Bruce Springsteen: Top 100 Songs / Studio Albums Ranked

Bruce Springsteen Top 100 Songs / Studio Albums Ranked

Rock singer/songwriter and guitarist born Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen on 9/23/1949 in Freehold, NJ. Known as “The Boss.” Worked local clubs in New Jersey and Greenwich Village in the mid-60’s. Married to model/ actress Julianne Phillips from 1985-1989. Married Patti Scialfa on 6/8/91. Has recorded and toured solo and with the E Street Band. Current members: Roy Bittan (k: 74-), Jake Clemons (sax: 12-), Nils Lofgren (g: 84-), Patti Scialfa (v/k/g: 84-), Gary Tallent (b: 72-), Steven Van Zandt (g: 75-83,95-), and Max Weinberg (d: 74-). Past members have included Clarence Clemons (sax: 72-11; died in 2011), Danny Federici (k: 72-08; died 2008), Vini Lopez (d: 72-74), and David Sancious (k: 72-74). “Born to Run” is featured in the DMDB book The Top 100 Songs of the Rock Era, 1954-1999. Two of his albums, Born to Run (1975) and Born in the U.S.A. (1984), are featured in the DMDB book The Top 100 Albums of All Time. For a complete list of this act’s DMDB honors, check out the DMDB Music Maker Encyclopedia entry. Click here to see other acts’ best-of lists. Spotify Podcast: Check out the Dave’s Music Database podcast episodes The Best of Bruce Springsteen, 1973-1988 and The Best of Bruce Springsteen, 1992-2022 based on this list. Premieres: February 21 and 28, 2023 at 7pm CST. New episodes based on Dave’s Music Database lists are posted every Tuesday at 7pm CST.

Awards:

Top 100 Songs Written and/or Performed by Bruce Springsteen Dave’s Music Database lists are determined by song’s appearances on best-of lists, appearances on compilations and live albums by the featured act, and songs’ chart success, sales, radio airplay, streaming, and awards. Songs which hit #1 on various charts are noted. (Click for codes to charts.) DMDB Top 1%: 1. Born to Run (1975) 2. Born in the U.S.A. (1984) 3. Dancing in the Dark (1984) #1 CB, #1 AR 4. Streets of Philadelphia (1994) #1 CN 5. Thunder Road (1975) DMDB Top 2%: 6. Blinded by the Light (Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, 1976) #1 US, 1 CB, 1 HR, 1 RR, 1 CL, 1 CN 7. Hungry Heart (1980) DMDB Top 5%: 8. Glory Days (1984) 9. I’m on Fire (1984) 10. The River (1980) 11. Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) (1973) 12. Brilliant Disguise (1987) #1 AR 13. The Rising (2002) #1 AA 14. Badlands (1978) 15. Jungleland (1975) 16. Because the Night (Patti Smith, 1978) 17. Tunnel of Love (1987) #1 AR 18. My Hometown (1984) #1 AC 19. Santa Claus Is Coming to Town (live, 1975) 20. Atlantic City (1982) 21. Fire (The Pointer Sisters, 1978) 22. Tenth Avenue Freeze Out (1975) 23. Secret Garden (1995) DMDB Top 10%: 24. Human Touch (1992) #1 AR 25. Pink Cadillac (1984) 26. Prove It All Night (1978) 27. 4th of July (Sandy) (1973) 28. Cover Me (1984) 29. Radio Nowhere (2007) 30. American Skin (41 Shots) (live, 2000) 31. The Ghost of Tom Joad (1995) 32. War (live, 1985) 33. Backstreets (1975) 34. I’m Goin’ Down (1984) 35. Fire (1978) 36. This Land Is Your Land (live, 1980) 37. Devils & Dust (2005) 38. One Step Up (1987) 39. Spirit in the Night (1973) 40. We Take Care of Our Own (2012) 41. Racing in the Street (1978) 42. Because the Night (10,000 Maniacs; 1993) 43. Fade Away (1980) 44. The Promised Land (1978) 45. Better Days (1992) 46. Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978) 47. Spare Parts (1987) 48. Girls in Their Summer Clothes (2007) 49. Tougher Than the Rest (1987) 50. Growin’ Up (1973) 51. We Shall Overcome (1998) 52. No Surrender (1984) 53. Bobby Jean (1984) DMDB Top 20%: 54. Trapped (live, 1984) #1 AR 55. The Wrestler (2008) 56. Lonesome Day (2002) 57. Jesse James (2006) 58. My City of Ruins (2000) 59. Murder Incorporated (1982) 60. This Little Girl (Gary “U.S.” Bonds, 1981) 61. 57 Channels and Nothin’ On (1992) 62. Blinded by the Light (1973) 63. Wasted Days (with John Mellencamp, 2021) 64. Because the Night (1978) 65. Cadillac Ranch (1980) 66. Letter to You (2020) 67. Working on a Dream (2008) 68. Candy’s Room (1978) 69. Land of Hope and Dreams (1999) 70. Hello Sunshine (2019) 71. Point Blank (1980) 72. Johnny 99 (1982) 73. It’s Hard to Be a Saint in the City (1973) 74. She’s the One (1975) 75. Stand on It (1983) 76. Out in the Street (1980) 77. Independence Day (1980) 78. Adam Raised a Cain (1978) 79. Wrecking Ball (2012) 80. Leap of Faith (1992) 81. Light of Day (Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, 1987) 82. Pink Cadillac (Natalie Cole, 1988) 83. Youngstown (1995) 84. If I Should Fall Behind (1992) 85. Empty Sky (2002) 86. For You (1973) 87. Waitin’ on a Sunny Day (2002) 88. Sandpaper (with Zach Bryan, 2024) 89. Thunder Road (live with Melissa Etheridge, 1995) 90. Lucky Town (1992) 91. Rocky Ground (2012) 92. All That Heaven Will Allow (1987) 93. My Lucky Day (2008) 94. Be True (1979) 95. Ramrod (1980) 96. Long Walk Home (2007) 97. I’ll Stand by You Always (2000) 98. Ghosts (2020) 99. Stolen Car (1980) 100. Darlington County (1984) Bruce Springsteen: Studio Albums Ranked Dave’s Music Database lists are determined by album’s appearances on best-of lists as well as chart success, sales, critics’ ratings, and awards. Also factored in are the status of each album’s songs in Dave’s Music Database for songs. 1. Born to Run (1975) 2. Born in the U.S.A. (1984) 3. Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978) 4. Nebraska (1982) 5. The Rising (2002) 6. The River (1980) 7. Tunnel of Love (1987) 8. The Wild, the Innocent, & the E Street Shuffle (1973) 9. Magic (2007) 10. Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. (1973) 11. Wrecking Ball (2012) 12. We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions (2006) 13. Western Stars (2019) 14. Devils & Dust (2005) 15. Letter to You (2020) 16. The Promise (recorded 1977-78, released 2010) 17. The Ties That Bind (recorded 1978-80, released 2015) 18. Working on a Dream (2009) 19. The Ghost of Tom Joad (1995) 20. Lucky Town (1992) 21. Human Touch (1992) 22. High Hopes (2014) 23. Only the Strong Survive (2022) Resources and Related Links: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Bruce Springsteen Dave’s Music Database: “Acts’ Profile Pages and Best-of Lists” First posted 9/23/2011; last updated 6/29/2025.

Bruce Springsteen LA Garage Sessions ‘83 released

LA Garage Sessions ‘83 Bruce Springsteen

Released: June 27, 2025 as part of Tracks II box set Recorded: 1983 Peak: -- Sales (in millions): -- Genre: classic rock

Tracks: Click on a song titled for more details. Follow That Dream [3:53] Don’t Back Down on Our Love [3:01] Little Girl Like You [1:22] Johnny Bye-Bye [1:49] Sugarland [2:50] Seven Tears [1:51] Fugitive’s Dream [3:51] Black Mountain Ballad [4:14] Jim Deer [3:09] County Fair [4:55] My Hometown (alternate version) [4:44] One Love [3:38] Don’t Back Down [3:09] Richfield Whistle [6:45] The Klansman [2:50] Unsatisfied Heart [5:45] Shut Out the Light [3:51] Fugitive’s Dream (Ballad) [4:00] Total Running Time: 67:24 About the Album: In 1982, Bruce Springsteen released Nebraska, a collection of demos he made on a four-track recorder in his bedroom. Two years later, Born in the U.S.A. took over the world with its big, booming sound and massive sales fueled by seven top-10 singles. This collection, featured on the 2025 box set Tracks II: The Lost Albums, fills in the gaps, explaining how the Boss could so dramatically change his sound from one album to the next. He was tempted to release this in 1983 on the heels of Nebraska, but manager Jon Landau “had several concerns. One album of lo-fi, acoustic demos might be accepted by the fans and industry as a quirky artistic experiment, but two consecutive albums like that would threaten the loyalty of that fan base.” 33-98 It would “probably only sell a half a million instead of the multiple millions a rock ‘n’ roll album might sell.” 33-98 Springsteen was fine with that. He “sensed that a ‘loud noises’ album at this point in his career would stir up a storm of attention that he wasn’t comfortable with. It would be worse, he knew, than the fan and media hysteria churned up by Born to Run or The River. He hadn’t enjoyed it before and he wouldn’t enjoy it again. But Landau countered by arguing that their common heroes – James Brown, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Otis Redding, the Rolling Stones, the Beatles and Elvis Presley – had never shied away from making a big noise, from going after the big audience…That’s what Springsteen had signed up for when he signed with Columbia Records.” 33-99 The LA Garage Sessions ‘83 was shelved. The collection offers “a glimpse into “the insanely prolific and inspired stretch between” SG the two albums. It grew out of several months in 1983 in which Springsteen crafted songs in his home recording station in Los Angeles. His engineer, Toby Scott, set up “a state-of-the-art, eight-track recorder…in Springsteen’s garage.” 33-88 While Springsteen had some help from his then-guitar tech Mike Batlan, these were mostly solo efforts with some added rhythm sections and synthesizers. NJ He also had a drum machine “to give himself a steady rhythm guide.” 33-88 Thematically, “this is an album of hope, heartbreak, memory, and moral reckoning.” NJ The overall sound “didn’t quite fit the stark solitude of Nebraska or the stadium-sized defiance of Born in the U.S.A.” SK They mostly “lean more toward the lo-fi austerity and troubling heartland tales of Nebraska” NJ but “the most interesting stuff is when the scrappy home recording approach starts to gesture toward the big, synth-laden sound Springsteen would eventually adopt for Born in the U.S.A..” SG “Songs like Richfield Whistle, Seven Tears, Fugitive’s Dream, and Black Mountain Ballad show “the same melancholic railroad moan that washes through Born in the USA’s darker passages, most notably Downbound Train.” MJ While fans will continue to beg for the full-electric version of Nebraska, which supposedly exists (and could appear in the recently revealed Tracks III set), this contemplative, harmonica-laden record is a very welcome addition.” NJ The Songs Here are insights into individual tracks.

Follow That Dream Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Fred Wise, Ben Weisman Recorded: 1983 Released: LA Garage Sessions ‘83 (1983/2025) About the Song: “A luminous lost classic from Bruce finally gets its due.” SK This is a reimagined version of the Elvis song released from his 1962 movie of the same name. The original was “tossed off in less than two minutes to a bouncy bossa nova beat; the song was released only on an EP, became a #15 single and then was forgotten by most of the world.” 33-89 However, “Bruce heard in the song…that quest for the American dream, a quest so determined that it couldn’t be blocked by any obstacle or opposition.” 33-90 Springsteen did like Woody Guthrie had so often done and took a song from his childhood and reworked it with new lyrics and a new arrangement. Springsteen’s version is “more somber, almost like a lullaby, both lamenting and tender. ‘If your heart is restless from waiting so long / If you’re tired and weary and you can’t go on / If a distant dream is calling you / Then there’s just one thing you can do.’” SK He started playing it live in 1981 – “he’s done it live 51 times according to Brucebase, most recently in 2017.” SK The song was seriously considered for the Born in the U.S.A. album. 33-90 It’s “a perfect opener” SK for LA Garage Sessions ‘83.

