The Essential Bruce Springsteen
 | Sony, 2003, Audio CD Customer Rating: 160 reviews Recommend |
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Vastly expanding 1995's single disc Greatest Hits, The Essential Bruce Springsteen easily surpasses the earlier best-of set by serving up all its true essentials and tossing in less appreciated treats and a full disc of rarities. Disc one spans the first decade of Springsteen's recording career, serving up at least two tracks each from the six albums that laid the groundwork for his '80s burst into superstardom. Disc two picks up with his mainstream breakthrough, 1984's Born in the U.S.A., and carries on through 2002's The Rising, tossing in live recordings of "American Skin" and "Land of Hope and Dreams" for good measure. The selections and sequencing surpass those made on Greatest Hits, though there's not too much in the way of surprises, other than that it appears that Born in the U.S.A. hasn't aged all that well for the Boss; here, he selects only three songs from the hit-laden smash, one fewer than is found on the skimpy Greatest Hits. Disc three is where the fun really starts for all but neophytes. The live "Held Up Without a Gun" is as gutsy a one minute and 20 seconds as Springsteen as one could ask for, and the likes of "Trapped," "Countin' on a Miracle," and a cover of "Viva Las Vegas" rank with his signature songs. — Steven Stolder
Disc 1Disc 2
- Blinded By the Light
- For You
- Spirit In the Night
- 4th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)
- Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
- Thunder Road
- Born To Run
- Jungleland
- Badlands
- Darkness On The Edge Of Town
- The Promised Land
- The River
- Hungry Heart
- Nebraska
- Atlantic City
Disc 3
- Born In The U.S.A.
- Glory Days
- Dancing In The Dark
- Tunnel Of Love
- Brilliant Disguise
- Human Touch
- Living Proof
- Lucky Town
- Streets Of Philadelphia
- The Ghost Of Tom Joad
- The Rising
- Mary's Place
- Lonesome Day
- American Skin (41 Shots) (Live)
- Land Of Hope and Dreams (Live)
- From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come)
- Big Payback
- Held Up Without A Gun (Live)
- Trapped (Live)
- None But The Brave
- Missing
- Lift Me Up
- Viva Las Vegas
- County Fair
- Code Of Silence (Live)
- Dead Man Walkin'
- Countin' On a Miracle (Acoustic)
Title: The Essential Bruce Springsteen
Sales Rank: 837 in Music
Artist: Bruce Springsteen
Label: Sony, 2003-11-11, Audio CD, 3 Discs
Format: Extra tracks, Limited Edition, Original recording remastered
Package Dimensions: 5.6 x 4.9 x 0.9 inches, 0.35 pounds
- Not Exactly Essential
- While this collection includes most of Springsteen's classics, several important ones are missing (My Hometown, I'm On Fire, Better Days, Secret Garden, Waitin' On A Sunny Day). It does however include some songs from his first two albums, which I would not call "essential." If they are going to call a collection THE Essential, then it should include every top… More reviews
- MISSING GREAT SONGS
- I give this collection 3 stars because don't include two greatest 80's hits: I'M ON FIRE and MY HOME TOWN not even in the GREATEST HITS album. More reviews
- Essential Bruce Springsteen CD
- thank you for sending a wonderful CD, a great collection of Bruce's music over the decades. Thanks More reviews
- Essentials but missing a few old favs.
- This is a great album for getting a taste of the Boss from all eras of his career except the most recent of course seeing as this cd was done in the early 90's.
It missed a few old favorites, like Growing Up, Seaside Bar Song but it was a good mix, wish it had Something in the Night, and Tougher Than The… More reviews
- Who's to blame?
- Is this complilation Bruce's fault, or the record label's? I mean, I've seen many other collections that are missing songs and figured that the label must be screwing people. Has Bruce pulled a Metallica?
There are a lot of good songs on here, but no My City of Ruin (which was a 9/11 anthem, and which Kevin Smith liked enough to include… More reviews
