4/5
Runaway American Dreams
Back to Boss basics. This New Music (and movie and TV show) Friday, you have a choice, between watching 'F1' and the last season of Netflix's 'Squid Game'. Binge season four of 'The Bear' on Hulu and Disney +, starring Jeremy Allen White, who's about to play Bruce Springsteen in this fall's biopic, 'Deliver Me From Nowhere'. Or, binge The Boss, Bruce Springsteen himself's 'Tracks II: The Lost Albums'. A mere month after his 'Land Of Hope & Dreams EP' took it to Trump and a concert in Manchester, England. Sure, it's been three years since Springsteen's last set, the classic covers of 'Only The Strong Survive', not to mention, a half decade since his last 'Letter To You' of original material. But this box-set, treasure trove treat for the fans, spans four decades, seven discs, 83 songs, five hours and 19 minutes. Now you know why you need to binge. This even lasts longer than the latest culinary experience with 'The Bear' for your FX.
A classic Colombia compilation and follow up to the 'Tracks' '(the perfect accompaniment to his 'Songs' book) he tore through in 1998 (featuring personal favourites like 'Happy', 'Sad Eyes' and 'Trouble In Paradise') off of the hit from the vault, 'My Love Will Not Let You Down', this is Bruce's 'Lost Tapes' sequel, like Nas. The Jersey boy has separated these selections from the collections on the cutting room floor into seven separate thematic albums. The 'LA Garage Sessions '83', 'Streets Of Philadelphia Sessions', 'Faithless', 'Somewhere North Of Nashville', 'Inyo', Twilight Hours' and 'Perfect World'. But if this is too much Springsteen for you, Donald, as we look to Make America Boss Again, you can also cop the companion compilation 'Lost and Found: Selections From The Lost Albums', much like the '18 Tracks' that came after the '98 original. But the collectors of Boss completists and purists won't be able to get enough of the perfect album (or seven seals) to accompany you on a weekend afternoon, like the 'Sunday Love' best of the bunch. Three hundred, 19 minutes and 48 seconds of rare and archival session music that feel like real records as the successful singles of 'Rain In The River', 'Blind Spot', 'Faithless', 'Repo Men', 'Adelita' and the aforementioned 'Sunday Love' show and prove.
Out in Los Angeles, the lo-fi raw recordings begin with the notion to 'Follow That Dream'. A 'Fugitives One' and a ballad version to boot, keeps everything running like Harrison Ford away from Tommy Lee Jones. There's also an original version of 'My Hometown' across the boardwalk. But 'Don't Back Down On Our Love', 'Sugarland', 'Unsatisfied Heart' and 'Shut Out The Light' are the highlights. On 'The Klansman', Springsteen sings, "Word of the trouble spread around/One day, a man came through my town/I was in the kitchen when my pa let him in/Shook my hand, said, "Son, the Klan's your friend". Telling a troubling tale of generational hate, as racism is passed down a family tree like strange fruit. There's hope to come, however, on the U2 like 'One Love', with the words formed "One girl, one love/One dream in our hearts/Two hearts as one/One hope never to be torn apart," akin to his cover of Suicide's 'Dream Baby Dream' off of 'High Hopes'.
Springsteen says they believe the 90s was his "lost" period, and he's trying to right that wrong. The 90s, 'Streets Of Philadelphia' from the Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington, Jonathan Demme movie, was what got me into Bruce Springsteen in the first place, during the golden era of Americana, and everything entertainment related (see, Jordan, Michael and Park, Jurassic). As a matter of fact, 'Secret Garden', off of Tom Cruise's 'Jerry Maguire', directed by Cameron Crowe, remains not only my greatest Springsteen hit, but my favourite song, the lyrics taped up on my bedroom wall, back home. There's another sweet version of that, like the 'Blood Brothers EP' one of strings, on here, but it's the 90s as Gap commercials, 'Blind Spot' opening that will really hit you with nostalgia. 'Something In The Well', 'One Beautiful Morning' and 'Between Heaven and Earth' will make you wish for more output from this decade. Whilst you can find the likes of 'Maybe I Don't Know You' and lines like, "What's that dress you're wearing, baby?/I never seen that dress before/And tell me, what'd you do with your hair?/Is it somethin' new, somethin' you were gonna surprise me with?", down the divorced 'Tunnel Of Love'.