Don’t Back Down on Our Love Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 1983 Released: LA Garage Sessions ‘83 (1983/2025) About the Song: This is another song that has been “circulating in bootlegs for years.” SK This one is “more frantic and repetitive” SK than that version. It “is both a throwback and evidence of Springsteen striding forward. He eagerly tinkers with soul, pop and rock while encouraging strength amid struggles.” UT It borrows “a guitar tone from the Beach Boys” UT and serves up “a charmingly repetitive chorus.” UT

Little Girl Like You Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 1983 Released: LA Garage Sessions ‘83 (1983/2025) About the Song: This song about a “dizzying marriage proposal” 33-92 “took on the jittery briskness and high-pitched pop hooks of Buddy Holly.” 33-92 It “is a sweet and frantic track, but nothing special.” SK

Johnny Bye-Bye Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen, Chuck Berry Recorded: March 9 and 24, 1983 at Thrill Hill Recording in Los Angeles, California Released: 2/6/85 as B-side of “I’m on Fire,” Tracks (box set, 1998), LA Garage Sessions ’83 (1983/2025), Tracks (box set, 1998) About the Song: Chuck Berry wrote “Bye Bye Johnny” as a sequel to his iconic “Johnny B. Goode” and released it as a single in 1961. “It was the story of a mother sending her musician son off to Hollywood to star in a movie.” 33-90 “It’s a song full of hope, but for someone like Springsteen…it was a story fraught with foreboding. So he rewrote it as a different kind of farewell, as a goodbye to [Elvis] Presley after he died in 1977.” 33-91 “He slowed it down a bit, but it still had the twitchy tang of Berry’s (and Presley’s) hillbilly-blues rockers.” 33-91 The version on LA Garage Sessions ‘83 “has some different lyrics and slightly different feel with some nature sounds.” SK It “feels more related to ‘County Fair’ on this set, both of those acting as sonic cousins to ‘Used Cars’ from Nebraska.” SK

Sugarland Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 1983 Released: LA Garage Sessions ‘83 (1983/2025) About the Song: This is another bootleg fan favorite similar to songs Bruce wrote at the time that were released on the first Tracks box set. SK It “entered the pantheon of known almost-rans via two performances on the Born in the U.S.A. tour, at 1984 stops in Ames, Iowa, and Lincoln, Neb. These were regarded as particularly great shows, with unofficial recordings circulating broadly throughout the fan community back in the day.” NPR This is “a finely crafted tale of the human toll of the 1980s farm crisis.” RS It is inspired by “John Ford’s 1940 film adaptation of John Steinbeck’s novel The Grapes of Wrath.” 33-70 It’s about a married, Midwestern farm couple “besieged with doubt and debt” NPR because the prices of grain are plummeting. “The narrator sits at the Sugarland bar, bemoaning his troubles and his fate.” SK He tells his drinking buddies he’s considering setting his fields on fire. 33-92 “What makes this song exceptional is its concision and compression; Springsteen pared everything about the story down to bone, conveying the sharp edges of desperation. But the images he presents are still vivid, stark and believable, sung over a sparse background of acoustic guitars and some slight keyboard notes that don't sweeten it, but rather highlight the song's inherent bleakness.” NPR The music was recycled from “Seven Tears.” 33-92 “Like most of L.A. Garage Sessions ’83, this version of ‘Sugarland’ lands somewhere between a demo and a full-fledged studio recording, with simple acoustic guitar strumming bolstered by a subtle drum-machine pattern and a bubbling keyboard riff. Later in 1983, Springsteen attempted the song with the E Street Band, and it appeared on at least one proposed track listing for Born in the U.S.A.” RS

Seven Tears Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 1983 Released: LA Garage Sessions ‘83 (1983/2025), Lost and Found (2025) About the Song: This one is “too Buddy Holly-esque.” SK It “uses a Holly-ish rockabilly riff to tell the story of a man who had it all – wife, child, home, job – but lost it when he was sentenced to seven years in prison” 33-92 “after an ill-considered hold-up and has his cheek tattooed with teardrops, one for each year of his sentence.” 33-68 There are other songs that are “much better representations of the period.” SK “’Cindy’ from the Ties That Bind set is the best track in this style –glockenspiel and ‘50s style guitar riffing.” SK

Fugitive’s Dream Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 1983 Released: LA Garage Sessions ‘83 (1983/2025) About the Song: Josh Kitchen calls this “a true lost classic” SK and the “undeniable standout of the Tracks II box set.” SK He argues that if it had been released in its time “it would no doubt be considered a career highlight and a fixture on every definitive hits collection he’s ever released.” SK It’s a “slow, brodding song” 33-89 about “a classic Springsteen figure: a man who’s transgressed – whether through criminal acts or moral failings – and is now trying to build a life in the wreckage.” SK He left “his family to escape his unsavory past deeds” NJ but now a stranger threatens to expose the narrator’s secrets, which may be “a repressed love – a same-sex connection the narrator can’t understand or express,” SK as suggested by the lines “One night I rose from a dreamless sleep and I went to his bed / I watched as he lay sleeping / I reached out and touched his cheek… I tried to understand why I felt these things that I felt.” This isn’t just about the narrator’s “fear of being exposed – it’s about the pain of denying one’s truest self.” SK “Musically, ‘Fugitive’s Dream’ rides a hypnotic, nervous guitar riff – like a more aggressive cousin to Nebraska’s ‘State Trooper.’ A tense synth solo slices through the middle of the track, and the whole thing pulses forward with a sense of urgency and dread.” SK “The tune also appears to interpolate the Civil War-era song ‘When Johnny Comes Marching Home.’” NJ This “is a brilliant glimpse into Bruce’s fragile psyche during one of the most creatively fertile and emotionally exposed periods of his career.” SK “Anyone familiar with where Springsteen was emotionally at the time can hear the weight in this song. In the early ‘80s, Bruce was battling intense depression tied to his upbringing, his fraught relationship with his father, and the looming pressures of fame. He was, by many accounts, on the edge – and this song feels like it.” SK With “its haunting power” SK this is a song that “demands to be returned to, re-read, re-felt.” SK

Black Mountain Ballad Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 1983 Released: LA Garage Sessions ‘83 (1983/2025) About the Song: “Like so many songs from this era, Black Mountain Ballad is another where Bruce wears the depression and anxiety he was feeling at this time on his sleeve. ‘I wanna weep but the tears won’t run / I wanna sleep but the sleep won’t come’…Luckily, he got help, and he is who he is today, but the art he made during that period is outstanding, and ‘Black Mountain Ballad’ is another sweet sounding song about what makes him great. It would have worked on The River.” SK

Jim Deer Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 1983 Released: LA Garage Sessions ‘83 (1983/2025) About the Song: Tracks like “Richfield Whistle and Jim Deer pick up where Nebraska left off.” SG This one is “an acoustic stomper, with just Bruce, his guitar, and harmonica.” SK “It’s a track akin to ‘Johnny 99’ from Nebraska about a guy who is in prison, recounting the life he once had. It’s not bad, but definitely feels like a throwaway. It has fun lyrics, ‘I stole from the law / I stole from the poor / I probably stole from you, sir!” SK

County Fair Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 1983 Released: LA Garage Sessions ‘83 (1983/2025), The Essential (2003) About the Song: Springsteen offers “desolate folk balladry” MJ on this “evocative, exceptional composition” NPR that was first released in 2003 on three-disc version of The Essential Bruce Springsteen. The version appearing on LA Garage Sessions ‘83 “is cleaned up and crisp.” SK This is “a lovely country song with gentle, pastoral music to match its lyrics.” 33-89 While it was actually an outtake from Born in the U.S.A., “if there’s ever a song that screams Nebraska, it’s this one.” MM “It’s a simple song about a small town’s county fair, and how ‘everybody in town will be there.’” MM “Springsteen perfectly describes a summer memory…capturing it like a small child running after a firefly and catching it in a bottle. There’s the sound of crickets, a lightly swinging bass line and a gentle organ motif while he narrates the sights and sounds and what they mean to someone who lives there and waits for this event every year.” NPR This is Springsteen’s “purest example of…musical set dressing” MM in which he uses “sound effects to create a feelilng.” MM He sings, “‘You can feel somethin’ happenin’ in the air,’…and he’s right – you absolutely can. It’s simple, vivid, perfect and somehow heart-rending, the music and lyrics working together to create a believable tableau.” NPR Just like the subject matter, there’s a hometown intimacy to the recording. Bruce plays the guitar, bass, keyboards and drums on this one, and he intentionally doesn’t clean up the recording to make it sound more professional.” MM “It feels just like hearing a band playing at the local county fair, perhaps the made-up James Young and the Immortal Ones who are name dropped in the song. You can smell the funnel cake and feel the breeze on your face as the sun sets. As the song slows down and the fair has ended, the narrator sits in the car with his girlfriend and says ‘Oh I wish I never had to let this moment go.’ It’s a brilliant little snapshot of nostalgia.” MM

One Love Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 1983 Released: LA Garage Sessions ‘83 (1983/2025) About the Song: The Garage Sessions can be a mixed bag since “some of the songs sound unfinished and more like demos. Where tracks like ‘County Fair,’ ‘Unsatisfied Heart,’ and ‘Richfield Whistle’ feel fully realized and fleshed out, a song like One Love feels half-baked – mediocre compared to the rest of songs of the time. Nice riff though.” SK

Don’t Back Down Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 1983 Released: LA Garage Sessions ‘83 (1983/2025) About the Song: Most of the songs on this collection “seem perfectly placed in the spare, one-man-band approach Springsteen took in recording them—something between the austerity of Nebraska and the over-the-top, stadium-ready tack of Born in the U.S.A.” UCR Don’t Back Down, though, with its “cool heartland rock vibes” SK “could definitely use a band to more fully flesh out its sound.” UCR It “could’ve been a classic if filled out the way other songs on Born in the U.S.A. are.” SK “Aside from that quibble, it’s just a way-cool early-‘80s Bruce Springsteen song – sort of a cross between ‘I’m Goin’ Down’ and ‘Pink Cadillac,’ with an insistent monotone melody in the verses and the occasional drum/vocal breakdown that slides into the chorus. Perhaps some day he’ll dust this one off live and we’ll get to hear it as it should be heard, powered by the E Street Band.” UCR He actually recycled the rockabilly riff (sped up here) from “From Small Things Big Things Come,” a song recorded during sessions for The River that he gave to Dave Edmunds. 33-92

Richfield Whistle Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 1983 Released: LA Garage Sessions ‘83 (1983/2025) About the Song: At nearly seven minutes, this is “sort of a mini epic.” SK It is “a fantastic song that could have been on Nebraska. It feels like a perfect bridge between that record and Born in the U.S.A.” SK With an “extend outro [that] reminds of ‘Drive All Night’” SK it also feels like it could have been on The River. SK Springsteen originally wrote “James Lincoln Deere” about a character who is “thrown out of work when his Indiana factory shuts down, so he takes to holding up grocery stores with his brother-in-law Sill. He shoots a kid at a Stop & Shop and winds up in Richfield Prison.” 33-67 Springsteen rewrote the song as “Richfield Whistle” about a protagonist “named James Lucas, and he’s been paroled from Richfield Prison. He gets a job on a loading dock but can’t resist the temptation to steal from the inventory. He gets fired and is soon tempted to rob a late-night liquor store.” 33-68

The Klansman Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 1983 Released: LA Garage Sessions ‘83 (1983/2025) About the Song: This “ominous number” BB circulated via bootlegs for years and many fans assumed it would never see the light of day. SK “The song is an indictment of racism and the way it has always been prevalent in American history and culture.” SK It “took its title from Terence Young’s 1974 film adaptation of William Bradford Huie’s book.” 33-71 It is a “disquieting first-person song about a racist who dreams of raising his son in the KKK.” UP “The song ends without a resolution for the boy. Will he defy his father and brother and walk away from the white supremacy that controls his family? We never know – and it’s that unknowing that makes ‘The Klansman’ an important cautionary tale in Bruce’s catalogue.” SK It “captures the demented logic of a racist as chillingly as ‘Nebraska’ captured [the twisted mind of serial killer] Charle Starkweather.” 33-93 This is another song built off the riff of “From Small Things Big Things Come,” although this time its slowed down. 33-93 “This harrowing, piercing look at generational hate” BB that best “serves as a proper bridge between the acoustic immediacy of Nebraska and the nascent synth explorations on Born in the U.S.A.” BB This is “sung by a young boy in his daddy’s kitchen who finds the recruitment pitch by a Ku Klux Klansman very seductive, because he has no context. But we have that context and that makes the seduction very creepy indeed.” 33-62 “’The Klansman’ is a fascinating snapshot of Springsteen working in the space between those two classics, exploring the dark underbelly of America while tinkering with drum machines and synths.” UP “Given the fervid current US political climate and Springsteen’s place therein, it will be interesting to see how this one lands.” MJ

Unsatisfied Heart Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 1983 Released: LA Garage Sessions ‘83 (1983/2025) About the Song: That song and “the astonishing Unsatisfied Heart, an arpeggiated drone rocker,” MJ “tussle with the best things he’s ever released.” SG This is another track that has been available as a bootleg for years and built a cult following. In 2018, the War on Drugs even covered the song. SK “It’s hard to see why this one went without an official release for so long.” SK It’s perfectly Brucey” SK and could have even been a single. SK This version features “a great backing band, drums, guitar, and the rest.” SK It features a “riff that feels like it grew into Downbound Train from Born in the U.S.A.” SK and “stands alongside ‘Stolen Car’ and ‘Cautious Man’ in its unsparing depiction of a man in existential crisis.” RS “This noir-ish tale of a man haunted by his past” RS tells the same tale as depicted in “Fugitive’s Dream,” even including some of the same lyrics. RS Here, though, it sounds “less defeated and more restless.” 33-92 The song strangely anticipates the plot of the movie A History of Violence.” RS In addition, it “cuts close to the core of the personal issues Springsteen was grappling with in 1983.” RS “Newly in therapy, Springsteen was finally facing the darkness of his childhood.” RS “In essence, Springsteen had to think about his entire life…before he could allow himself to release the big rock anthems he’d already recorded for Born in the U.S.A.” RS

Shut Out the Light Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 1/19/1983 at Thrill Hill Recording in Los Angeles, California, and May 1983 (?) at the Hit Factory in New York Released: 10/30/84 as B-side of “Born in the U.S.A.,” LA Garage Sessions ‘83 (1983/2025), Tracks (box set, 1998) About the Song: Shut Out the Light is “a meaningful and poignant song” MM that “tells the story of Johnson Leneir, a returning Vietnam solider whose story is not unlike that of Mike Vronsky (Robert De Niro) in The Deer Hunter Johnson returns home, but he lies awake at night motionless, afraid of the dark. Everyone tries to welcome him back and pretend like things are how they used to be, but he knows they never will be.” MM “The song’s final verse is one of the most haunting Bruce has ever written, but also one of the most beautiful…‘Well deep in a dark forest, a forest filled with rain / Beyond a stretch of Maryland pines there’s a river without a name / In the cold black water Johnson Leneir stands / He stares across the lights of the city and dreams of where he’s been.’ Can you imagine any other artist writing a verse that beautiful and deciding to leave the song off an album?” MM “It’s left ambiguous whether or not Johnson goes through with drowning himself, but things sure aren’t looking good. The longer bootleg version that circulated before the Tracks release does in fact confirm that he goes through with it, and also includes a verse about drug use, so if you didn’t think this song could be even darker, you’d be wrong.” MM

Fugitives’s Dream (Ballad) Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 1983 Released: LA Garage Sessions ‘83 (1983/2025) About the Song: This is a “less exciting and more plodding version” SK of the song appearing earlier on this collection which Josh Kitchen called the best song on the entire Tracks II box set.

