstars, he's real and approachable. He shares his story's, but guards his privacy at the same time. He's respectful, even if he doesn't agree. And when he does speak out, he's able to put his thoughts into reasonable words, so you know he knows what he's talking about. He's an amazing songwriter, a poet, someone who is able to empathize with blue colored, working class people, never forgetting where he came from himself. He's intelligent, and he doesn't shy away from acknowledging when he's in the wrong. It's amazing how he can give you the feeling of intimacy when you're in a stadium full of people, he's an amazing guitarist and the energy that he's able to put out on stage, is unique, while the chemistry between Bruce and the rest of the guys in the band is just as rare.
He's a walking, talking music encyclopedia. He knows so many songs, of which a lot are included in his concerts, some without practice, because he honors the requests of his fans. He is not afraid to try something new, because if he fails, people don't mind, just respect him for trying.
Bruce has story's to tell and everyone wants to hear them.
So, the question is: what do all these people, all these fans, have in common? What is it that make them travel for miles to watch his shows, to spend all their savings just to be able to see him play? That question is not really answered here, but I think it's one that can't be answered just that easily.
Seeing Bruce and the E Street Band play is a life changing experience. And that may sound exaggerating, but it simply is.

This book is one I would recommend for every Bruce Springsteen fan out there. It's well written and the photo's make it well worth checking out.

If you are a hardcore fan of Bruce Springsteen then this book may not provide you with any information you don not already know but this a good book with a little bit of information about "The Boss", his family, forming of the bands he was a part of in the past and continues to be. A history of the putting together of the various albums and what inspired his music. There are many pictures also in this book. It is amazing to read that when he was recording that he may 80 0r 90 songs that he has written for that album before he chooses which ones will be used. There is no denying that this man and performer gives you your moneys worth whether it is in a album, concert, or his 500 page memoir. Longtime fan or newcomer to his music this is a good book.

There is one issue I have with the format if you are reading on a kindle app and using a phone to read the book or the Netgalley Bookshelf app there were times it took a little work to maneuver pages and keep it straight. Thank you to Netgalley and Chartwell Books for an ARC for a fair and honest review.

As a lifelong Springsteen fan, this book is an absolute must & will be taking pride of place on my bookshelf. Very well written, fab illustrations

I adore Bruce Springsteen and have done for many decades, but this book just missed the mark for me. I do need to confess that I had it in a protected pdf form to read on my laptop so not the full 'paper under the fingers' experience, but I still believe that even if I'd had the 'real thing' (to steal a Coca Cola phrase), the font was still way too small for most readers (and I'm not especially old for one of his followers and I don't need reading glasses).

Many of the photos are beautiful. Most are not especially unique or if they are, I'm not aware of it.

To my mind, if you're going to do a picture book biography, the pictures need to be more explained than they are in this book. I want to know who is in it, where was it taken, why is it significant. In this book, we just get the photo credits at the end but no information about the photos and their settings.

I found the text a bit dreary. There's just so much of it, in such tiny font, and the writing wasn't engaging enough for me. I couldn't see clear themes or 'get' what the main points were supposed to be. Springsteen fans know he's a great guy, that he's political, that he's a force of nature with the energy of a 20 year old and the charisma of Gandhi, MLK and Mandela all rolled into one. But the text, from my perspective, wasn't inspiring or especially informative.

Nice pictures, but this man deserves more than a coffee-table-book approach to his life.

Thanks to Netgalley and the Publishers.

As a lifelong fan of Springsteen, as well as a second of three generations of fans, this was a nostalgic, somewhat bittersweet overview of all that is Bruce. From his somewhat depressing childhood to his perseverance in becoming a legend, from his aversion to being political to the powerhouse he became for Obama and Biden, from his first marriage and his refusal to ever bash his first wife to his self-deprecating humor and wit, this was perfect for anyone who doesn’t know much about him or anyone who does and wishes to see some memories. Now, after this book, I want him to tour near my city again so I can revisit the weeks of deafness after a show and the feelings of communion and hope during the spiritual revival show that is Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.

A well-trodden path, both written and visual, through the history and career of one of the music greats