Bridge and Tunnel Boys

If I had known this was an academic study, I likely would not have picked it up. I don't particularly enjoy the over-intellectualization of rock music. It's a practice that strikes against the very spirit of the genre.

No one needs 200 pages of text to tell them that Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen were influenced by metropolitan New York and that influence was apparent in their music. You can get that by simply picking up almost any of their albums. The author claims not to delve deep into histories or details at times and then does just that. He loses the thesis when it no longer becomes applicable to Springsteen and Joel's music around the mid 80s and should have ended it there. This book could have been much more effective at a fraction of the length and minus the overuse of ten dollar words. 

And yet, that wasn't my biggest issue with this book. The biggest issue by far was the complete lack of copy editing. For a university published book, you expect better. Not glaring errors every few pages. 

For someone who seems to know a fair amount about his subjects, the author misquoted lyrics when they are readily available on Bruce and Billy's own websites (and did so twice on a single page). He mixes up different songs on the same album (the Magic Rat is Jungleland, not Backstreets). Misspelling easily googleable song, band and musician names and saying Bruce played certain songs in concert when setlists across the internet prove otherwise. I wanted to take a red pen to the pages. The multitude of gaffes takes away any effectiveness the text might have had. 

If you want to pick up a book about Joel or Springsteen, there are many others to consider before picking this one up. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Rutgers University Press for the opportunity to read and review.