Resources/References: BB Billboard.com (6/30/2025). “7 Songs You Need to Check Out from Bruce Springsteen’s Tracks II: The Lost Albums” by Ron Hart 33 Geoffrey Himes (2005). 33 1/3: Born in the U.S.A.. Bloomsbury Academic: New York, NY. MJ Mojo (6/23/2025). “Bruce Springsteen Tracks II Reviewed: The Boss’ Lost Albums Unearthed by Keith Cameron MM Movie Match-Up (5/4/2019). “The 250 Greatest Bruce Springsteen Songs” NJ NJ.com (6/26/2025). “ All 83 of Springsteen’s Tracks II: The Lost Albums’ songs, ranked. The ultimate listening guide ” by Bobby Olivier NPR NPR.com (6/17/2025). “The essential listening guide to Bruce Springsteen’s Tracks II: The Lost Albums” by Caryn Rose RS RollingStone.com (6/30/2025). “Bruce Springsteen’s Tracks II: The Lost Albums: 20 Must-Hear Songs” by Brian Hiatt and Andy Greene SK SetListKitchen.com (6/26/2025). “All 83 Songs on Bruce Springsteen’s Tracks II: The Lost Albums – Ranked” by Josh Kitchen SG Stereogum.com (6/17/2025). “Premature Evaluation: Bruce Springsteen Tracks II: The Lost Albums” by Ryan Leas UCR Ultimate Classic Rock (6/30/2025). “10 Bruce Springsteen Tracks II Songs You Must Hear” by Rob Smith UP Uproxx.com (8/6/2020). The Best Bruce Springsteen Songs, Ranked” by Steven Hyden UT USA Today (6/23/2025). “ Bruce Springsteen is releasing his Lost Albums: The songs you haven’t heard but need to” by Melissa Ruggieri Related DMDB Links: First posted 7/18/2025; last updated 8/3/2025.

Bruce Springsteen: A Retrospective (1966-2025)

Bruce Springsteen A Retrospective: 1966-2025

A Brief History: Born: September 23, 1949 Where: Freehold, New Jersey Overview: Nicknamed “The Boss,” Bruce grew “up in a home where money was scare; books were scarcer; work was drudgery, sex went unmentioned, and friends were few.” 33-6 He built a career on his blue-collar beginnings in New Jersey crafting songs that relayed the challenges of the poor and disenfranchised in their efforts to achieve the American dream. He built a reputation as one of the best live performers of all time with marathon concerts that often stretched to three hours that were full of energy, storytelling, and gospel preacher fury. Author Geoffrey Hines asserts that it is his writing that makes him special, saying, “If his artistic persona has been an unlikely combination of Elvis Presley the performer and Bob Dylan the songwriter, the Dylan half defined the space where the Presley half would operate, not the other way around.” 33-2 He continued, praising him as “one of the best oral storytellers of his generation.” 33-116 He also said Springsteen “may well be the best dramatic lyricist and comic lyricist of his generation; he is certainly the most charismatic live performer, and his pop melodies are much underrated.” 33-81 Before the Fame: Like many of his contemporaries, Bruce was enamored by Elvis. When he saw The King of Rock and Roll perform on Ed Sullivan in 1957, “the third grader heard the promise of a fuller life…He became addicted to the radio, searching for variations on that promse from girl groups like the Ronettes, surf groups like the Beach Boys, soul singers like Gary U.S. Bonds and greaser bands like Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels. In 1963, he bought a pawnshop guitar for $18 and devoted himself to it as if it were his door out of a small room.” 33-6 He was 15 when he joined the Castilles, his first real band. He dropped out of Ocean County Community College to join the band Earth. A year later, he formed Child. They eventually changed their name to Steel Mill. Dr. Zoom & the Sonic Boom and the Bruce Springsteen Band followed before Springsteen signed a contract in 1972 with Columbia Records after auditioning for the legendary John Hammond, Sr. The First Few Albums: After two critically-acclaimed albums in 1973, the record company had their doubts about how successful their “New Bob Dylan” could be. On May 22, 1974, a review appeared in Boston’s Real Paper about a Bruce Springsteen show. The writer, Jon Landau, proclaimed, “I saw rock ‘n’ roll’s future and its name is Bruce Springsteen.” 33-58 It proved stunningly prophetic. Springsteen took over the world with Born to Run, a classic rock masterpiece that sold 10 million copies worldwide and gave the world one of the most celebrated anthems of all time in the title cut. On October 27, 1975, Bruce Springsteen was the first rock star in history to land on the cover of Time and Newsweek in the same week. Superstardom: In 1980, he topped the album chart for the first time with The River, which featured his first top-ten hit, “Hungry Heart.” He surprised his fanbase in 1982 with the stripped-down Nebraska and then did a 180 after that with the most successful album of his career, 1984’s Born in the U.S.A. It was another chart-topper and sold 30 million copies worldwide, thanks to seven top-ten singles. He has gone on to top the album chart eight more times (ten total), most recently with 2014’s High Hopes. He’s had 14 platinum-selling albums and seven more that reached gold status. He’s had eighteen top-40 hits, a dozen of which reached the top 10. As of 2024, he is #5 all time in concert revenues with his live shows bringing in more than two billion dollars. In conjunction with the release of his 2016 autobiography, Born to Run, Bruce Springsteen also released a new collection of his work, this one spanning fifty years. This page covers those fifty years and then some by highlighting all the studio efforts released since 1973 as well as multiple compilations, live albums, box sets, and archival collections. The E Street Band: Roy Bittan (keyboards: 1974-present) Clarence Clemons (saxophone: 1972-2011). Died in 2011. Jake Clemons (saxophone: 2012-present) Danny Federici (keyboards: 1972-2008). Died in 2008. Nils Lofgren (guitar: 1984-present) Vini Lopez (drums: 1972-74) David Sancious (keyboards: 1972-74) Patti Scialfa (keyboards, guitars, backing vocals: 1984-) Gary Tallent (bass: 1972-) Steven Van Zandt (guitar: 1975-83, 1995-present) Max Weinberg (drums: 1974-) Links: BruceSpringsteen.net (official site) Facebook Wikipedia Top 100 Songs Studio Albums Ranked DMDB podcast: The Best of Bruce Springsteen, 1973-1988 DMDB podcast: The Best of Bruce Springsteen, 1992-2022

Awards:

(Click on award to learn more).

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 see its snapshot on this page. Compilations/Archives: This page highlights the collections below. TB The Ties That Bind: The River Collection (1979-80, released 2015) 95 Greatest Hits (1995) (1975-95, released 1995) T1 Tracks (1972-95, released 1998) T1 18 Tracks (1972-99, released 1999) E03 The Essential (1973-2002, original release: 2003) GA Greatest Hits (2009) (American version: 1973-2007, released 2009) GE Greatest Hits (2009) (European version: 1973-2007, released 2009) C The Collection (1973-2012, released 2013) E15 The Essential (1973-2014, re-release: 2015) V Chapter and Verse (1966-2012, released 2016) B1 Best of (CD/LP version, 1973-2020, released 2024) B2 Best of (digital deluxe version, 1973-2020, released 2024) T2 Tracks II: The Lost Albums (recorded 1983-2018, released 2025) LF Lost and Found (recorded 1983-2018, released 2025) Live Albums: L85 Live 1975/1985 (recorded 1975-1985, released 1986) IC In Concert/MTV Plugged (recorded 1992, released 1993) NY Live in New York City (recorded 2000, released 2001)

Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.

Released: January 5, 1973 Peak: 60 US, 41 UK, -- CN, 71 AU, 13 DF Sales (in millions): 2.0 US, -- UK, 3.5 world (includes US + UK) Genre: classic rock Rating: 3.873 out of 5.00 (average of 22 ratings)

Tracks: Blinded by the Light (2/73, --) E03,GE Growin’ Up L85,T1,18,E15,V,B1,B2 Mary Queen of Arkansas T1 Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street? T1 Lost in the Flood NY The Angel For You (5/73, --) E03 Spirit in the Night (5/73, --) L85,E03,B2 It’s Hard to Be a Saint in the City T1,L85 Prior to This Era: Baby I (The Castles, recorded 5/2/66) V You Can’t Judge a Book by the Cover (The Castles, recorded 9/16/67) V He’s Guilty (The Judge Song) (Steel Mill, recorded 2/22/70) V Ballad of Jesse James (recorded 3/14/72) V Henry Boy (recorded 6/30/72) V About the Album: Go to the DMDB page for more about this album including awards and information about individual songs.

The Wild, the Innocent, & the E Street Shuffle

Released: September 11, 1973 Peak: 59 US, 33 UK, -- CN, 60 AU Sales (in millions): 3.0 US, -- UK, 3.5 world (includes US + UK) Genre: classic rock Rating: 4.055 out of 5.00 (average of 22 ratings)

Tracks: The E Street Shuffle 4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy) L85,E03,E15,V,B2 Kitty’s Back Wild Billy’s Circus Story Incident on 57th Street Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) L85,E03,GA,GE,C,E15,B1,B2 New York City Serenade Also from This Era: Bishop Danced [4:18] (recorded live 1/31/1973 at Max’s Kansas City, NY) T1 Santa Ana [4:35] (recorded 7/1/1973) T1 Seaside Bar Song [3:33] (recorded 7/24/1973) T1,18 Zero and Blind Terry [5:56] (recorded 8/7/1973) T1 Thundercrack [8:25] (recorded 8/9/1973) T1 The Fever (recorded 1973) 18 About the Album: Go to the DMDB page for more about this album including awards and information about individual songs.

Born to Run

Released: August 25, 1975 Peak: 3 US, 17 UK, 31 CN, 7 AU, 14 DF Sales (in millions): 6.0 US, 0.3 UK, 10.4 world (includes US + UK) Genre: classic rock Rating: 4.636 out of 5.00 (average of 29 ratings)

Tracks: Thunder Road [4:49] L85,IC,95,E03,GA,GE,C,E15,B1,B2 Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out [3:10] L85,NY,E15,B2 Night [3:00] Backstreets [6:30] L85 Born to Run [4:30] L85,95,NY,E03,GA,GE,C,E15,V,B1,B2 She’s the One [4:30] Meeting Across the River [3:18] Jungleland [9:35] (4 CL) NY,E03 Also from This Era: So Young and In Love [3:47] (recorded 6/1/1974) T1 Linda Let Me Be the One [4:24] (recorded 6/29/1975) T1 About the Album: Go to the DMDB page for more about this album including awards and information about individual songs.

Darkness on the Edge of Town

Released: June 2, 1978 Peak: 5 US, 16 UK, 7 CN, 9 AU, 11 DF Sales (in millions): 3.0 US, 0.1 UK, 5.5 world (includes US + UK) Genre: classic rock Rating: 4.452 out of 5.00 (average of 26 ratings)

Tracks: Badlands sup>L85,95,NY,E03,GA,GE,C,E15,V,B1,B2 Adam Raised a Cain L85 Something in the Night Candy’s Room L85 Racing in the Street L85 The Promised Land L85,E03,C,E15 Factory Streets of Fire Prove It All Night NY,E15,B2 Darkness on the Edge of Town IC,L85,E03,GA,GE Also from This Era: Don’t Look Back [3:00] (recorded 7/2/1977) T1 Give the Girl a Kiss [3:51] (recorded 10/11/1977) T1 Hearts of Stone [4:29] (recorded 10/14/1977) T1,18 Iceman [3:17] (recorded 10/27/1977) T1 Paradise by the “C” (live 7/7/78) L85 Raise Your Hand (live 7/7/78, charted 12/10/86, 44 AR) L85 About the Album: Go to the DMDB page for more about this album including awards and details about individual songs.

The Promise

Recorded: 1977-78, 2010 Released: November 16, 2010 Peak: 16 US, 7 UK, 27 CN, 22 AU, 14 DF Sales (in millions): 0.5 US, 0.1 UK, 0.85 world (includes US + UK) Genre: classic rock Rating: 3.733 out of 5.00 (average of 18 ratings)

Tracks, Disc 1: Racing in the Street (’78) Gotta Get That Feeling Outside Looking In Someday We’ll Be Together One Way Street Because the Night L85,GE Wrong Side of the Street The Brokenhearted Rendezvous T1,18 Candy’s Boy Tracks, Disc 2: Save My Love Ain’t Good Enough for You Fire L85,GE Spanish Eyes It’s a Shame Come On (Let’s Go Tonight) Talk to Me The Little Things My Baby Does Breakaway The Promise 18 City of Night The Way About the Album: “Fire” and “Because the Night” were recorded in 1977 but not released until The Promise in 2010. Live versions of the songs were on Live 1975/1985. Go to the DMDB page for more about this album including awards and information about individual songs.

