 | Bruce SpringsteenA Retrospective: 1966-2016 |
A Brief History:In conjunction with the release of his autobiography, Born to Run, Bruce Springsteen is also celebrated with a new collection of his work, this one spanning fifty years. Here’s a look at five different compilations (and variations of them) which have been released over the years. Collectively, the 50+ songs represented by these collections would make a very respectable career-spanning 4-disc box set. On the Web:
The E Street Band:
Lists: |
Compilations:This page highlights the compilations below. 
The Studio Albums:This page offers snapshots of all the studio albums below, noting those songs which appear on compilations with the codes noted above. Appearing after song titles are the songwriters in italicized parentheses, running times in brackets, and when relevant, the date the song was released as a single and its peaks on various charts. Click for codes to singles charts. Hover over an album cover to see its title and year of release. Click on the album to go to its dedicated DMDB page. 
Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. (1972):
The Wild, the Innocent, & the E Street Shuffle (1973):
Born to Run (1975):
Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978):
The Promise (recorded 1978, release 2010): “Fire” and “Because the Night” were recorded in 1978, but not released until The Promise in 2010. Live versions of the songs were on Live 1975/1985 and are the versions listed below.
The River (1980):
Nebraska (1982):
Born in the U.S.A. (1984):
Tunnel of Love (1987):
Human Touch (1992):
Lucky Town (1992):
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Greatest Hits (1995)Bruce Springsteen |
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Released: February 28, 1995 Recorded: 1975-1995 Peak: 12 US, 12 UK, 15 CN, 11 AU Sales (in millions): 4.0 US, 0.6 UK, 15.0 world (includes US and UK) Genre: rock |
Tracks: (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 (10) Glory Days (11) Brilliant Disguise (12) Human Touch (13) Better Days (14) Streets of Philadelphia (15) Secret Garden (16) Murder Incorporated (17) Blood Brothers (18) This Hard Land Total Running Time: 76:35 |
Rating:  4.178 out of 5.00 (average of 20 ratings)
Awards: (Click on award to learn more).
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About Greatest Hits (1995): The first compilation from “The Boss” covered his then more-than-twenty-year career in the span of 18 songs. Included are top ten hits Hungry Heart, Dancing in the Dark, Born in the U.S.A., Glory Days, My Hometown, Brilliant Disguse, and Streets of Philadelphia as well as the quintessential Born to Run. However, there are other top ten hits (“Cover Me,” “I’m on Fire,” “I’m Goin’ Down,” “War”) omitted from this collection in favor of album cuts like Thunder Road and The River. Despite that, Bruce’s first two albums aren’t represented at all. Instead, there are four new songs, “the best of which is an outtake from the Born in the U.S.A. sessions (Murder Incorporated).” 95-A The other new songs “follow the synth-laden adult contemporary direction Springsteen began pursuing with ‘Streets of Philadelphia,’ only without the lyricism or melody.” 95-A In the end, “it’s a mixed bag, drawing an incomplete portrait of one of the prime rockers of the ‘70s and ‘80s.” 95-A Tracks Not on Previously Noted Albums:
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The Ghost of Tom Joad (1995):
Live in New York City (recorded 1999, released 2001):
The Rising (2002):
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The Essential (2003)Bruce Springsteen |
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Released: November 11, 2003 Recorded: 1973-2002 Peak: 14 US, 28 UK, -- CN, 43 AU Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, 2.5 world (includes US and UK) Genre: rock |
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Tracks, 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 Tracks, Disc 2: (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 Tracks, Disc 3: (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’ (120 Countin’ on a Miracle Total Running Time: 3:21:04 |
Rating:  4.440 out of 5.00 (average of 15 ratings)
Awards: (Click on award to learn more).
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About The Essential (2003): 2003 saw a much-needed double-disc (three if you count the disc of rarities) treatment of Springsteen’s career. For better or worse, this isn’t just an expansion of 1995’s Greatest Hits. Unlike that collection, Essentials covers all of Springsteen’s studio albums, which means welcome additions like Blinded by the Light, Rosalita, and 4th of July (Sandy) which failed to make the cut for the Greatest Hits. However, there also unnecessary album cuts like Nebraska, Living Proof, and Mary’s Place. None of these are bad songs, but are hardly as essential as the top ten hits also neglected by Greatest Hits. In addition, this collection jettisons “My Hometown” and “Better Days” and the four songs which premiered on Greatest Hits. We do, however, also get some fantastic post-Greatest Hits songs like The Rising, Land of Hope and Dreams, and American Skin (41 Shots). Tracks Not on Previously Noted Albums:
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Devils & Dust (2005):
Magic (2007):
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Greatest Hits (2009)Bruce Springsteen |
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Released: January 13, 2009 Covers: 1973-2007 Peak: 43 US, 3 UK, 21 CN, 17 AU Sales (in millions): 0.37 world (includes US and UK) Genre: rock |
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Tracks (American Version): (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 Tracks (European Version): (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) Total Running Time: 53:08 (American version), 79:03 (European version) |
Rating: 4.255 out of 5.00 (average of 10 ratings)
Awards: (Click on award to learn more).
