Bruce Springsteen - The Compilations

With Sony just announcing this week a "new" 'Best of Bruce Springsteen' album and it not being so warmly received by a number of Bruce fans (almost every Springsteen group I am a part of on Facebook there were many expressing their displeasure about the news). A lot of the Music Media announced that Springsteen himself was the source of the news, whereas on Springsteen's own website the announcement was credited to Sony. Remember that on December 16, 2021, Springsteen sold the masters of his entire catalog and the coinciding music publishing rights to Sony Music for $500 million. So, my take on the release of this new compilation is Sony wanting to claw back some of the money spent and maybe too much breath is being wasted on calling out Springsteen himself as the instigator of "a cash grab"!  I guess as well with the 2024 Tour being underway by the time this album is released it's another revenue stream while they await the second volume of 'Only The Strong Survive' or a 'Tracks 2' or even the much spoken about 'Born In The U.S.A.' boxset.

What I'll try and do in this post is look at the Compilations that have been released including the first 'Greatest Hits' album back in 1995. Although the 'Tracks' set and '18 Tracks' are considered "compilations" they are not really considered as a 'Best of'. I will include 'Chapter and Verse' (2016) because I think it sort of does fit the mould of a 'Best of'. We will do it in reverse order of release and along the way point out the benefits or even the poor points of a particular compilation (hopefully not too much negativity).

I will also try and add as many links as possible without too much repetition. Click on them to listen to the Music.

Best of Bruce Springsteen 1973-2020
Columbia
Released 19th April 2024
Formats: 18 Track 2LP Set and CD, 31 Track Digital Edition

 Side A
 1 - Growin’ Up
 2 - Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
 3 - Born To Run
 4 - Thunder Road

Side B
   1 - Badlands
   2 - Hungry Heart
   3-  Atlantic City
   4 - Dancing in the Dark
   5 - Born in the U.S.A.

Side C
  1 - Brilliant Disguise
  2 -  Human Touch
  3 -  Streets of Philadelphia
  4 -  The Ghost of Tom Joad

Side D
   1 - Secret Garden
   2 - The Rising
   3 - Girls In Their Summer Clothes
   4 - Hello Sunshine
   5 - Letter To You

 

Best of Bruce Springsteen - Deluxe Digital Edition  

1 - Growin’ Up
2 - Spirit In The Night
3 - Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
4 - 4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)
5 - Born To Run
6 - Tenth Avenue Freeze Out
7 - Thunder Road
8 - Badlands
9 - Prove It All Night
10 - The River
11 - Hungry Heart
12 - Atlantic City
13 - Glory Days
14 - Dancing in the Dark
15 - Born in the U.S.A
16 - Brilliant Disguise
17 - Tougher Than The Rest
18 - Human Touch
19 - If I Should Fall Behind
20 - Living Proof
21 - Streets of Philadelphia
22 - The Ghost of Tom Joad
23 - Secret Garden
24 - The Rising
25 - Long Time Comin’
26 - Girls In Their Summer Clothes
27 - The Wrestler
28 - We Take Care Of Our Own
29 - Hello Sunshine
30 - Ghosts
31 - Letter To You

 I realise when the label are trying to scan through a career that has spanned 50 years that the choices they make for a new compilation are going to be difficult and not necessarily appealing to all listners and that's clearly the case with 'The Best of Bruce Springsteen'. The Vinyl version, whilst containing many of Springsteen's most iconic songs, sort of grinds to a halt come Side D. Yes, "The Rising" and possibly "Letter To You" should be there but the absence of a track like "A Long Walk Home" or even "Radio Nowhere" representing the 'Magic' period is a terrible mistake (and even worse they are not even included on the Expanded Digital version!). Also the fact that not a single song from one of most successful albums in 'Wrecking Ball' is included on the Vinyl release is a terrible misjudgement on part of the label (they do include one track on the Digital version but that doesn't appease me). The other glaring absence from both versions is anything from The Seeger Sessions period. The 'We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions' album was a #3 album both sides of The Atlantic and the fact that they couldn't come up with even one song to include on the Digital version is laughable. If I had a choice "How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times And Live" or "American Land" would have been on it.