The River

Released: October 10, 1980 Peak: 14 US, 2 UK, 13 CN, 8 AU Sales (in millions): 5.0 US, 0.3 UK, 10.0 world (includes US + UK) Genre: classic rock Rating: 4.241 out of 5.00 (average of 23 ratings)

Tracks, Disc 1: The Ties That Bind [3:34] E15 Sherry Darling [4:03] Jackson Cage [3:04] Two Hearts [2:45] L85,NY Independence Day [4:50] L85 Hungry Heart [3:19] L85,95,E03,GA,GE,C,E15,B1,B2 Out in the Street [4:17] Crush on You [3:10] NY,E15 You Can Look But You Better Not Touch [2:37] L85 I Wanna Marry You [3:30] The River [5:01] L85,95,NY,E03,GE,E15,V,B2 Tracks, Disc 2: Point Blank [6:06] Cadillac Ranch [3:03] L85 I’m a Rocker [3:36] Fade Away [4:46] Stolen Car [3:54] Ramrod [4:05] NY The Price You Pay [5:29] Drive All Night [8:33] Wreck on the Highway [3:54] About the Album: Go to the DMDB page for more about this album including awards and details about individual songs.

The Ties That Bind: The River Collection

Recorded: 1979-80, 2015 Released: December 4, 2015 Peak: 31 US, 49 UK Sales (in millions): -- US, 0.06 UK Genre: classic rock Rating: 4.238 out of 5.00 (average of 19 ratings)

The River, Discs 1 and 2: See The River for track details. The Ties That Bind (Disc 3): The Ties That Bind [3:34] Cindy [2:26] Hungry Heart [3:19] Stolen Car (version 1) [4:31] T1 Be True [3:54] T1 The River [5:01] You Can Look But You Better Not Touch [2:37] The Price You Pay [5:29] I Wanna Marry You [3:30] Loose Ends [4:07] T1,18 The Ties That Bind: Outtakes (Disc 4): Meet Me in the City [3:36] The Man Who Got Away [3:31] Little White Lies [2:29] The Time That Never Was [3:39] Night Fire [4:44] Whitetown [3:23] Chain Lightning [2:50] Party Lights [3:10] Paradise by the “C” [3:11] Stray Bullet [6:10] Mr. Outside [2:16] Roulette [3:54] T1 Restless Nights [3:46] T1 Where the Bands Are [3:46] T1,18 Dollhouse [3:33] T1 Living on the Edge of the World [4:19] T1 Take ‘Em As They Come [4:31] T1 Ricky Wants a Man of Her Own [2:47] T1 I Wanna Be with You [3:24] T1,18 Mary Lou [3:23] T1 Held Up Without a Gun [1:19] E03 From Small Things Big Things One Day Come [2:42] E03 Also from This Era: Bring on the Night [2:36] (recorded 6/13/1979) T1 This Land Is Your Land (live 12/28/80) L85 About the Album: Go to the DMDB page for more about this album including awards and information about individual songs.

Nebraska

Released: September 20, 1982 Peak: 3 US, 3 UK, 3 CN, 8 AU Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, 0.6 UK, 4.5 world (includes US + UK) Genre: folk rock Rating: 4.110 out of 5.00 (average of 24 ratings)

Tracks: Nebraska L85,E03 Atlantic City IC,95,NY,E03,C,E15,B1,B2 Mansion on the Hill NY Johnny 99 L85,E15 Highway Patrolman State Trooper Used Cars Open All Night My Father’s House V Reason to Believe L85 Also from This Era: Jersey Girl (live 7/9/81) L85 Born in the U.S.A. (demo version) [3:08] (recorded 1/3/1982) T1,18 Lion’s Den [2:18] (recorded 1/25/1982) T1,18 My Love Will Not Let You Down [4:28] (recorded 5/5/1982) T1,18 A Good Man Is Hard to Find (Pittsburgh) [3:15] (recorded 5/6/1982) T1 Wages of Sin [4:51] (recorded 5/10/1982) T1 This Hard Land [4:46] (recorded 5/11/1982) 95,T1,NY Frankie [7:22] (recorded 5/14/1982) T1 The Big Payback (released 11/22/82 as B-side to “Open All Night”) E03 Murder Incorporated (written 1982, charted 3/4/95, 14 AR, 5 CN) 95,NY,E15 About the Album: Go to the DMDB page for more about this album including awards and details about each song.

LA Garage Sessions ‘83

Recorded: 1983 Released: 6/27/25 as part of Tracks II: The Lost Albums Peak: -- Sales (in millions): -- Genre: veteran classic rock Rating: --

Tracks: Follow That Dream [3:53] T2, LF Don’t Back Down on Our Love [3:01] T2 Little Girl Like You [1:22] T2 Johnny Bye-Bye [1:49] T1, T2 Sugarland [2:50] T2 Seven Tears [1:51] T2, LF Fugitive’s Dream [3:51] T2 Black Mountain Ballad [4:14] T2 Jim Deer [3:09] T2 County Fair [4:55] E03, T2 My Hometown (alternate version) [4:44] T2 One Love [3:38] T2 Don’t Back Down [3:09] T2 Richfield Whistle [6:45] T2 The Klansman [2:50] T2 Unsatisfied Heart [5:45] T2 Shut Out the Light [3:51] T1,T2 Fugitive’s Dream (Ballad) [4:00] T2 Also from This Era: Car Wash [2:06] (recorded 5/31/1983) T1 Pink Cadillac [3:33] (recorded 5/31/1983, released 5/3/84 as B-side to “Dancing in the Dark,” 27 AR) T1,18 TV Movie [2:48] (recorded 6/13/1983) T1 Cynthia [4:13] (recorded 6/15/1983) T1 Stand on It (alternative version) [3:05] (recorded 6/16/1983, released 5/31/85 as B-side to “Glory Days,” 32 AR) T1 Janey, Don’t You Lose Heart [3:24] (recorded 6/16/1983, released 8/27/85 as B-side of “I’m Goin’ Down”) T1,18 Brothers Under the Bridges ‘83 [5:06] (recorded 9/14/1983) T1 About the Album: This is the first of the seven albums featured on the 2025 box set Tracks II: The Lost Albums. “This is likely to be the most popular” NPR album from the collection. “The songs from this time period have certainly been amongst the most bootlegged,” NPR often on a collection called Unsatisfied Heart. SG Go to the DMDB page for more about this album.

Born in the U.S.A.

Released: June 4, 1984 Peak: 17 US, 15 UK, 113 CN, 18 AU, 18 DF Sales (in millions): 15.0 US, 0.9 UK, 30.0 world (includes US + UK) Genre: classic rock Rating: 4.595 out of 5.00 (average of 29 ratings)

Tracks: Born in the U.S.A. L85,95,NY,E03,GA,GE,C,E15,V,B1,B2 Cover Me L85 Darlington County L85 Working on the Highway L85 Downbound Train I’m on Fire L85,GE No Surrender L85 Bobby Jean L85 I’m Goin’ Down [3:29] Glory Days 95,E03,GA,GE,E15,B2 Dancing in the Dark 95,E03,GA,GE,C,E15,B1,B2 My Hometown L85,95,NY Also from This Era: Rockaway the Days [4:40] (recorded 1/12/1984) T1 Man at the Top [3:19] (recorded 1/12/1984) T1 None But the Brave (1984, outtake from Born in the U.S.A.) E03 Trapped (live 8/6/1984, released on We Are the World, charted 4/13/85, 1 AR) E03 About the Album: Go to the DMDB page for more about this album including awards and details about each song.

Live 1975/1985 Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band

Recorded: October 18, 1975 to September 30, 1985 Released: November 10, 1986 Peak: 17 US, 4 UK, 17 CN, 3 AU, 14 DF Sales (in millions): 12.0 US, 0.1 UK, 13.0 world (includes US and UK) Genre: classic rock Rating: 4.304 out of 5.00 (average of 24 ratings)

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

Tracks, Disc 1: (1) Thunder Road (2) Adam Raised a Cain (3) Spirit in the Night (4) 4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy) (5) Paradise by the “C” (6) Fire (7) Growin’ Up (8) It’s Hard to Be a Saint in the City (9) Backstreets (10) Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) (11) Raise Your Hand (12) Hungry Heart (13) Two Hearts Tracks, Disc 2: (1) Cadillac Ranch (2) You Can Look But You Better Not Touch (3) Independence Day (4) Badlands (5) Because the Night (6) Candy’s Room (7) Darkness on the Edge of Town (8) Racing in the Street (9) This Land Is Your Land (10) Nebraska (11) Johnny 99 (12) Reason to Believe (13) Born in the U.S.A. (14) Seeds Tracks, Disc 3: (1) The River (2) War (3) Darlington County (4) Working on the Highway (5) The Promised Land (6) Cover Me (7) I’m on Fire (8) Bobby Jean (9) My Hometown (10) Born to Run (11) No Surrender (12) Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out (13) Jersey Girl Total Running Time: 216:13 Tracks Not on Previously Noted Albums: War L85 Seeds (live 9/30/85) L85 About the Album: Go to the DMDB page for more about this album including awards and information about individual songs.

Tunnel of Love

Released: October 9, 1987 Peak: 11 US, 11 UK, 11 CN, 5 AU, 12 DF Sales (in millions): 3.0 US, 0.3 UK, 8.5 world (includes US + UK) Genre: classic rock Rating: 4.102 out of 5.00 (average of 22 ratings)

Tracks: Ain’t Got You [2:11] Tougher Than the Rest [4:35] (6/18/88, 13 UK, 35 AU) E15,B2 All That Heaven Will Allow [2:39] (2/27/88, 5 AR) Spare Parts [3:44] (10/17/87, 28 AR, 32 UK, 57 AU) Cautious Man [3:58] Walk Like a Man [3:45] Tunnel of Love [5:12] (10/17/87, 9 US, 12 CB, 13 RR, 13 AC, 1 AR, 45 UK, 17 CN, 41 AU) E03 Two Faces [3:03] Brilliant Disguise [4:17] (9/25/87, 5 US, 4 CB, 5 RR, 5 AC, 1 AR, 20 UK, 9 CN, 17 AU) 95,E03,C,E15,V,B1,B2 One Step Up [4:22] (12/12/87, 13 US, 17 CB, 15 RR, 3 AC, 2 AR, 23 CN, 67 AU) E15 When You’re Alone [3:24] Valentine’s Day [5:10] Also from This Era: Two for the Road [1:57] (recorded 2/1/1987) T1 When You Need Me [2:54] (recorded 1/20/1987) T1 The Wish [5:14] (recorded 2/22/1987) T1 The Honeymooners [2:04] (recorded 2/22/1987) T1 Lucky Man [3:31] (recorded 4/4/1987) T1

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: Go to the DMDB page for more about this album.

Human Touch

Released: March 31, 1992 Peak: 2 US, 11 UK, 2 CN, 3 AU, 11 DF Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, 0.1 UK, 4.5 world (includes US + UK) Genre: veteran classic rock Rating: 3.257 out of 5.00 (average of 20 ratings)

Tracks: Human Touch [6:32] (3/13/92, 14 US, 13 CB, 8 AC, 13 AR, 11 UK, 2 CN, 17 AU) IC,95,E03,C,E15,B1,B2 Soul Driver [4:39] 57 Channels and Nothin’ On [2:28] (4/11/92, 68 BB, 6 AR, 32 UK, 25 CN) Cross My Heart (Springsteen/Williamson) [3:51] Gloria’s Eyes [3:46] With Every Wish [4:39] Roll of the Dice (Bittan/Springsteen) [4:17] (4/25/92, 6 AR) Real World (Bittan/Springsteen) [5:26] All or Nothin’ at All [3:23] (4/11/92, 47 AR) Man’s Job [4:37] IC I Wish I Were Blind [4:48] IC The Long Goodbye [3:30] Real Man [4:33] Pony Boy (Springsteen/traditional) [2:14] Songs by Bruce Springsteen unless noted otherwise. Also from This Era: Trouble in Paradise [4:37] (recorded 12/1/1989) T1 Sad Eyes [3:47] (recorded 1/25/1990) T1,18 Part Man, Part Monkey [4:28] (recorded 1/1/1990) T1,18 Leavin’ Train [4:05] (recorded 2/27/1990) T1 Seven Angels [3:26] (recorded 6/29/1990) T1 My Lover Man [3:56] (recorded 12/4/1990) T1 When the Lights Go Out [3:05] (recorded 12/6/1990) T1 Over the Rise [2:38] (recorded 12/7/1990) T1 Viva Las Vegas (1990, The Last Temptation of Elvis) E03 Trouble River (recorded 1990) 18 Goin’ Cali [2:59] (recorded 1/29/1991) T1 Loose Change [4:18] (recorded 1/31/1991) T1 Happy [4:51] (recorded 1/18/1992) T1 Gave It a Name [2:47] (Human Touch outtake re-recorded 8/24/1998) T1

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

All Music Guide review by William Ruhlmann: “Bruce Springsteen has always been steeped in mainstream pop/rock music, using it as a vocabulary for what he wanted to say about weightier matters. He has always written generic pop as well, but Human Touch was the first album to consist entirely of this kind of minor genre material, which he seems capable of turning out endlessly and effortlessly. Having largely jettisoned the E Street Band, Springsteen enlisted some sturdy minor talent to play and sing, among them ace studio drummer Jeff Porcaro, Sam Moore of Sam & Dave, and Bobby Hatfield of the Righteous Brothers. It's pleasant enough stuff, and easy to listen to, but it is not the kind of record Springsteen had conditioned his audience to expect, and its release brought considerable disappointment. Though at nearly 59 minutes it was the longest single-disc album of his career, and though it contained several songs that could have been big hits — the ‘Tunnel of Love’ soundalike title track, which actually made the Top 40, Roll of the Dice, an AOR radio favorite, and Man's Job – Human Touch was an uninspired Springsteen album, his first that didn’t at least aspire to greatness.”

