A la fin des années 1970, à Greenwich Village. Quatre jeunes quittent leur Pennsylvanie natale pour New York. Sur place, ils rencontrent la chanteuse Elva, qui déchaîne les foules. Mais la scène musicale est vite contaminée par le fléau qu'est l'héroïne, et Elva n'y échappe pas. Alors qu'elle réussit à décrocher, elle est retrouvée morte d'une overdose. Son ami Joaquin ne croit pas au suicide. …
Were I a professor of rock and roll music and one to grade albums, this record would stand as the finest record I've heard in my 50+ years of listening to this stuff. It's not my emotional favorite album (that being The Wild, The Innocent and the E Street Shuffle) but it's a record I listen to often, still. Each song stands on its merits and the lyrics are just brilliant; Lou was the smartest man who ever played rock and roll. It's not an easy listening album; like most of Lou's records there are some cuts that are painful to listen to, but some of the rock cuts are ear worms, most notably Dirty Boulevard which replaced Sweet Jane as Lou's signature live song. This album is like reading a really good book; the trip is a great one, and when it is done, you'll be thinking about it for a very long time.