Tracks

by

Bruce Springsteen

Edit

I know it's tempting to pick up the single disc 18-Tracks compilation instead of the whole four disc set, but this is truely four discs worth of great music. Fans of Springsteen should definitely pick up this set. I'm usually bored to death by B-Sides and rarities collections, but I absolutely adore this set. Every song has something to say. When most bands are struggling to include one or two decent songs on an album, Bruce has come forward with stuff that didn't make the cut at first, and it's more consistent then most albums coming out today. He is an amazing musician and this release helps to display that. It's hard to believe that most of these songs stayed in the vaults for no one to hear for so long. One highlight is My Love Will Not Let You Down, which consistently made it's way into live sets when the E Street band reunited in 1999. There's a great recording of This Hard Land, which is one of my favorite songs Bruce has ever written. Overall, I like the recording found on his Greatest Hits set more, but this recording is still wonderful. This set is a must buy for fans, and it is certainly good for anyone seeking an education in what real music is all about.

There is a core of Springsteen fans who feel his best efforts were done before "The River". These fans further believe that "the River would've made an exceptional "Single LP" instead of the pretty good "Double LP" that it was. These fans saw hope in the direction of Nebraska and the beginning of the end with "Born In The USA". This is not to say that any album after Nebraska was not good, but to say that Springsteens later efforts lacked the raw emotion that made otherwise great songs, exceptional songs.

The problem with "Tracks" is that in begins at the beginning of Bruce's career and traces it thru to the present and in doing so, it includes a plethera of songs that were not good enough for "Tunnel of Love", "Human Touch" and "Lucky Town" If you hold these albums in the same esteem as "Greetings","the Wild, The Innocent,& The E Street Shuffle", "Born To Run", and "Darkness" Then you'll like Tracks more than than I did.

Another problem I have with Tracks is the lack of Springsteen's early music. The first CD cover his first four albums, the entire decade of the seventies. Numerous songs from this period were totally neglected on his Greatest Hits collection as well as the live anthology. This means the highly sought studio versions of Hammond demos such as "Arabian Nights", "Contessa", Street Queen" and "American Tune" which was cut at the last minute from "Greetings" will never be officially released. This is a sad moment for long time fans.

Plus the numerous songs recorded for "Darkness" some of which that were given to Southside Johnny for his albums will also never surface, officially now. This in itself would've constituted another CD but instead we only get "Hearts of Stone" and "Rendevous", and "Frankie" There is no "Talk To Me" or "The Way" or "The Promise"

Please Bruce, give us an official release of "The Promise" It would fit nicely with your latest efforts.

A final problem with "Tracks" is a lack of songs from Bruce's Steel Mill days plus such unrecorded gems such as "Ballad of the Self Loading Pistol"

Overall, if you're one of those fans, who relish the days when Bruce would say "I ain't the Boss" then you'll be a little disappointed with the last two discs. You'll find them to be "good" but not necassarily "great".

This is pretty much, all that is musically "Wrong" with Tracks. Fortunately, there is a lot of stuff that are "Right" with it. I waffled between 3 or 4 stars for the final review and finally went with 3 stars because of the list price of $70. I know all the material is new but what happened to the days when Bruce would make sure his fans weren't gouged by the record industry. $70 list is just way too high for a 4CD release. You lose 1 star just because of this price. I highly recommend it for for even this core of fans who have been dissappointed with later efforts but just don't get it at full price.