Lucky Town

Released: March 31, 1992 Peak: 3 US, 2 UK, 3 CN, 6 AU, 6 DF Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, -- UK, 4.0 world (includes US + UK) Genre: veteran classic rock Rating: 3.558 out of 5.00 (average of 21 ratings)

Tracks: Better Days [4:08] (3/21/92, 16 US, 2 AR, 34 UK, 75 AU) IC,95,E15 Lucky Town [3:27] (4/10/93, 48 UK) IC,E03 Local Hero [4:04] If I Should Fall Behind [2:57] (2/2/94) IC,NY,E15,B2 Leap of Faith [3:27] (8/29/92, 28 AR, 46 UK, 48 CN) The Big Muddy [4:06] Living Proof [4:19] IC,E03,V,B2 Book of Dreams [4:24] Souls of the Departed [4:18] My Beautiful Reward [3:55] IC All Music Guide review by William Ruhlmann: “Reportedly, Bruce Springsteen recorded most of Human Touch in 1990, but left it unreleased. He returned to work in the fall of 1991, intending to add a song, but ended up recording a whole new album, Lucky Town, and then decided to release both records at the same time in the spring of 1992. He might have been better off pulling a couple of the stronger songs from the earlier album, adding them to the later one (which runs less than 40 minutes), and shelving the rest. While Human Touch was a disappointing album of second-rate material, Lucky Town is an ambitious collection addressing many of Springsteen’s major concerns and moving them forward. Here was the rage and the humor, the sense of compassion, the loyalty and commitment that had been the stuff of Springsteen's best music from the beginning. Songs like Better Days and Local Hero commented on and deflated the commercial success with which Springsteen clearly felt uncomfortable; If I Should Fall Behind and Book of Dreams expressed romantic fidelity and generosity; Souls of the Departed contained scathing social commentary; and My Beautiful Reward was a meditative epilogue. The lyrics were better, the arrangements tighter, the performances more powerful than those on the companion release. If Lucky Town, like Tunnel of Love and Human Touch before it, sounded a little under-produced, it nevertheless had the mark of the major artist Springsteen is, and if he had released it alone, it might have had a more significant impact.”

In Concert/MTV Plugged Bruce Springsteen

Recorded: September 22, 1992 Released: April 12, 1993 Peak: 189 US, 4 UK, -- CN, -- AU Sales (in millions): -- US, 0.1 UK, 1.5 world (includes US and UK) Genre: veteran classic rock Rating: 3.620 out of 5.00 (average of 9 ratings)

Tracks: (1) Red Headed Woman (2) Better Days (3) Atlantic City (4) Darkness on the Edge of Town (5) Man’s Job (6) Human Touch (7) Lucky Town (8) I Wish I Were Blind (9) Thunder Road (10) Light of Day (11) If I Should Fall Behind (12) Living Proof (13) My Beautiful Reward Total Running Time: 71:38 Tracks Not on Previously Noted Albums: Red Headed Woman IC Light of Day IC About the Album: When MTV tapped Bruce Springsteen for an Unplugged appearance, he broke from the traditional acoustic-based format and used amplified instruments on all but the lead track, “Red Headed Woman.” That cut was previously unreleased. This album also marked the first appearance of Springsteen doing “Light of Day,” a song he wrote for the 1987 movie of the same name.

Streets of Philadelphia Sessions

Recorded: 1994 Released: 6/27/25 as part of Tracks II: The Lost Albums Peak: -- Sales (in millions): -- Genre: veteran classic rock Rating: --

Tracks: Blind Spot [3:35] (released 4/17/2025) T2,LF Maybe I Don’t Know You [4:24] T2 Something in the Well [4:24] T2,LF Waiting on the End of the World [4:35] T2,LF The Little Things [3:26] T2 We Fell Down [4:31] T2 One Beautiful Morning [4:26] T2 Between Heaven and Earth [4:33] T2 Secret Garden [4:00] (4/11/95, 19 US, 66 CB, 5 AC, 12 A40, 17 UK, 7 CN, 9 AU) 95,B1,B2,T2 Farewell Party [4:09] T2 Also from This Era: Streets of Philadelphia (2/2/94, 9 US, 6 CB, 3 AC, 25 AR, 2 UK, 1CN, 4 AU) 95,E03,C,E15,B1,B2 Back in Your Arms [4:35] (recorded 1/12/1995) T1 Brothers Under the Bridge ‘95 [4:55] (recorded 5/22/1995) T1,18 Blood Brothers 95 Missing (1995, The Crossing Guard soundtrack) E03 About the Album: “Next to Electric Nebraska, this is what everyone’s been waiting for…We’ve long known about this album, though details were often scrambled. It’d be referenced as the ‘hip hop album,’ ‘the relationship album,’ Waiting on the End of the World” SG “or his ‘loops album’, his ‘electronica’ album.” MJ It was the whole album of material in the vein of Streets of Philadelphia and Secret Garden, for some reason buried despite the massive success of those tracks.” SG In 1994, Bruce Springsteen contributed ‘Streets of Philadelphia’ to Jonathan Demme’s 1993 film Philadelphia. The song won an Oscar for Best Original Song and a case can be made that the song “saved Bruce Springsteen’s career.” MJ After the E Street Band broke up in 1989, Springsteen came back with Human Touch and Lucky Town, a pair of albums released simultaneously in 1992, but they received some of the most lackluster reviews of his career. “Streets” was Springsteen’s first foray into drum loops. He found that their rhythmic element allowed him to write songs on keyboards and synthesizers instead of guitar. NPR In 1994, with the help of engineer Toby Scott, he crafted some loops SP that let him explore “the rhythms of mid-1990s contemporary music, and particularly West Coast hip-hop.” SP “By the end of the summer of 1994, he was ready to record.” NPR He performed the songs mostly on his own at his Los Angeles home studio but did get some help from his wife Patti Scialfa, Soozie Tyrell, and Lisa Lowell – all of whom had been part of his touring band from 1992 to ’93. SP Thematically, the material “explores doubt and betrayal in relationships.” SP As he said, “That was just the theme that I locked in on at that moment…I don’t really know why. Patti and I, we were having a great time in California. But sometimes if you lock into one song you like, then you follow that thread.” SP The album was completed and set for release in the spring of 1995. NPR However, Springsteen said, “It never felt finished to me” NPR and “I was experimenting with a genre usually outside my wheelhouse.” MJ He was also concerned that “it would have been the fourth ‘really dark’ record about relationships in a row, which ‘I didn’t know if the audience was ready for.’” NPR Springsteen turned his attention instead to an E Street Band reunion, their first time working together in seven years. They reconvened in the studio to work on bonus tracks for his Greatest Hits album. He said, “Well, maybe it’s time to just do something with the band or remind the fans of the band or that part of my work life…So that’s where we went. But I always really liked Streets of Philadelphia Sessions…during the Broadway show, I thought of putting it out [as a standalone release]. I always put them away, but I don’t throw them away.” SP It “stayed on the shelf, accruing mythical status simply from the fact that no one had heard it.” MJ That changed in 2025 when it was released as part of the Tracks II: The Lost Albums box set. “At the risk of suggesting that one of the greatest rock artists of all time got it wrong, the material on SOPS is of such high calibre you have to suspect Bruce’s fans would have coped just fine.” MJ This is a “missing chapter that explains part of the main story. The seeming lack of productivity in the ’90s wasn’t that Springsteen wasn’t working, or that he didn’t have the muse, but that he was unsure of various genre experiments.” SG “From the perspective of 30 years on, this is not the sound of commercial suicide but an artist re-connecting with the pure motives that always drove his greatest work.” MJ This album “sounds like a lost classic, but you could imagine how it may have further muddled a confusing ’90s for Springsteen. How would listeners have made sense of this then? Calling it Springsteen’s easy-listening album?” SG “Of course, it is not that.” SG “The greyscale synth textures and reedy vocal melodies almost make it like a missing link between works as disparate as Tunnel of Love and The Ghost of Tom Joad. Or that the grain of Springsteen’s voice against atmospheric smears and gently thrumming drum programming recalls the Blue Nile’s tension between late-night lived-in humanity and alien soundscapes.” SG “This album feels like the end of an arc begun with Tunnel of Love, with a handful of striking ballads and songs like Something in the Well, where you can hear strains of a straight-up acoustic Springsteen song rendered against a hissing, festering backdrop. The synths throughout are ambient – far from the glimmering leads of his ’80s recordings. If this had come out in 1994, it may have confounded Springsteen fans. But it would’ve lived on as a touchstone for all of his artier-minded acolytes and progeny, just like Nebraska.” SG “A clutch of these songs would surely have impacted comparably to his Oscar-winning single. The opening track, Blind Spot, for instance, built around what sounds like a stock hip-hop sample, or the creepy Maybe I Don’t Know You, with Shane Fontayne’s needling guitar flecks, have a similar cold intensity to the best songs on Tunnel of Love.” MJ “Then there’s Waiting on the End of the World: Springsteen actually recorded this song with the E Street Band at the January 1995 session, and a subsequently leaked version made clear why he thought the song’s insistent waves of tension and release would suit his erstwhile group. Yet his 1994 original is even better, combining siren doom with epic pop smarts to amplify the lyric’s despairing evocation of a consumptive relationship: ‘We loved each other like a disease.’” MJ “One Beautiful Morning, meanwhile, breaks with the musical framework with the addition of ‘other band’ drummer Zach Alford and Bassist Tommy Sims, plus Patti Scialfa and soon-to-be E Street Band member Soozie Tyrell for euphoric R.E.M.-like arpeggiations around more lyrical darkness (‘No one really knows what happens when someone dies’).” MJ

Greatest Hits (1995) Bruce Springsteen

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).

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. 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

The Ghost of Tom Joad

Released: November 21, 1995 Peak: 11 US, 16 UK, 15 CN, 27 AU, 12 DF Sales (in millions): 0.54 US, 0.1 UK, 3.0 world (includes US + UK) Genre: folk rock Rating: 3.297 out of 5.00 (average of 21 ratings)

Tracks: The Ghost of Tom Joad [4:23] (11/21/95, 26 UK, 34 CN) E03,C,E15,V,B1,B2 Straight Time [3:25] Highway 29 [3:39] Youngstown [3:52] NY Sinaloa Cowboys [3:51] The Line [5:14] Balboa Park [3:19] Dry Lightning [3:30] The New Timer [5:45] Across the Border [5:24] Galveston Bay [5:04] My Best Was Never Good Enough [2:00]

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: After the commercial success of the career reviving “Streets of Philadelphia” and a follow-up Greatest Hits collection, Springsteen returned with a new studio effort in 1995. The Ghost of Tom Joad was “a spartan journalistic reframing of John Steinbeck’s depression-era folklore into current contexts.” MJ that “reinforce[d] his artistic credentials.” MJ All Music Guide review by Mark Deming: “In 1982, with Ronald Reagan in the White House and much of America torn between a newly fierce patriotism and the dispassionate conservatism of the dawning ‘Greed Is Good’ era, a number of roots-oriented rock musicians began examining the State of the Union in song, and one of the most powerful albums to come out of this movement was Bruce Springsteen's stark, home-recorded masterpiece Nebraska. In 1995, Bill Clinton was president, America was congratulating itself for a new era of high-tech peace and prosperity, and Springsteen returned to the themes and approach of Nebraska with The Ghost of Tom Joad, an album that suggested little had changed in the past thirteen years – except Americans had gotten better at ignoring the increasingly sharp divide between the rich and the poor, and that illegal aliens who had come to America looking for the fabled land of Milk and Honey were being forced to shoulder a heavy and dangerous burden in America's underground economy. With several of its songs drawn directly from news stories, The Ghost of Tom Joad is more explicitly political than Nebraska (more so than anything in Springsteen's catalog, for that matter), and while the arrangements are more full-bodied than those on Nebraska (five cuts feature a full band), the production and the overall tone is, if anything, even starker and more low-key, with the lyrics all the more powerful for their spare backdrops. While there's an undertow of bitterness in this album's tales of an America that has turned its back on the working class and the foreign-born, there's also a tremendous compassion in songs like The Line, Sinaloa Cowboys, Balboa Park, and the title cut, which lend their subjects a dignity fate failed to give them. Individually, these songs, either angry or plaintive, are clean and expertly drawn tales of life along this nation's margins, and their cumulative effect is nothing short of heart-breaking; anyone who pegged Springsteen as a zealously patriotic conservative in the wake of the widely misunderstood Born in the U.S.A. needs to hear this disc. The Ghost of Tom Joad failed to find the same audience (or the same wealth of media attention) that embraced Nebraska, but on it's own terms it's a striking and powerful album, and certainly one of Springsteen's most deeply personal works.”

