Almost every Bossaholic watched Bruce Springsteen's ``VH1 Storytellers'' special back when it first aired in April. So why get excited about tomorrow's DVD release of the show?

Simple. It's much better now, re-edited and expanded to more than double its original 44-minute length.

Springsteen, performing alone except for ``Brilliant Disguise'' with wife Patti Scialfa adding harmony, only plays eight songs, but they include ones cut from the original broadcast (``Nebraska,'' ``Waitin' on a Sunny Day''). And the stories he tells about his songs - which is the point of ``Storytellers,'' after all - are much longer and thus more gratifying.

Take, for example, his detailed explanation of ``Thunder Road.'' You can't help being charmed when he gets to, ``Got this guitar and I learned how to make it talk,'' and laughs as he calls it ``probably the hokiest line that I've ever written.''

`VH1 Storytellers'' was recorded on April 4 on Springsteen's home turf, the Two River Theater in Red Bank, N.J. He starts off sounding strangely nervous.

`It's an iffy proposition,'' he says of the show's song-talk format. ``Talking about music is like talking about sex. Can you describe it? Are you supposed to?''

His first song is ``Devils & Dust,'' the title track of his most recent album, and the name of his current solo tour, which comes to Worcester's DCU Center Oct. 20, to the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence Oct. 21 and to the TD Banknorth Garden in Boston Oct. 28. When he finishes playing it, Springsteen offers a line-by-line examination of the song and how it relates to the situation faced by young American soldiers fighting in Iraq. Shuffling through notes he says he pored over the night before in his kitchen, he seems uncomfortable and in a rush to get through an unfamiliar situation.

Don't believe it. Though it may look like Springsteen has never done this chat-heavy type of performance before, he has. In fact, it's very much like the solo benefit performance he gave in February 2003 at the Somerville Theatre for the now-defunct Double Take magazine. As in his arena concerts with the E Street Band, Springsteen is a master at feigning spontaneity. This is not to say that he followed a prepared script for ``VH1 Storytellers,'' only that he is a skilled showman who knows exactly what he is doing and where he is going.

Soon enough, Springsteen visibly relaxes in front of the ``Storytellers'' audience and turns more humorous.

`So what was that about?'' he askes rhetorically during his exegesis of ``Blinded By the Light.'' ``I always say that's the song that explains why I never did any drugs. I don't think I could've stood it. My mind was already reeling.''

Speaking in his introduction to ``Brilliant Disguise'' of the different faces we all wear at different times, Springsteen makes an almost shocking confession, the saintly singer/songwriter admitting to a fondness for visiting scruffy strip joints.

The DVD's sole extra is a 15-minute question-and-answer session with the audience (which was also a part of his Somerville Theatre show). One questioner says, ``I feel like I know you. Do I?'' Springsteen quickly shoots back, ``No,'' and laughs. ``It's part of the job, that whole `feelin' like I know you' thing.''

Yes, the star remains ultimately unknowable. But after watching this DVD - and savoring priceless moments such as his impression of Smokey Robinson singing ``Waitin' On A Sunny Day'' - fans will feel closer to Bruce than ever.