Track Listing

Disc 1:

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 2:

1. Born in the USA
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) - Live
15. Land of Hope and Dreams - Live

Disc 3:

1. From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come) - Recorded in 1979, covered by Dave Edmunds on 1982 release 'DE 7th'
2. Big Payback - Home recording made shortly after 'Nebraska'
3. Held Up Without a Gun (live) - Recorded live in Uniondale, NY, in 1980
4. Trapped (live)- Jimmy Cliff song recorded live on 'The River' tour
5. None But the Brave - Recorded during 'Born in the USA' sessions
6. Missing - Appeared in Sean Penn film 'The Crossing Guard'
7. Lift Me Up - Written for John Sayles' film 'Limbo.'
8. Viva Las Vegas - Recorded for NME benefit album
9. County Fair - Recorded in 1983 at home after 'Nebraska' sessions
10. Code of Silence (live) - Written with Joe Gruschecky, recorded live in 1999
11. Dead Man Walking - Written for Tim Robbins' film -
12. Countin' on a Miracle (acoustic) - Recording played at end of every show on 'Rising' tour 2002-2003

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #94130 in Music
• Released on: 2003-12-15
• Number of discs: 3
• Formats: Import, Box set

Customer Reviews

Great Collection
Bruce Springsteen is first class songwriter and performer-- none of those things are in dispute. So I guess an album like this comes down to song selection... 1995s `Greatest Hits' collection was great but did have some glaringly obvious omissions. The collection in question is certainly an improvement-- if only because every album is represented, including the criminally underrated `Ghost of Tom Joad' whose brilliant title track appears here. Having said that, there are still some dissappointing omissions. The most obvious would have to be the selection of `For You' over `It's Hard to Be A Saint In The City'-- Bruce's most dazzling lyrical piece to date and the song that drew many a comparison to the legendary Bob Dylan. I also would like to have seen `Racing In The Streets', `Adam Raised A Cain' and `Youngstown', though these last three might not be missed by many out there. I think `Adam...' showcases the angry mood present on `Darkness' better than any other song on the album...

One other thing I have noticed is the omission of `I'm On Fire' on both this collection and `Greatest Hits'. Surely there is no one out there that would actually choose `Glory Days' or `Dancing In The Dark' over this one? Is this song omitted simply to force people to continue buying `Born In The USA'?

Regardless, one of the strengths of this collection is that it is a `best of' rather than a `hits' package. This means we don't miss out out on masterpieces like `Jungleland' that could never appear on a `Greatest Hits' package. Having said that, the inclusion of some other `masterpieces' such as `Brothers Under the Bridge' might have been good, though might have reduced the commercial appeal.

...and speaking of `Greatest Hits', why not include `Blood Brothers' on this collection?

Anyway, personal preferences aside, this is a much stronger offering than `Greatest Hits' with enough of the lesser known material (from `Greetings...' for example) to satisfy most, but not so much as to dissuade those people that bought only `Born In The USA' and `The River' all those years ago...

Awesome stuff. And some of the bonus tracks aren't bad either (`Trapped' is great and `Lift Me Up' is absolutely stunning).

Essential stuff indeed.

Excellent Intro to Springsteen
Very good intro to Springsteen pre Working on a Dream. Try and get the 3 disc special edition as this has some gems on it you will only hear if you go and see him live (Trapped etc). Has enough exclusive material to make it a worthwhile purchase for someone who has all the albums.

The Essential Bruce Springsteen-Limited
Having purchased all three Springsteen compilations (original `Greatest Hits', `The Essential...' and later `Greatest Hits`) I have to say that `The Essential Bruce Springsteen' is probably your best bet for your first try of what he has to offer. You get a wide selection of tracks across two CD's that are fairly representative of what his music is like. Any compilation is going to create argument about inclusions and songs left out and I am sad to see `Murder Incorporated' missing for example, but the remaining tracks more than make up for any personal opinions on running order. This album is good because it offers up the obligatory crowd pleasers like 'Born to Run' and 'Born in The U.S.A`. etc, but it also shows some of Bruce's earlier work which is quite folky and less popular, as well as `The Ghost of Tom Joad' (which I love) from the acoustic album of the same name. There is a wide spread of his careers work, as well as the excellent new live tracks from `Live in New York'. The booklet is as good as on all his previous albums and provides all the lyrics and shows how good they actually are. In fact people are often surprised at the depth of his writing if all they are used to is the stadium rockers. This limited edition version has a third disc with rare demo's and outtakes on it and is worth hunting down if you want all his albums or if you want to hear some of his more obscure stuff. There are tracks from various films , as well as live tracks. To be honest some of the songs on the third disc are a bit hit and miss, but `Lift Me Up', `Code of Silence' and the acoustic version of 'Countin' on a Miracle' all stand out and make it worth paying extra for this version. If you are a fan of Bruce then this is a great place to go for a selection of his best tracks in one place and if you are new to his work then this will be the start of one amazing ride!