Somewhere North of Nashville

Recorded: 1994-1995+ Released: 6/27/25 as part of Tracks II: The Lost Albums Peak: -- Sales (in millions): -- Genre: veteran classic rock Rating: --

Tracks: Repo Man [2:55] (released 5/19/2025) T2,LF Tiger Rose [1:57] T2 Poor Side of Town [3:06] T2 Delivery Man [2:44] T2 Under a Big Sky [4:23] T2 Detail Man [2:48] T2,LF Silver Mountain [3:06] T2 Janey, Don’t You Lose Heart (alternate version) [3:30] (original recorded 6/16/1983, released 8/27/85 as B-side of “I’m Goin’ Down”) T1,18,T2 You’re Gonna Miss Me When I’m Gone [2:59] (recorded 2010) T2,LF Stand on It (alternate version) [3:11] (original recorded 6/16/1983, released 5/31/85 as B-side to “Glory Days,” 32 AR) T1,T2 Blue Highway [3:18] T2 Somewhere North of Nashville [3:04] (recorded 2019) T2 About the Album: “When Tracks II was first announced, the easy assumption was Somewhere North of Nashville emerged from the same era as Western Stars, considering it shares a title with one of the latter’s best songs. Instead, Nashville is another genre experiment.” SG This “is basically the sound of Springsteen and a loose assemblage of buddies cutting loose on some country honk by way of light relief from the simultaneously recorded Ghost of Tom Joad in 1995.” MJ “Like the '83 Garage Sessions, this was another era when Springsteen wasn’t sure which direction he wanted to head, so he recorded it all and let the dust settle.” NPR This is a “collection inspired by the sounds of honky tonk, rockabilly and uptempo country.” SN “While he was working on The Ghost of Tom Joad in 1995, at night he’d pivot to recording an entire record of country songs with the same musicians…He would teach the musicians each song right then and there, cutting it live in a few takes, a respite from the more intense Joad material.” NPR That band included “Danny Federici, Garry Tallent and Gary Mallaber. Adding elements like pedal steel from Marty Rifkin (later a member of The Sessions Band) and fiddle from Soozie Tyrell, Somewhere North of Nashville saw Springsteen spontaneously cutting material live in the studio with a full band – not unlike what he had done for the recording of Born in the U.S.A. a decade earlier.” SN He said, “What happened was I wrote all these country songs at the same time I wrote The Ghost of Tom Joad. Those sessions completely overlap each other…So the country record got made right along with The Ghost of Tom Joad…‘Streets of Philadelphia’ got me connected to my socially conscious or topical songwriting. So that’s where The Ghost of Tom Joad came from. But at the same time I had this country streak that was also running through those sessions and I ended up making a country record on the side.” SN “‘It was just the better record,’ he says of his decision to go with Joad and put the more rollicking tracks aside.” NPR “Rather than the desolate tales of Joad, Nashville is almost more reminiscent of 2006’s We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions Meaning: This is a loose, often more-competent-than-it-should-be genre exercise that occasionally teeters on cosplay. Most of the uptempo jams, like Repo Man or Detail Man,” SG a slice of twang-yer-G-string ribaldry that Springsteen debuted live at John Fogerty’s 50th birthday party,” MJ “could’ve made a lot of sense in the hands of ’90s country stars if Springsteen had sold them off.” SG “Here, they are a sort of throwaway hootenanny – fun, but more curios than crucial additions to the Springsteen catalogue. The ‘country’ label is also sometimes a stretch. Aside from gorgeous pedal steel courtesy of Marty Rifkin (then fresh off Tom Petty’s Wildflowers), some tracks sound like standard Springsteen solo songwriting, or the rockabilly-tinged B-sides from the Born in the U.S.A. era,” SG such as the re-arranged cuts of Stand on It and “a wistful reimagining” SG of Janey, Don’t You Lose Heart . The best, and likely most durable material, arrives in the ballads and laments: Poor Side of Town, Silver Mountain, You’re Gonna Miss Me When I’m Gone.” SG The closing title track is “an alternate version of a song from 2019’s spaced cowboy set Western Stars.” MJ “It’s a bit easier to understand why this one remained hidden, but even with mixed results it’s another interesting counterpoint to the pre-established story of Springsteen’s ’90s.” SG Somewhere North of Nashville is a “straightforwardly enjoyable” MJ album.

Tracks

Recorded: 1972-1995 Released: November 10, 1998 Peak: 27 US, 50 UK, -- CN, 97 AU, 15 DF Sales (in millions): 0.25 US, 0.06 UK, 1.0 world (includes US and UK) Genre: rock

Tracks, Disc 1: (1) Mary Queen of Arkansas (demo) (2) It’s Hard to Be a Saint in the City (demo) (3) Growin’ Up (demo) (4) Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street? (demo) (5) Bishop Danced (live) (6) Santa Ana (7) Seaside Bar Song (8) Zero and Blind Terry (9) Linda Let Me Be the One (10) Thundercrack (11) Rendezvous (12) Give the Girl a Kiss (13) Iceman (14) Bring on the Night (15) So Young and In Love (16) Hearts of Stone (17) Don’t Look Back Tracks, Disc 2: (1) Restless Nights (2) A Good Man Is Hard to Find (Pittsburgh) (3) Roulette (4) Dollhouse (5) Where the Bands Are (6) Loose Ends (7) Living on the Edge of the World (8) Wages of Sin (9) Take ‘Em As They Come (10) Be True (11) Ricky Wants a Man of Her Own (12) I Wanna Be with You (13) Mary Lou (14) Stolen Car (alternate version) (15) Born in the U.S.A. (demo) (16) Johnny Bye-Bye (17) Shut Out the Light Tracks, Disc 3: (1) Cynthia (2) My Love Will Not Let You Down (3) This Hard Land (4) Frankie (5) TV Movie (6) Stand on It (7) Lion’s Den (8) Car Wash (9) Rockaway the Days (10) Brothers Under the Bridge ‘83 (11) Man at the Top (12) Pink Cadillac (13) Two for the Road (14) Janey, Don’t You Lose Heart (15) When You Need Me (16) The Wish (17) The Honeymooners (18) Lucky Man Tracks, Disc 4: (1) Leavin’ Train (2) Seven Angels (3) Gave It a Name (4) Sad Eyes (5) My Lover Man (6) Over the Rise (7) When the Lights Go Out (8) Loose Change (9) Trouble in Paradise (10) Happy (11) Part Man, Part Monkey (12) Goin’ Cali (13) Back in Your Arms (14) Brothers Under the Bridge ‘95 Total Running Time: 254:58

Rating: 4.147 out of 5.00 (average of 12 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About Tracks: “Everyone knows the peak run, the streak of one iconic Bruce Springsteen release after another from mid-’70s to late ’80s. Those weren’t just classic albums but installments in a world Springsteen was building – chapters in a novel as much as individual records. During those years, he wrote and recorded a lot more than he released, but he narrowed things down to the absolute best work, the work that told the story he wanted to tell about himself and the American experience.” SG He didn’t just scrap the leftover material, though. For Tracks he delved into the vaults to put together this four-disc box set covering material from throughout his career. Most of the songs were recorded during sessions for previously released albums, but had never seen the light of day. There were also a few demos, alternate versions, and previously-released B-sides. The set “colored in all the parts of that story that had before taken place offscreen.” SG “In the eyes of many fans, Tracks became as hallowed as the albums themselves. There was, somehow, a bounty of incredible B-sides and unreleased material, enough for whole other albums in between the ones we’d already known for decades.” SG

18 Tracks

Recorded: 1972-1999 Released: April 13, 1999 Peak: 64 US, 23 UK, 58 CN, 98 AU Sales (in millions): -- US, 0.06 UK, 1.0 world (includes US and UK) Genre: rock

Tracks: (1) Growin’ Up (demo) (2) Seaside Bar Song (3) Rendezvous (4) Hearts of Stone (5) Where the Bands Are (6) Loose Ends (7) I Wanna Be with You (8) Born in the U.S.A. (demo) (9) My Love Will Not Let You Down (10) Lion’s Den (11) Pink Cadillac (12) Janey, Don’t You Lose Heart (13) Sad Eyes (14) Part Man, Part Monkey (15) Trouble River (16) Brothers Under the Bridge (17) The Fever (18) The Promise Total Running Time: 71:12

Rating: 3.763 out of 5.00 (average of 11 ratings)

About 18 Tracks: Five months after the release of his box set Tracks, Bruce Springsteen released a one-disc collection rounding up some of the highlights as well as three other songs not previously released. “The Promise” was a fan favorite for years, but rather than release the original recording, Bruce re-recorded it in the studio for this collection. The three “new” cuts on 18 Tracks were added to later editions of Tracks. Also from This Era: Dead Man Walkin’ (1996, Dead Man Walking soundtrack) E03 Lift Me Up (1999, Limbo soundtrack) E03

Live in New York City Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band

Recorded: June 29 – July 1, 2000 Released: March 21, 2001 Peak: 5 US, 12 UK, 19 CN, 30 AU, 13 DF Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, 0.06 UK, 1.5 world (includes US and UK) Genre: rock

Tracks, Disc 1: (1) My Love Will Not Let You Down (2) Prove It All Night (3) Two Hearts (4) Atlantic City (5) Mansion on the Hill (6) The River (7) Youngstown (8) Murder Incorporated (9) Badlands (10) Out in the Street (11) Born to Run Tracks, Disc 2: (1) Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out (2) Land of Hope and Dreams (3) American Skin (41 Shots) (4) Lost in the Flood (5) Born in the U.S.A. (6) Don’t Look Back (7) Jungleland (8) Ramrod (9) If I Should Fall Behind (10) My Hometown (11) This Hard Land Total Running Time: 143:57 Also from This Era: Code of Silence (live 6/29/2000 during Reunion Tour) E03

Rating: 4.199 out of 5.00 (average of 12 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About Live in New York City: Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band did a reunion tour in 1999-2000, marking their first time working together in 11 years. The stops in New York City on June 29 and July 1 were filmed for HBO and later released as a DVD and CD. These were the last two shows of the group’s ten-show ending run at Madison Square Garden. Tracks Not on Previously Noted Albums: Don’t Look Back (recorded 7/2/77, released 11/10/98 on Tracks box set) NY My Love Will Not Let You Down (recorded 5/5/1982, released 11/10/98 on Tracks box set) NY Land of Hope and Dreams (7/16/02, --) NY,E03 American Skin (41 Shots) NY,E03

The Rising

Released: July 30, 2002 Peak: 12 US, 11 UK, 11 CN, 4 AU, 14 DF Sales (in millions): 2.1 US, 0.1 UK, 5.0 world (includes US + UK) Genre: veteran classic rock Rating: 4.270 out of 5.00 (average of 39 ratings)

Tracks: Lonesome Day [4:08] (10/6/02, 36 A40, 3 AA, 39 UK) E03,GA,GE,E15 Into the Fire [5:04] Waitin’ on a Sunny Day [4:18] (4/7/03, --) Nothing Man [4:23] Countin’ on a Miracle [4:44] Empty Sky [3:34] Worlds Apart [6:07] Let’s Be Friends (Skin to Skin) [4:21] Further on Up the Road [3:52] The Fuse [5:37] Mary’s Place [6:03] E03 You’re Missing [5:10] The Rising [4:50] (7/13/02, 52 US, 26 AC, 16 A40, 13 AA, 24 AR, 94 UK) E03,GA,GE,C,E15,V,B1,B2 Paradise [5:39] My City of Ruins [5:00] Also from This Era: Countin’ on a Miracle (2002, acoustic version of song from The Rising) E03

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: Go to the DMDB page for more about this album.

The Essential (2003) Bruce Springsteen

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

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 (live) (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).

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 (Come Out Tonight), and 4th of July, Asbury Park (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).

Devils & Dust

Released: April 26, 2005 Peak: 11 US, 11 UK, 2 CN, 10 AU, 12 DF Sales (in millions): 0.5 US, 0.1 UK, 2.0 world (includes US + UK) Genre: folk rock Rating: 3.619 out of 5.00 (average of 31 ratings)

Tracks: Devils + Dust [4:58] (3/28/05, 72 US, 5 AA) E15 All the Way Home [3:38] Reno [4:08] Long Time Comin’ [4:17] E15,V,B2 Black Cowboys [4:08] Maria’s Bed [5:35] Silver Palomino [3:22] Jesus Was an Only Son [2:54] Leah [3:31] The Hitter [5:53] All I’m Thinkin’ About [4:22] Matamoros Banks [4:00] All songs written by Bruce Springsteen.

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

All Music Guide review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine: “Every decade or so, Bruce Springsteen releases a somber album of narrative songs, character sketches, and folk tunes – records that play not like rock & roll, but rather as a collection of short stories. Nebraska, released in the fall of 1982 during the rise of Reagan’s America, was the first of these, with the brooding The Ghost of Tom Joad following in 1995, in the thick of the Clinton administration but before the heady boom days of the late ‘90s.” “At the midpoint of George W. Bush's administration, Springsteen released Devils & Dust, another collection of story songs that would seem on the surface to be a companion to Nebraska and Ghost, but in actuality is quite a different record than either. While the characters that roam through Devils & Dust are similarly heartbroken, desperate, and downtrodden, they're far removed from the criminals and renegades of Nebraska, and the album doesn’t have the political immediacy of Ghost's latter-day Woody Guthrie-styled tales – themes that tied together those two albums.” “Here, the songs and stories are loosely connected. Several are set in the West, some are despairing, some have signs of hope, a couple are even sweet and light. Springsteen's writing is similarly varied, occasionally hearkening back to the spare, dusty prose of Nebraska, but often it's densely composed, assured, and evocative, written as if the songs were meant to be read aloud, not sung.” “The music is as vivid and varied as the words. Unlike the meditative, monochromatic The Ghost of Tom Joad, this has different shades of color, so somber epics like The Hitter or the sad, lonely Reno are balanced by the lighter Long Time Comin', Maria's Bed, and All I'm Thinkin' About, while the moodier Black Cowboys and Devils & Dust are enhanced by subtly cinematic productions. It results in a record that's far removed in feel from the stark, haunting Nebraska, but on a song-for-song level, it's nearly as strong, since its stories linger in the imagination as long as the ones from that 1982 masterpiece (and they stick around longer than those from Ghost as well).”