Chapter and Verse
Columbia
23rd September 2016
US Charts #5
UK Charts #2
 
1  The Castiles – Baby I (previously unreleased)
2  The Castiles – You Can't Judge A Book By The Cover (previously unreleased)
3  Steel Mill – He's Guilty (The Judge Song) (previously unreleased)
4  The Bruce Springsteen Band – The Ballad Of Jesse James previously unreleased
5  Bruce Springsteen – Henry Boy (previously unreleased)
6  Bruce Springsteen – Growin' Up
7  Bruce Springsteen – 4th Of July, Asbury Park
8  Bruce Springsteen – Born To Run
9  Bruce Springsteen – Badlands
10 Bruce Springsteen – The River
11 Bruce Springsteen – My Father's House
12 Bruce Springsteen – Born In The U.S.A.
13 Bruce Springsteen – Brilliant Disguise
14 Bruce Springsteen – Living Proof
15 Bruce Springsteen – The Ghost Of Tom Joad
16 Bruce Springsteen – The Rising
17 Bruce Springsteen – Long Time Comin'
18 Bruce Springsteen – Wrecking Ball

This one was released as a companion piece to Springsteen's autobiography 'Born To Run' and in a way it's a great album because Bruce hand picked all the songs that almost seem like a chapter of his story. Every album is represented by a song but the thing that makes this album such a good compilation is the inclusion of the opening five previously unreleased songs. Firstly, two songs from Bruce's first band The Castiles from 1966. Although they only lasted a couple of years and not many would have heard anything but these two songs it was a good insight into what Springsteen would go on to become. Then in 1968 Springsteen formed Child who later changed their name to Steel Mill. I have few Steel Mill bootlegs. In these early days Springsteen was already playing with future E Street Band members like Steve Van Zandt, Danny Federici and Vini Lopez."He's Guilty (The Judge Song)" was recorded for Bill Graham in 1970 and the band rejected the offer of a contract from him. During the early 1970s Springsteen, Lopez, Federici and Van Zandt would go on to play together in several short-lived bands based out of the Upstage. These included Bruce Springsteen & The Friendly Enemies, The Sundance Blues Band, Dr. Zoom & The Sonic Boom, which once opened for the Allman Brothers at the Sunshine Inn in Asbury Park, and The Bruce Springsteen Band, which often played at the Student Prince in Asbury Park. These bands eventually evolved into the E Street Band. I like the jump from playing with the bands to just him and his guitar on the next couple of songs and then begins the journey as a major label signed atist. A perfectly crafted album, mainly due to Springsteen himself picking the songs.

Collection: 1973–2012
Columbia
8th March 2013 (Australian Limited Tour Edition )
15th April 2013 (Europe)

I must admit that this is one I didn't purchase. As an avid fan I would often go out of my way to get a "new" Springsteen record but I just couldn't part with the cash on this one. I got a little excited at first when I saw in the title the word "Collection",  drumming up all kind of crazy ideas exactly what it might be BUT, and a BIG BUT (calm down Sir Mix-A-Lot! 😅 ) indeed, once I saw it was only 18 tracks and nothing to even tease you into maybe buying it, even two tracks ("Badlands" and "The Promised Land") newly remastered for this compilation couldn't tempt me! Infact, I would actually question the legitimacy of that claim as the album had actually been remastered in 2010 for the 'The Promise: The Darkness on the Edge of Town' boxset and that remaster didn't make the album sound better (I still listen to the original version)!

Greatest Hits (American Edition)
Columbia
13th January 2009
Wal-Mart Exclusive
US Charts #43
1  ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT)
2  BORN TO RUN  
3  THUNDER ROAD  
4  DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN  
5  BADLANDS  
6  HUNGRY HEART
7  GLORY DAYS          
8  DANCING IN THE DARK  
9  BORN IN THE U.S.A.  
10 THE RISING  
11 LONESOME DAY
12 RADIO NOWHERE

Bruce took a lot of heat for this one being a "Wal-Mart Exclusive" with criticism coming from the media and with Wal-Mart being known as very Anti-Union it seemed to go against everything Springsteen had stood for in support of Unions and workers rights previously. A writer for the Huffington Post, Tony Sachs, pronounced the release one of the "top five boneheaded music industry moves" of the year. Jon Landau tried his best to paint a good justification for it but the last word went to Bruce saying that they "dropped the ball" with the association with Wal-Mart, and attributed it to insufficient vetting due to too many activities going on. There were no new songs included on it!

