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Product Details
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| Disc: 1 | |||
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| 1. Blinded By the Light | |||
| 2. For You | |||
| 3. Spirit In the Night | |||
| 4. 4th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy) | |||
| 5. Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) | |||
| 6. Thunder Road | |||
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| Disc: 2 | |||
| 1. Born In The U.S.A. | |||
| 2. Glory Days | |||
| 3. Dancing In The Dark | |||
| 4. Tunnel Of Love | |||
| 5. Brilliant Disguise | |||
| 6. Human Touch | |||
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| Disc: 3 | |||
| 1. From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come) | |||
| 2. Big Payback | |||
| 3. Held Up Without A Gun (Live) | |||
| 4. Trapped (Live) | |||
| 5. None But The Brave | |||
| 6. Missing | |||
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But if you're looking for "essential" Bruce-songs that define his art and career and are the backbone of his perspective on life, America, and rock music, then this album comes fairly close. All of his albums and epochs are represented on two CDs, albeit briefly. His wonderfully funky first two albums are finally represented-they were totally ignored on the "Greatest Hits" compilation-and there is a welcome third CD of oddities, rarities, and b-sides that had not previously been collected. The set can serve as an introduction to the man's work, though I still tell friends to start by simply buying the first six albums-Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ (1973); The Wild, The Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle (1973); Born to Run (1975); Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978); The River (1980); Nebraska (1982)-and then picking and choosing from the rest. The magnificent Tracks (1998), however, belongs in any record collection. It is the best anthology of its kind-unreleased cuts, alternate versions, collected B-sides-even if it fails to include "The Fever," "Held Up Without a Gun," and "The Big Payback."
But to truly capture the essential Bruce, it requires at least another CD of songs. Sure there are three cuts from the debut album, but where are "Growin' Up," "Lost in the Flood," and the lovely "Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?" (Just listen to him sing the line "Love's like that-sure it is").
... Read more ›The liner notes start with Springsteen acknowledging the problems that come with releasing a greatest hits compilation - namely some good stuff gets left out. The album could use "Backstreets" and "Racing in the Streets," but I'm not sure what they should replace. As this album was made to have the greatest possible commercial appeal, I was surprised "Secret Garden" wasn't included. Of course, keeping it off means there's still a reason for people to buy Greatest Hits - the only Springsteen album on which it appears.
My big complaint with Springsteen's studio albums is that he hasn't remastered them yet. While these songs on the first two discs haven't been remastered, they have been cleaned up a bit over the original versions.
As for the songs on the first two discs - all are top notch and provide a good retrospective of Springsteen's career. Unlike Greatest Hits, this album does contain pre-Born to Run material (five songs from his first two albums, released in 1973, are included). This set is more balanced than Greatest Hits too, which focused on his Born in the USA material. I have several hundred Bruce CDs, however, so it's a good bet I won't listen to these two CDs that often.
I bought the set for disc three. It was a disappointment. Most of the previously unreleased tracks and rarities on disc three don't sound any better than bootleg copies (not that I'd know anything about that).
... Read more ›