Faithless

Recorded: 2005-2006 Released: 6/27/25 as part of Tracks II: The Lost Albums Peak: -- Sales (in millions): -- Genre: veteran classic rock Rating: --

Tracks: The Desert (instrumental) [1:36] T2 Where You Going, Where You From [4:19] T2 Faithless [3:51] (released 5/5/2025) T2,LF All God’s Children [4:27] T2 A Prayer by the River (instrumental) [1:46] T2 God Sent You [3:47] T2,LF Goin’ to California [3:49] T2 The Western Sea (instrumental) [1:19] T2 My Master’s Hand [4:06] T2 Let Me Ride [2:58] T2 My Master’s Hand (Theme) [3:27] T2 About the Album: Faithless was a soundtrack Springsteen was commissioned to write., but the movie never got made. It was “composed before a single frame of the film was shot – over a prolific two weeks in Florida.” FS Most of it was recorded between the conclusion of the Devils & Dust tour in November 2005 and the release of We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions in April 2006. Throughout the collection’s 11 songs…Faithless explores Springsteen’s unique vision of spirituality in the mythic American West, while working inside of this uncharted artistic medium.” FS Springsteen called the “meditation on purpose, belief and acceptance” FS a “spiritual Western” FS “and that’s definitely the musical vibe, both in the abundance of religious imagery (All God’s Children; My Master’s Hand; A Prayer by the River) and the whiffs of Ry Cooder and Tom Waits.” MJ “’All God’s Children’ is a guttural Tom Waits blues-gospel howl. Goin’ to California and Where You Going Where You From are both earworm ruminations tinged with gospel and aided by backing choirs.” SG “Though faith and salvation are obviously themes elsewhere in Springsteen’s work, there feels as if there’s something different, more metaphysical, afoot here.” SG “Faithless exists in the Western strain of his writing but is just a touch stranger – incantatory and celestial rather than featuring the gritty of-the-earth stories often populating these albums. There isn’t anything else quite like it in Springsteen’s catalogue, but it isn’t jarring either.” SG “’This was a really unusual collection of songs,’ Springsteen remembers…‘You could recognize details and maybe a character or two. But for the most part, I just wrote atmospheric music that I thought would fit.’ The album was recorded primarily as a solo pursuit, with appearances throughout by producer Ron Aniello, touring members of The E Street Band – Soozie Tyrell, Lisa Lowell, Curtis King, Jr., Michelle Moore and Ada Dyer – as well as contributions from Patti Scialfa, Evan Springsteen and Sam Springsteen.” FS “It’s not the lost album that’s going to deliver instant endorphins, but it feels like it will have the reputation of being something very special and personal in Springsteen’s work the longer it’s around.” SG It is “a small, powerful album.” SG

We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions

Released: April 25, 2006 Peak: 3 US, 3 UK, 3 CN, 21 AU, 13 DF Sales (in millions): 0.5 US, -- UK, 2.37 world (includes US + UK) Genre: folk rock Rating: 3.851 out of 5.00 (average of 35 ratings)

Tracks: Old Dan Tucker Jesse James Mrs. McGrath Mary Don’t You Weep John Henry Erie Canal Jacob’s Ladder My Oklahoma Home Eyes on the Prize Shenandoah Pay Me My Money Down We Shall Overcome Froggie Went A-Courtin’ Bonus Tracks: Buffalo Gals How Can I Keep from Singing? How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live? Bring ‘Em Home American Land

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: Nearly 35 years into his career, Springsteen tackled his first album of covers. These are songs popularized by Pete Seeger, musician and activist. The seed was planted when Springsteen recorded “We Shall Overcome” in 1997 for a Pete Seeger tribute album. Springsteen ended up exploring more of Seeger’s music and eventually assembled a group of musicians from New Jersey and New York City to record informally at his farm. The album won a Grammy for Best Traditional Folk Album.

Magic

Released: October 2, 2007 Peak: 12 US, 11 UK, 11 CN, 2 AU, 13 DF Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, -- UK, 2.85 world (includes US + UK) Genre: veteran classic rock Rating: 3.995 out of 5.00 (average of 26 ratings)

Tracks: Radio Nowhere (8/28/07, 2 AA, 96 UK, 55 CN) GA,GE,C,E15 You’ll Be Comin’ Down Livin’ in the Future Your Own Worst Enemy Gypsy Biker Girls in Their Summer Clothes (12/2/07, 95 BB, 8 AA, 31 DF) B1,B2 I’ll Work for Your Love Magic Last to Die Long Walk Home (9/25/07) GE Devil’s Arcade Terry’s Song All songs written by Bruce Springsteen.

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

Excerpts from the All Music Guide review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine: “Hailed as Bruce Springsteen’s return to rock upon its release in fall 2007, Magic isn’t quite as straightforward as that…True, this does mark another reunion with the E Street Band, only his second studio album with the group since 1984’s Born in the U.S.A., giving this a rock & roll heft missing from his two previous albums – the dusty, literary Devils & Dust and the raucous We Shall Overcome: The Pete Seeger Sessions.” The differences are that “unlike The Rising, the first E Street Band album of the new millennium, there is no overarching theme here.” In aiddition, “Springsteen didn’t write a lot of flat-out rock songs, and with his producer Brendan O’Brien, he didn’t make an album that sounds much like a rock & roll album, either…This an E Street Band that was recorded piecemeal in the studio, pasted together track by track as the group fit sessions into their busy schedules.” “There’s a quiet melancholy underpinning this album. It’s evident even on the hard-driving Radio Nowhere, whose charging guitars mask a sense of desperation, or the deceptively breezy Girls in Their Summer Clothes, which grows more wistful with each passing chorus.” While the latter “offers reminders of their classic sound: like ‘Born to Run’… but the band doesn’t absorb the Wall of Sound; they evoke it.” From a mood standpoint, “the joy and the sadness are fused, skewing such otherwise lively numbers as Livin’ in the Future.” “ Springsteen also targets war and politics…either through metaphors (the title track, where the audience is suckered by a con man) or blunt declarations (Last to Die).” “All this toil and tension doesn’t make for a very fun album, but 2007 isn’t a very fun time, so it’s an appropriate reflection of the time.” “The album draws to a close with Terry’s Song, a quickly written and recorded tribute to Terry Magovern, Springsteen’s longtime friend and assistant…This simple tune is a bit ragged, but it’s soulful, moving, and indelible, immediate where the rest of the album is a shade distant. After hearing it, it’s hard not to wish that Bruce would record this way all the time.”

Greatest Hits (2009) Bruce Springsteen

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

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).

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

Released: January 27, 2009 Peak: 11 US, 11 UK, 12 CN, 3 AU, 14 DF Sales (in millions): 0.5 US, 0.12 UK, 1.67 world (includes US + UK) Genre: veteran classic rock Rating: 3.733 out of 5.00 (average of 23 ratings)

Tracks: Outlaw Pete My Lucky Day (11/28/08, 18 AA) E15 Working on a Dream (11/21/08, 95 US, 2 AA, 91 CN) C,E15 Queen of the Supermarket What Love Can Do (4/18/09, --) This Life Good Eye Tomorrow Never Knows Life Itself (12/28/08, --) Kingdom of Days Surprise, Surprise The Last Carnival The Wrestler (8/08, 93 UK, 63 CN) E15,B2

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: Go to the DMDB page for more about this album.

Inyo

Recorded: 1994-2010 Released: 6/27/25 as part of Tracks II: The Lost Albums Peak: -- Sales (in millions): -- Genre: veteran classic rock Rating: --

Tracks: Inyo [4:36] T2,LF Indian Town [3:18] T2 Adelita [4:37] (released 6/2/2025) T2,LF The Aztec Dance [4:45] T2 The Lost Charro [4:47] T2,LF Our Lady of Monroe [3:57] T2 El Jardinero (Upon the Death of Ramona) [5:14] T2 One False Move [3:24] T2 Ciudad Juarez [3:57] T2 When I Build My Beautiful House [3:02] T2 About the Album: “Like The Ghost of Tom Joad, Devils & Dust, and Western Stars before it, Inyo is one of Springsteen’s Western albums – either directly inspired by his time living in California and traveling the Southwest or reflecting back on it.” SG “When Springsteen temporarily relocated from New Jersey to California in the early ‘80s, like any newcomer, he spent time getting to know his new home. In the liner notes, he explains that he wasn’t into ‘party scenes or cliques’ but instead rode hundreds of miles a week on his motorcycle out into the mountains and the desert around Los Angeles, following the state roads between the farmlands and small inland towns.” NPR As he said, “Inyo was a record I wrote…during long drives along the California aqueduct, up through Inyo County on my way to Yosemite or Death Valley…I was enjoying that kind of writing so much. [On The Ghost of Tom Joad tour] I would go home to the hotel room at night and continue to write in that style because I thought I was going to follow up The Ghost of Tom Joad with a similar record, but I didn’t. That’s where Inyo came from. It’s one of my favorites.” IN Since much of it was written and recorded at the same time as Devils & Dust – most of which was done in the ’90s despite being released in 2005 – you can easily look at this as Devils & Dust: Part Two.” SG Although that is “one of the great underrated/unfairly memory-holed Springsteen albums” SG it does mean that “Inyo “is less immediate or revelatory than the rest of Tracks II. On initial listens, the Mariachi swoons of Adelita and The Lost Charro jump out. Yet just as his other albums of border story songs, it seems like reflective, spare material like One False Move or closer When I Build My Beautiful House will become the most enduring.” SG Also, “note the title track’s authorial economy in detailing the scandalous early 1900s battle to bring water to Los Angeles, and Ciudad Juarez’s depiction of drug trafficking across the Rio Grande. “ MJ As a standalone release…this would rank among Springsteen’s best.” MJ

Wrecking Ball

Released: March 5, 2012 Peak: 11 US, 11 UK, 3 CN, 2 AU, 16 DF Sales (in millions): 0.2 US, 0.07 UK, 1.60 world (includes US + UK) Genre: veteran classic rock Rating: 3.837 out of 5.00 (average of 24 ratings)

Tracks: We Take Care of Our Own (1/19/12, 11 AA) C,E15,B2 Easy Money Shackled and Drawn Jack of All Trades Death to My Hometown (5/12, --) This Depression Wrecking Ball C,V You’ve Got It Rocky Ground (4/21/12, --) Land of Hope and Dreams We Are Alive Bonus Tracks: Swallowed Up (In the Belly of the Whale) American Land

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: Go to the DMDB page for more about this album.

The Collection (2012) Bruce Springsteen

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)

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.

Perfect World

Recorded: mid-1990s through early 2010s Released: 6/27/25 as part of Tracks II: The Lost Albums Peak: -- Sales (in millions): -- Genre: veteran classic rock Rating: --

Tracks: I’m Not Sleeping [3:37] (released in 1998 by Joe Grushecky) T2,LF Idiot’s Delight [4:46] T2 Another Thin Line [4:46] T2 The Great Depression [3:47] T2 Blind Man [4:30] T2 Rain in the River [3:12] (recorded 1994, released 4/7/2025) T2,LF If I Could Only Be Your Lover [5:21] (outtake from Wrecking Ball) T2 Cutting Knife [5:03] T2 You Lifted Me Up [3:37] T2,LF Perfect World [3:37] (recorded 1997) T2 About the Album: Unlike the other six albums featured in the Tracks II: The Lost Albums box set, this is “a collection of outtakes that Springsteen assembled for this release. ‘I wanted just a little fun, noise and rock ‘n’ roll to finish the package,’ he said.” NPR “Compared to some of the other lost albums, Perfect World is inevitably minor.” SG It’s “the least satisfying of the seven volumes, probably because it lacks a consistent governing principle.” NPR “Rrather than expose a previously secret left turn, it collects some strays you could easily imagine on any of Springsteen’s ’00s and ’10s rock albums. Those strays, though less exploratory than their peers on the other lost albums, are often excellent.” SG While these are mostly band-oriented songs, the album “inevitably feels akin to High Hopes’ hodgepodge of eras and styles crashed together.” SG “There’s a brace of nearly-weres from 2012’s Wrecking Ball, none of which would have tarnished that album.” MJ “If I Could Be Your Lover is both unusual and a highlight. It’s a smoldering, sinuous piece of music.” SG Rain in the River is “a visceral, haggard standalone from the mid-’90s, not quite like anything he’d done before, and only hinting at some of the directions to come.” SG Both were “demos subsequently monstered up with Springsteen’s current go-to producer Ron Aniello.” MJ The latter “The strongest songs here are actually co-writes between Springsteen and his friend Joe Grushecky, the Pittsburgh bar-buster credited by Bruce with helping him relocate his rock voice and whose 1995 album American Babylon Springsteen produced.” MJ I’m Not Sleeping “is a convincing revival of prime E Street anthemics.” SG In 1998, Grushecky released his own version of the song. MJ The “supreme E Street Band recording of his Another Thin Line is no less than he deserves.” MJ Perfect World “almost becomes an album-as-document of Springsteen making his way back to a full-throated rock sound, developing his late-era iteration that would carry him through the 21st century.” SG However, “the album also has plenty of ballads and moodier material, a handful of which are instant classics – the elliptical amble of Blind Man is mesmerizing.” SG The title track, which was demoed in 1997 and covered in 2023 by John Mellencamp, MJ “is a weathered bit of optimism to close out a collection that has its fair share of darker, heavier work from Springsteen.” SG

High Hopes

Released: January 14, 2014 Peak: 11 US, 11 UK, 11 CN, 11 AU, 13 DF Sales (in millions): 0.2 US, 0.06 UK, 0.52 world (includes US + UK) Genre: veteran classic rock Rating: 3.619 out of 5.00 (average of 22 ratings)

Tracks: High Hopes (Tim Scott McConnell) [4:57] (11/19/96, 15 AA) Harry’s Place American Skin (41 Shots) Just Like Fire Would Down in the Hole Heaven’s Wall Frankie Fell in Love This Is Your Sword Hunter of Invisible Game [4:52] (7/9/14, --) E15 The Ghost of Tom Joad The Wall Dream Baby Dream (Martin Rev, Alan Vega) (9/13, --)

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: This is a collection of covers, outtakes, and re-recordings. Go to the DMDB page for more about this album.