Greatest Hits (European Limited Tour Edition)
Columbia
1st June 2009
UK Charts #3
1  BLINDED BY THE LIGHT
2  ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT)
3  BORN TO RUN
4  THUNDER ROAD
5  BADLANDS
6  DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN
7  HUNGRY HEART
8  THE RIVER
9  BORN IN THE U.S.A.
10 I'M ON FIRE
11 GLORY DAYS
12 DANCING IN THE DARK
13 THE RISING
14 LONESOME DAY
15 RADIO NOWHERE
16 LONG WALK HOME
17 BECAUSE THE NIGHT (Live)
18 FIRE (Live)

Six months after shambolic American release came a European Limited Tour Edition. I have never actually seen a physical copy of this (just spotted copies on Discogs for £1, so maybe I might get it). I have no idea how "Limited" it was and interestingly considering it was a "Tour Edition" there wasn't a single track from the Working On A Dream album that they were touring in support of, you'd expect at least one. The European version had been extended to 18 songs and if we are being honest here, the record label were playing with the truth a bit calling it "Greatest Hits" as apart from 6 that actually reached the Top 30 in the UK and another 6 that were in the lower reaches of the Charts that means a third of album were not really "Greatest Hits" at all, good songs yes, but not hits!

The Essential Bruce Springsteen 3CD*
Columbia
11th November 2003
US Charts #14
UK Charts #28
Disc 1
1-1 Blinded By The Light  5:04
1-2 For You 4:40
1-3 Spirit In The Night 5:00
1-4 4th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy) 5:37
1-5 Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) 7:04
1-6 Thunder Road  4:51
1-7 Born To Run  4:32
1-8 Jungleland  9:36
1-9 Badlands 4:04
1-10 Darkness On The Edge Of Town  4:31
1-11 The Promised Land  4:31
1-12 The River  5:00
1-13 Hungry Heart  3:20
1-14 Nebraska  4:29
1-15 Atlantic City  3:56
Disc 2
2-1  Born In The U.S.A.  4:42
2-2  Glory Days  4:17
2-3  Dancing In The Dark  4:03
2-4  Tunnel Of Love  5:12
2-5  Brilliant Disguise  4:15
2-6  Human Touch  6:31
2-7  Living Proof  4:48
2-8  Lucky Town  3:28
2-9  Streets Of Philadelphia  3:18
2-10 The Ghost Of Tom Joad  4:23
2-11 The Rising  4:49
2-12 Mary's Place  6:01
2-13 Lonesome Day  4:07
2-14 American Skin (41 Shots) (Live)  7:52
2-15 Land Of Hope And Dreams (Live)  9:22
Disc 3 Bonus Disc    
3-1 From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come)  2:42
3-2  The Big Payback   1:58
3-3  Held Up Without A Gun (Live)  1:21
3-4  Trapped (Live)  5:10
3-5  None But The Brave  5:35
3-6  Missing  5:04
3-7  Lift Me Up  5:16
3-8  Viva Las Vegas  3:10
3-9  County Fair  4:50
3-10 Code Of Silence (Live)  4:33
3-11 Dead Man Walkin' 2:43
3-12 Countin' On A Miracle (Acoustic) 5:00

 

I like what Bruce had to say about the 2003 version, "We saw a lot of new faces on our recent tour and we put this collection together with them in mind. We selected material from over the full span of our recorded work...The idea was to present a little bit of what each album has to offer."  

I'm going to say that both versions of 'The Essential Bruce Springsteen' are probably worth getting hold of and would be a great introduction for someone new to Springsteen's music (these days people just stream it on one platform or another) from some of the earlier works and right up to the 2014 'High Hopes' album (if you get the 2015 version). The 3CD version from 2003 is worth finding for the Bonus Disc which has a mix of songs from various Soundtracks, B-sides, multi-artist album projects, outtakes and live material.

*A Newer Version of The Essential Bruce Springsteen was released 15th October 2015 with a  different tracklist. I'll add links for the tracks that I haven't previously.

