The Essential Bruce Springsteen (2003)


Disc One 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 7. Born to Run 8. Jungleland 9. Badlands 10.Darkness on the Edge of Town 11.The Promised Land 12.The River 13.Hungry Heart 14.Nebraska 15.Atlantic City Disc Two 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 7. Living Proof 8. Lucky Town 9. Streets of Philadelphia 10.The Ghost of Tom Joad 11.The Rising 12.Mary's Place 13.Lonesome Day 14.American Skin (41 Shots) 15.Land of Hope and Dreams Disc Three 1. From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come) 2. The Big Payback 3. Held Up Without a Gun 4. Trapped 5. None But the Brave 6. Missing 7. Lift Me Up 8. Viva Las Vegas 9. County Fair 10.Code of Silence 11.Dead Man Walkin' 12.Countin on a Miracle (Acoustic)

 

A simple way of pleasing fans if one disc of a previously released Greatest Hits package wasn't enough. With two discs instead of one (there's actually three, but one is a "bonus" disc of unreleased material), there's a bit more room to stretch out. He does so admirably here. His biggest "additions" are from his early career that wasn't represented very extensively on the Greatest Hits album, but that was because so little of his early stuff were hits, even though they were fan favorites. So here is more room for those favorites.

By the time you get to the 1980's period on this compilation, it doesn't differentiate that much from the earlier mentioned hits package. The big bonus is the third disc of rarities and unreleased songs. To be honest, it's a bit of a mixed bag. There are several live versions of songs that don't sound too polished, and a couple of songs that sound as though they were left unfinished. The middle of the bonus disc (starting around Trapped through Viva Las Vegas) is particularly strong, and it's always nice for the fan to pick up on a bit more Springsteen.

It accomplishes the goal quite nicely.

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