The Essential (2015) Bruce Springsteen

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

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)

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

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)

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.

Twilight Hours

Recorded: 2008-2018? Released: 6/27/25 as part of Tracks II: The Lost Albums Peak: -- Sales (in millions): -- Genre: veteran classic rock Rating: --

Tracks: Sunday Love [5:16] (released 6/12/2025) T2,LF Late in the Evening [4:44] T2 Two of Us [5:10] T2 Lonely Town [6:38] T2 September Kisses [3:32] T2 Twilight Hours [3:23] T2 I’ll Stand by You Always [4:37] (recorded 2000, released 2/10/17) T2 High Sierra [6:25] T2,LF Sunliner [3:05] T2,LF Another You [5:19] T2 Dinner at Eight [4:09] T2 Follow the Sun [3:36] T2 About the Album: “Imagine, if you will, Bruce Springsteen wearing a sport coat, holding a whiskey glass, leaning against a grand piano, no guitar anywhere in sight. This is the world of Twilight Hours, in which he transforms himself into a crooner, probably the most improbable volume of this set.” NPR This is “a collection that Springsteen describes as ‘romantic, lost-in-the-city songs’ – ruminating on what becomes of the brokenhearted.” TH “In the late ’10s, Springsteen began talking about a solo album he had been working on before Wrecking Ball, a collection of ‘Southern California pop’ influenced by Glen Campbell, Jimmy Webb, and Burt Bacharach. Part of this ended up being Western Stars and Twilight Hours is the other half.” SG While Western Stars “was firmly grounded in more of a country/folk singer-songwriter tradition, this volume is closer to Burt Bacharach/Hal David. It’s all about the vocal dynamics, Springsteen performing in a range and style that will be new to everyone.” NPR Western Stars “made sense in the lineage established by the Western albums. Twilight Hours feels like a different beast.” SG He shelved this album “because he felt the aesthetic would be a bit too much.” SG He decided the “dalliances with Bacharach-mode uptown easy listening might befuddle his audience. Plenty in that audience, however – and a wider constituency beyond – thought Roy Orbison-sings-Jimmy Webb evocations like Sundown were Western Stars’ keepers, and certainly Twilight Hours’ peak moments transcend mere genre exercise.” MJ “Twilight Hours is an experiment that immediately announces itself as a transfixing missing piece in Springsteen’s story.” SG “Max Weinberg adds E Street class to… Two of Us, and David Sancious does likewise for the full-on Bossa Follow the Sun. Including 2001’s saccharine I’ll Stand by You Always, a lullaby Springsteen wrote on spec for the first Harry Potter film and eventually used in 2019’s Blinded by the Light, is an anomaly too far, but at least Bruce sounds like he’s enjoying himself.” MJ Springsteen’s remarked that part of the experiment here was more complex chordal structures than he’d usually include, and the flow of the music and melody in Sunday Love alone are jaw-dropping on first listen…Springsteen had already, at times, flirted with abandoning the seaside bar songs of the Jersey boardwalk for the lens-flare Pacific and Beach Boys music boxes. Here, he delved fully into that syrup-y croon only occasionally utilized before. He’s belting over sweeping strings, pristine pianos, and cinematic arrangements.” SG “Though it was inspired by California pop, Twilight Hours is more abstract and placeless than many of the other lost albums. Appropriately for an album called Twilight Hours, it is occasionally noir-ish, built for lovelorn solo meanders through cityscapes anywhere in the country.” SG These are “songs full of longing, romantic loss, brokenness. It’s all rendered with a beauty and precision that is, frankly, shocking for an album deemed unfit for release.” SG

Tracks II: The Lost Albums (2025)

Recorded: 1983-2018 Released: June 27, 2025 Peak: -- Sales (in millions): -- Genre: veteran classic rock Rating: 3.897 out of 5.00 (average of 7 ratings)

About the Album: In 1998, Springsteen released Tracks, a four-disc box set that pulled archival songs from throughout his career. Tracks II serves as a sequel and while it also pulls mostly unreleased material from the vaults, “this set offers discrete bodies of work, mostly from the subsequent period, that for various reasons Springsteen chose not to release, albeit with a couple of anomalies.” MJ This whopping box set dips into the Boss’ archives for seven fully-developed albums recorded from 1983 to 2018. As Springsteen said, these “were full records, some of them even to the point of being mixed and not released…I’ve played this music to myself and often close friends for years now. I’m glad you’ll get a chance to finally hear them. I hope you enjoy them.” BS “Some of these releases had been rumored or theorized; others were completely unknown.” SG Each album “comes with an essay explaining their origins, themes, and maybe why they didn’t see the light of day way back when.” SG The ones most likely to garner attention are LA Garage ‘83, because it serves as the link between Nebraska and Born in the U.S.A., and Streets of Philadelphia Sessions, because it showcases a very different sound for Bruce. “The remaining lost albums are less intrinsically dramatic – partly because their existence, and therefore absence, wasn’t widely known – yet each brings rewards.” MJ The albums go a long way in dispelling the narrative that the ‘90s were Springsteen’s “less productive, wandering years.” SG His 1992 twin releases, Human Touch and Lucky Town, weren’t well received and 1995’s The Ghost of Tom Joad was “to some tuneless and to some a masterpiece.” SG This box set reveals “several albums that could’ve come out in those days and would’ve significantly complicated the story, instead depicting Springsteen’s ’90s as a restless, experimental one.” SG These albums are “often pushing the limits of Springsteen’s sound and songwriting mechanics, often showing us zigs and zags we never knew he took…What you see across Tracks II is that even in his self-editing, he wasn’t hiding music that was inferior…We knew he was malleable, but not quite this malleable.” SG “It’s hard to believe he still had this much material of this quality waiting in the wings. It feels like a gift to finally hear it all.” SG There are “83 songs in total, which “makes the first volume’s mere 66 seem miserly. And as every Boss disciple knows, there’s plenty more. The original Tracks was compiled from a pool of 350 unused songs. ‘I always put them away, but I don’t throw them away,’ Springsteen says in the sleeve notes to this mighty flex of his archival muscle. The title track to Perfect World envisages an everyday utopia, where ‘every stray dog’d find his way.’ So don’t wait too long, Bruce: give all those lost dogs a home.” MJ Click on the individual titles below to see track listings and details about the albums. LA Garage Sessions ‘83 (recorded 1983) Streets of Philadelphia Sessions (recorded 1994) Somewhere North of Nashville (recorded 1994-95+) Faithless (recorded 2005-06) Inyo (recorded 1994-2010) Perfect World (recorded mid-1990s through early 2010s) Twilight Hours (recorded 2008-18?)

Lost and Found (2025)

Recorded: 1983-2018 Released: June 27, 2025 Peak: -- Sales (in millions): -- Genre: veteran classic rock Rating: --

Tracks: (1) Follow That Dream (2) Seven Tears (3) Unsatisfied Heart (4) Blind Spot (5) Something in the Well (6) Waiting on the End of the World (7) Faithless (8) God Sent You (9) Repo Man (10) Detail Man (11) You’re Gonna Miss Me When I’m Gone (12) The Lost Charro (13) Inyo (14) Adelita (15) Sunday Love (16) High Sierra (17) Sunliner (18) I’m Not Sleeping (19) Rain in the River (20) You Lifted Me Up About the Album: This is a one-disc distillation of highlights of the 2025 release of the seven-disc box set Tracks II: The Lost Albums

Western Stars

Released: June 14, 2019 Peak: 2 US, 11 UK, 4 CN, 11 AU, 15 DF Sales (in millions): 0.07 US, 0.10 UK, 0.39 world (includes US + UK) Genre: veteran classic rock Rating: 3.976 out of 5.00 (average of 21 ratings)

Tracks: Hitch Hikin’ The Wayfarer Tucson Train (5/30/19, --) Western Stars (6/14/19, --) Sleepy Joe’s Café Drive Fast (The Stuntman) Chasin’ Wild Horses Sundown Somewhere North of Nashville Stones There Goes My Miracle (5/17/19, --) Hello Sunshine (4/26/19, 23 AA, 1 DF) B1,B2 Moonlight Motel

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: Go to the DMDB page for more about this album.

Letter to You

Released: October 23, 2020 Peak: 2 US, 11 UK, 2 CN, 11 AU, 14 DF Sales (in millions): -- US, 0.1 UK, 0.35 world (includes US + UK) Genre: veteran classic rock Rating: 4.052 out of 5.00 (average of 28 ratings)

Tracks: One Minute You’re Here Letter to You (9/10/20, 1 AA, 1 DF) B1,B2 Burnin’ Train Janey Needs a Shooter Last Man Standing The Power of Prayer (11/23/20, --) House of a Thousand Guitars Rainmaker If I Was the Priest Ghosts (9/24/20, 12 AA) B2 Song for Orphans I’ll See You in My Dreams (3/3/21, --)

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: Go to the DMDB page for more about this album.

Best of (2024) Bruce Springsteen

Released: April 19, 2024 Covers: 1973-2020 Peak: -- Sales (in millions): -- Genre: rock

Tracks (LP/CD Edition): B1 (1) Growin’ Up (2) Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) (3) Born to Run (4) Thunder Road (5) Badlands (6) Hungry Heart (7) Atlantic City (8) Dancing in the Dark (9) Born in the U.S.A. (10) Brilliant Disguise (11) Human Touch (12) Streets of Philadelphia (13) The Ghost of Tom Joad (14) Secret Garden (15) The Rising (16) Girls In Their Summer Clothes (17) Hello Sunshine (18) Letter to You Tracks (Digital Deluxe Edition): B2 (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

About Best of: There is a place for greatest-hits collections. They serve as a one-stop shop for casual fans who want the highlights without buying all the albums. Still, when an artist has been around 50 years, maybe it’s time to stop pushing career retrospectives and break up the compilations to cover different eras. This one offers nothing new – it simply tacks on a few tracks from the last couple of albums that hadn’t been represented since the last compilation.

Only the Strong Survive

Released: November 11, 2022 Peak: 8 US, 2 UK, 8 CN, 3 AU, 15 DF Sales (in millions): -- US, 0.06 UK, 0.15 world (includes US + UK) Genre: veteran classic rock Rating: 3.087 out of 5.00 (average of 13 ratings)

Tracks: Only the Strong Survive (Jerry Butler cover) Soul Days (with Sam Moore) (Dobie Gray cover) Night Shift (Commodores cover) (10/14/22, --) Do I Love You (Indeed I Do) (Frank Wilson cover) (9/29/22, --) The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore (Frankie Valli cover) Turn Back the Hands of Time (Tyrone Davis cover) When She Was My Girl (Four Tops cover) Hey, Western Union Man (Jerry Butler cover) I Wish It Would Rain (Temptations cover) Don’t Play That Song (Ben E. King cover) (10/28/22, --) Any Other Way (William Bell cover) I Forgot to Be Your Lover (with Sam Moore) (William Bell cover) 7 Rooms of Gloom (Four Tops cover) What Becomes of the Brokenhearted (Jimmy Ruffin cover) Someday We’ll Be Together (Supremes cover)

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: Springsteen’s second collection of cover songs (the first was 2006’s We Shall Overcome. This time the focus on R&B classics and some obscurities from the ‘60s and ‘70s. While not a bad collection overall, it mostly makes you want to hear the originals.

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Bruce Springsteen 95-A All Music Guide review by William Ruhlmann of Greatest Hits (1995) 33 Geoffrey Himes (2005). 33 1/3: Born in the U.S.A.. Bloomsbury Academic: New York, NY. MJ Mojo (6/23/2025). “Bruce Springsteen Tracks II Reviewed: The Boss’ Lost Albums Unearthed by Keith Cameron NPR NPR (6/17/2025). “The essential listening guide to Bruce Springsteen’s Tracks II: The Lost Albums by Caryn Rose BS BruceSpringsteen.net (page about Tracks II) FS BruceSpringsteen.net (page about Faithless) IN BruceSpringsteen.net (page about Inyo) SN BruceSpringsteen.net (page about Somewhere North of Nashville) SP BruceSpringsteen.net (page about Streets of Philadelphia Sessions) TH BruceSpringsteen.net (page about Twilight Hours) SG Stereogum.com (6/17/2025). “Premature Evaluation: Bruce Springsteen Tracks II: The Lost Albums” by Ryan Leas Wikipedia (Chapter and Verse) Wikipedia (The Collection) Wikipedia (The Essentials) Wikipedia (Greatest Hits – 2009 version) Wikipedia (Tracks II: The Lost Albums) First posted 6/19/2019; last updated 8/2/2025.