Disc 1
1-1  Growin' Up
1-2  Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
1-3  4th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)
1-4  Thunder Road
1-5  Born To Run
1-6  Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
1-7  Badlands
1-8  The Promised Land
1-9  Prove It All Night
1-10 The River
1-11 Hungry Heart
1-12 The Ties That Bind
1-13 Out In The Street
1-14 Atlantic City
1-15 Johnny 99
1-16 Glory Days
1-17 Born In The U.S.A.
1-18 Dancing In The Dark
Disc 2
2-1  Tougher Than The Rest
2-2  Brilliant Disguise
2-3  One Step Up
2-4  Human Touch (Single Edit.)
2-5  Better Days
2-6  If I Should Fall Behind
2-7  Streets Of Philadelphia
2-8  Murder Incorporated
2-9  The Ghost Of Tom Joad
2-10 The Rising
2-11 Lonesome Day
2-12 Devils & Dust
2-13 Long Time Comin'
2-14 Radio Nowhere
2-15 Working On A Dream
2-16 My Lucky Day
2-17 The Wrestler
2-18 We Take Care Of Our Own
2-19 Hunter Of Invisible Game

Greatest Hits
Columbia
27th February 1995
US Chart #1
UK Chart #1

1  Born To Run
2  Thunder Road
3  Badlands
4  The River
5  Hungry Heart
6  Atlantic City
7  Dancing In The Dark
8  Born In The U.S.A.
9  My Hometown (Early fade-out)
10 Glory Days (Early fade-out)
11 Brilliant Disguise
12 Human Touch (Edited Radio Version)
13 Better Days (Edited Version)
14 Streets Of Philadelphia (Single Edit)
15 Secret Garden*
16 Murder Incorporated*
17 Blood Brothers*
18 This Hard Land*

* New songs 

 

We arrive at the first 'Greatest Hits' from Mr Bruce Springsteen to end this post. 

 

Let me bore you with some statistics courtesy of the page on Wikipedia for this album:

In the States the album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 the week of March 18, 1995, with more than 250,000 copies sold, it remained on the chart for 43 weeks. As of March, 2009 it has sold over 4,092,000 copies in the United States according to Nielsen SoundScan. It was certified six times platinum by the RIAA on May 25, 2022, for shipments of 6,000,000.

In the United Kingdom the album entered at number one on March 11, 1995, and topped the chart for two non consecutive weeks. It was present on the chart for 134 weeks. It was certified four times platinum by the BPI on March 21, 2014, denoting shipments of 1,200,000 units. It was number one in a further 16 countries!

 

The album wasn't universally loved by the Music Critics, but remember they get free copies sent to them whilst the rest of us go out and spend our hard earned cash (and by the look at the numbers above quite a few million folks bought it and continued to buy for ages). 

Excuse me a moment as I go all "fanboy" about why I absolutely treasure this album. I was totally estatic when it was released because of one song! Yep, I mainly bought it for just one new recording of a song I had been listening to on a pretty rubbish cassette since 1984 (I still have that cassette today) , of course it was nice that there were three other new songs (another of which had also been on the same cassette and recorded around a similar time in 1982 as part of the Born in the U.S.A. Sessions), but only one had captivated me for more than a decade. That song was "This Hard Land".

Almost two years before the 'Greatest Hits' album was released I went see Bruce play at the SECC in Glasgow and he played an acoustic version of it! Up until 2018 he has played the song live 272 times, but back then, in 1993 he had only ever played it once on 23rd March 1993 at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, New Jersey, eight days later he's standing on a stage in the city where I lived and he's playing it for only the second time live ever..."gonna do this for all the, uh ….fanatics out there". Wow, that was a moment I won't forget in a hurry! I would have to wait another until 1995 for a newly recorded version and then a further three years for the 'Tracks' set to be released to finally get the version of "This Hard Land" I had been listening to on cassette for 14 years!

Oh, there's also a few actual hit singles as well as a few popular album tracks for good measure and some newly recorded songs...did I mention "This Hard Land" yet? 😉

I'm not always a fan of Compilations and if there's one thing that drives me nuts it's when a band/artist has maybe only had one or two albums released and yet there's loads of Compilations (Buddy Holly is a good example here, 3 albums released but 29 Compilations!). I hope that Sony don't go too crazy with Springsteen's back catalog in the years to come. I'm not totally convinced we need this new one coming out in April but that's the music business for you!