Those Philadelphia soul stories now just may be one of my favourite Springsteen albums. 'Faithless', like the 'Devils & Dust' for those who can't get no sleep, may just be yours. After 'The Desert' of an inspired instrumental introduction, 'Where You Goin', Where You From' will take you in like 'All God's Children'. 'A Prayer By The River' and 'The Western Sea' are also instrumental. Whereas, the theme of 'My Mater's Hand' is made for a movie, just as 'Goin' To California' charts. With the 'Nebraska' like 'Somewhere North Of Nashville' and its terrific title track coming after, these country spirits could find themselves equally on a Willie Nelson record, or Sam Shepard 'Cruising Paradise' short story like the 'Inyo' that comes next. On 'Poor Side Of Town', an old lover returns, as the muse is warned, "To him, you were nothing but a plaything/Nothing more than an overnight fling/To me, you were the greatest/The greatest thing I had ever found/And it's hard to find nice things/On the poor side of town." The Nashville skyline shining as bright and bittersweet as it did in Dylan country.
Spaghetti western themes slap your plate from the spatula of 'Inyo', as Eno Moccirein would be proud of the cinematic likes of 'Adelita', 'The Lost Charro' and 'Our Lady Of Monroe'. With 'One False Move', Springsteen shoots, "On the streets of south Texas, I made my straight time/Workin' nights and pissin' in a cup/For my man down on State/Now I roll down the window and let in the cool, clear desert night/And that cold feelin' of my luck runnin' out." Whereas, on the 'Twilight Hours' of melancholic movie making sound tracking, The Boss directs us towards the table for 'Dinner At Eight', with reservations for two, ordering "A love, a home, a simple world of our own/Your voice on the phone/Dinner at eight, dinner at eight", which in essence is something we all want. 'Late In The Evening', 'Two Of Us' and 'September Kisses' yearn for more in this 'Lonely Own'. But it's 'I'll Stand By You', originally rejected by 'Harry Potter', before appearing on the brilliant 'Blinded By The Light' movie soundtrack, is the real great pretender, like what you and me were, before it all slipped away.
Eighty tracks, instead of eighteen, are too much to tell you about all in one review. Even if we wish we could in a 'Perfect World'. The rest is for you to explore, like this curtain call CD, highlighted by 'The Great Depression' and 'I'm Not Sleeping', which is what we wouldn't do any more, like the Counting Crows, if we took you through each record on 'Tracks II', track for track. Needless to say, it's as much a journey across America, as it is Springsteen's strong and sensitive soul, 'Another Thin Line', reaching across borders, and boundaries passed and past. 'Blind Man' and 'Cutting Knife' standout. Whereas 'You Lifted Me Up' is as beautiful as the falsetto of the truly lost track 'Lift Me Up' off of 'Limbo' and 'The Essential Bruce Springsteen'. There's so much to track, and like 'If Only I Could Be Your Lover ("If I could only be your lover/I'd never covet any other"), if only we could take it all in. Almost 75 tracks and a 17-minute accompanying documentary, with 'Tracks III' set to complete the trilogy in the next three years. Following last year's 'Best Of Bruce Springsteen', this record jacket and the linear notes to go with it, stay in. Tape up the tracks of these tears from the man who expressed every emotion in the hard worn and boot cut, jean weathered American dream. Reborn and ready to run again. TIM DAVID HARVEY.
Playlist Picks: 'LA Garage Sessions '83': 'Follow That Dream', 'Don't Back Down On Our Love', 'Fugitive's Dream'.
'Streets Of Philadelphia Sessions': 'Blind Spot', 'Maybe I Don't Know You', 'Secret Garden'.
'Faithless': 'God Sent You', 'Goin' To California', 'My Master's Hand'.
'Somewhere North Of Nashville': 'Poor Side Of Town', 'You're Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone', 'Somewhere North Of Nashville'.
'Inyo': 'Indian Town', 'El Jardinero (Upon the Death of Ramona)', 'When I Build My Beautiful House'.
'Twilight Hours': 'Sunday Love', 'September Kisses', 'Dinner At Eight'.
'Perfect World': 'The Great Depression', 'Rain In The River', 'If I Could Only Be Your Lover'.
Spin This: Bruce Springsteen - '18 Tracks'.
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