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About Greatest Hits (2009): Would it be too hard to call this The Best of to avoid confusion with the 1995 collection? The earlier set was billed solely to Bruce Springsteen while this one also credits the E Street Band, but that surely hasn’t stopped a few confused shoppers from buying one and thinking they were getting the other. This collection is pretty unnecessary. At a dozen songs, the U.S. version is pretty skimpy in the CD era and offers nothing we haven’t had in previous Springsteen compilations. Eight of these songs appeared on the 1995 Greatest Hits and all but Radio Nowhere (released in 2007) were on the 2003 Essentials. The European edition is much stronger at 18 cuts, including three songs not on any other Bruce compilations: the top ten hit I’m on Fire, Fire, and Because the Night; the latter two are from the Live 1975/1985 box set. |
Working on a Dream (2009):
Wrecking Ball (2012):
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The Collection (2012)Bruce Springsteen |
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Released: March 8, 2013 Covers: 1973-2012 Peak: -- US, 35 UK, -- CN, 6 AU Sales (in millions): -- Genre: rock |
Tracks: (1) Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) (2) Thunder Road (3) Born to Run (4) Badlands (5) The Promised Land (6) Hungry Heart (7) Atlantic City (8) Born in the U.S.A. (9) Dancing in the Dark (10) Brilliant Disguise (11) Human Touch (12) Streets of Philadelphia (13) The Ghost of Tom Joad (14) The Rising (15) Radio Nowhere (16) Working on a Dream (17) We Take Care of Our Own (18) Wrecking Ball |
Rating: 4.245 out of 5.00 (average of 10 ratings)
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About The Collection: Six of the songs here are make their fourth appearance on a Bruce Springsteen compilation: “Born to Run,” “Thunder Road,” “Badlands,” “Hungry Heart,” “Dancing in the Dark,” and “Born in the U.S.A.” Most of the others are repeats as well. New to the mix are Working on a Dream, We Take Care of Our Own, and Wrecking Ball. The former two would also appear on the 2015 reissue of The Essential. High Hopes (2014):
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The Essential (2015)Bruce Springsteen |
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Released: October 2015 Recorded: 1973-2014 Peak: -- US, 15 UK, -- CN, 41 AU Sales (in millions): -- US, -- UK, -- world (includes US and UK) Genre: rock |
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Tracks, Disc 1: (1) Growin’ Up (2) Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) (3) 4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy) (4) Thunder Road (5) Born to Run (6) Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out (7) Badlands (8) The Promised Land (9) Prove It All Night (10) The River (11) Hungry Heart (12) The Ties That Bind (13) Out in the Street (14) Atlantic City (15) Johnny 99 (16) Glory Days (17) Born in the U.S.A. (18) Dancing in the Dark Tracks, Disc 2: (1) Tougher Than the Rest (2) Brilliant Disguise (3) One Step Up (4) Human Touch (5) Better Days (6) If I Should Fall Behind (7) Streets of Philadelphia (8) Murder Incorporated (9) The Ghost of Tom Joad (10) The Rising (11) Lonesome Day (12) Devils & Dust (13) Long Time Comin’ (14) Radio Nowhere (15) Working on a Dream (16) My Lucky Day (17) The Wrester (18) We Take Care of Our Own (19) Hunter of Invisible Game Total Running Time: 2:36:22 |
Rating: 4.178 out of 5.00 (average of 15 ratings)
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About The Essential (2015): Someone really needs to learn how to give Springsteen compilations better names. While billed as a reissue of the 2003 set of the same name, this is vastly different. Combined, the two versions cover 49 tracks, but with only 18 songs in common, a dozen of which also appear on 1995’s Greatest Hits. Gone from the 2015 version are “Blinded by the Light,” “Jungleland,” and “Tunnel of Love,” all of which seem more essential than new additions Out in the Street, The Ties That Bind, and Johnny 99. Part of the discrepancy owes to the extra decade of material the latter collection drew from. The 2015 version includes worthy additions like “Radio Nowhere,” “Working on a Dream,” and “We Take Care of Our Own” (all featured on The Collection) and Devils & Dust, My Lucky Day, and The Wrestler, making their debuts on a Springsteen compilation. None were major hits, but are vital songs in Springsteen’s later repertoire. |
Chapter and Verse (2016)Bruce Springsteen |
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Released: September 23, 2016 Covers: 1966-2012 Peak: 5 US, 2 UK, 21 CN, 2 AU Sales (in millions): -- Genre: rock |
Tracks: (1) Baby I (2) You Can’t Judge a Book by the Cover (3) He’s Guilty (The Judge Song) (4) The Ballad of Jesse James (5) Henry Boy (6) Growin’ Up (7) 4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy) (8) Born to Run (9) Badlands (10) The River (11) My Father’s House (12) Born in the U.S.A. (13) Brilliant Disguise (14) Living Proof (15) The Ghost of Tom Joad (16) The Rising (17) Long Time Comin’ (18) Wrecking Ball Total Running Time: 1:17:51 |
Rating: 4.309 out of 5.00 (average of 11 ratings)
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About Chapter and Verse: At this point, another Springsteen anthology seems like absurd overkill, but this one did have the twist that the songs were handpicked by Springsteen as a companion piece to his autobiography, Born to Run. That means there are five previously unreleased songs (Baby I, You Can’t Judge a Book by the Cover, He’s Guilty (The Judge Song, Ballad of Jesse James, and Henry Boy) here from before Springsteen was signed by Columbia in 1972. None are vital, but they give new perspective on Springsteen’s 50-year career. Tracks Not on Previously Noted Albums:
Resources and Related Links:
First posted 6/19/2019; last updated 8/30/2021. |
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