All 7 of Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Tracks II’ lost albums, ranked

A new Bruce Springsteen record would make us dance in the dark. But seven? We are on fire.

Friday, the rock icon fell Tracks II: The Lost Albums, With 83 songs in total, 74 of which had never been heard before. Exhausting his career from 1983 to 2018, the huge box compiles a mixture of eclectic equipment that the boss wrote and recorded, but then abandoned. Although a large part of it was even mastered, Springsteen decided that it was not an essential part of his work for one reason or another.

Now, finally, fans can fill the gaps between the LPS he published, plunging into a rich collection of works that was never. Because 83 songs is an incredible quantity of music (although we undoubtedly have the pure Springsteen tears it as quickly as possible), we made things a little more the size of a bite, classifying the seven albums of Tracks II and highlighting some of the best tracks each.

So roll in the window and let the wind blow your hair, and go.

7 Unfair

Springsteen was responsible for writing music on Unfair For a companion album for a “spiritual western” which has never taken off. Without the film to accompany them, the songs here, which he recorded between the end of 2005 and the spring 2006, feel as the most incomplete of the new Tracks II Material, missing half of their equation. However, there is a great job to find, especially in several instrumental, a real departure for a man known for his lively lyricism. If you listen to a single song, however, do it “Let me go up,” A plaintive but soothing ballad with rich harmonies and choral strings. His chorus – “Give me my ticket, Lord, and leave me ride” – recalls the live favorite from Springsteen “Land of Hope and Dreams”.

6. Twilight hours

Given his status as rock and roller dyed in wool, it would be strange to call Springsteen a crooner, but it is the atmosphere he organizes on this quieter record that he wrote and recorded in 2010 and 2011 before publishing 2012 Demolition ball. “Lonely city” Offers part of the Springsteen signature narration with a black story worthy of a gray world for solitary lovers. It is easy to imagine singing him in an armed fedora with a glass of whiskey in hand. “Sunliner” evokes a more brilliant atmosphere before launching it with a notch “Follow the sun,” which uses the distinct horns and brushes of Burt Bacharach from the 1960s. Twilight hours is a unique entry into the Tracks II Collection, but it’s a bit uneven while Springsteen plays outside his usual wheelhouse.

5 Inyo

Inyo was widely written in the mid -1990s while Springsteen was on the road with a solo visit to The ghost of Tom Joad. Just like Western stars, joad, And Demons and dust, It is a spare and reflective record that pays tribute to the landscape of California and the West with its sound. Although the singer recently reinforced his production of backup with brass and string sections, Inyo predict this with its implementation of Mariachi music, most beautifully on “The Lost Charro,” A romantic ballad on the traditions of his titular Mexican cowboy. The album lights up the versatility of Springsteen as an artist, changing genres while he maintains his thematic objective of stray men in wide open spaces. Also irresistible is also irresistible “When I build my beautiful house,” which presents an exquisite finger that highlights InyoSpanish influence.

4 Perfect world

Unlike the other six projects in the new collection, Perfect world was not designed as an album, rather compiling a sample of tracks of various points of the Springsteen career. This unifying lack of vision is what attracts him firmly in the middle of this pack, even if he has some of the strongest tracks in the box. “The great depression” was cut off for consideration for Demolition ball, What is abundantly obvious given its sound, which mixes folk traditions with Rock & Roll like “Shackled and Draw” from this album and “Death to My My Hometown”. It’s a shame it was not included,, But we are lucky to hear it now. “”Rain in the river “ is a drive song driven that Springsteen wrote in 1994 that he considered later Demolition ball (Although this would not have been moved to 2002 The climb either). Of all the 83 tracks lost here, it may be the one we are most eager to hear living with all the strength of the Street Band behind.

3 and 3 Sessions of the streets of Philadelphia

As the title suggests, these songs come from the same period during which Springsteen wrote his winner of an Oscar in 1994, “Streets of Philadelphia”, for Tom Hanks by Jonathan Demme – with stars Philadelphia. The sound textures of the album strongly look at the use of rhythm machines and synths, presenting the artist’s desire to play with the popular tools of the profession at the time. Opening track “Blood angle” is classic in the early 1990s Springsteen, with his loop bass line and his words that talk about the inevitable failure of a relationship (see also: “Brilliant disguise” of 1987). In the meantime, “One fine morning” Towards more in the hot sound of “Lucky Town” of 1992 and, with his speech on a resurrection which echoes the words of “The Rising” of 2002, plays with the religious themes which often appear in the work of Springsteen.

2 Somewhere north of Nashville

Springsteen has never released a country album, although he covered Glen Campbell and a large part of 2019 Western stars is based on country-Western traditions. If Somewhere north of Nashville is an indication, it is a disappointment because it has a real gift for Honky-Tonk. Surprisingly, Springsteen recorded this album simultaneously with the 1995s Tom Joad’s ghostput down cuts for Joad During the hours of clarity and Nashville The night. With a stirring pedal steel guitar which lends it a suctioning melancholy sound, “Under a big sky” is a heartbreaking ballad on a lonely guy who realizes that he ruined the relationships that matter most. Associate with “Man detail,” An energetic piece that feels everyone with “Cadillac Ranch” from 1981 which could well be the dirtiest song that the boss has ever written – “I’m going to kiss you in places that other men have not even heard”, he promises. Springsteen has never been as openly lascivious as his rock brothers Mick Jagger or Jim Morrison, so it’s a pleasure to hear him fully embracing his sex appeal.

1 and 1 The garage sessions ’83

This album could have the most facial name in the group, but it also resembles the most crucial entry of this collection, offering an essential connective tissue between the years 1982 Nebraska and the 1984 mastodon Born in the United States (it even includes an alternative version of USA‘s “My hometown”). Springsteen has interpreted many of these songs live over the years, but hearing them in a more unified context allows fans to trace their evolution as an artist in real time. It is difficult to choose favorites The garage Because he has so many great songs, but start with “Follow this dream,” Twist from Springsteen on an Elvis Presley track of the same name; “Do not back up on our love,” which echoes the playful energy of USA“Darlington County” and “Cover me”; “Black Mountain Ballade,” who shares DNA with Nebraska Tracks like “Johnny 99” with his haunting style; And “Don’t back away,” which offers divine beach beach harmonies with a Springsteen thrust.