Bruce Springsteen 'Tracks II: The Lost Albums' is expansive and remarkable: Review
You can hear it in his expressive voice on the 'Twilight Hours' and 'The Streets of Philadelphia Sessions' LPs, part of the expansive and remarkable 'Tracks II: The Lost Albums,' available Friday, June 27.
Now we don't think the Boss really has a broken heart, but the broad material on 'Tracks II' lets Springsteen delve into the sweet subject of heartache — and it's a joy. The Boss, like Al Jolson, can sing with a tear in his voice.
'Blind Spot' from 'The Streets of Philadelphia' finds the protagonist looking for redemption in love, and Springsteen's voice finds the space between yearning, lust and fatalism. The gorgeous 'Late in the Evening' from 'Twilight Hours' is a soaring ballad of late-night solitude for which Springsteen unloads a magnificent vocal performance with sustained notes, tremolos and the aforementioned Jolson teardrop.
The Springsteen love songs have been, to this point, largely about lovers about to consummate their relationship. Think of the couples of 'Thunder Road' and 'Fire.' On 'Tracks II,' we get glimpses of what happens after the initial spark.
There is a lot to unpack on 'Tracks II,' ostensibly a sequel to 1998's 'Tracks.' On 'Tracks II,' there are 83 songs on seven full albums recorded between 1983 to 2018, and it's quite a lot more than relationship songs.
There's an atmospheric soundtrack to an unmade spiritual Western movie called 'Faithless,' recorded in 2005 and 2006; a sparse and evocative collection of border songs called 'Inyo,' named after the California county and inspired by 1995's 'The Ghost of Tom Joad'; 'LA Garage Session '83,' a collection of lo-fi rockers and atmospheric ballads recorded 'Nebraska' style in 1983 that is a treasure trove; and 'Somewhere North of Nashville,' recorded in 1995, filled with rocking Texas country songs.
'Perfect World' is a rocker sparked by Joe Grushecky co-compositions. The tracks date back to 1994. 'The Streets of Philadelphia Sessions,' a meditation on the meaning of trust in a relationship, was recorded in 1994, and is as close as we'll get to the album by Springsteen and his 'Other Band,' who played more than 100 shows with the Boss in 1992 and '93 when the E Street Band was disbanded.
Zack Alford, Tommy Sims and Shane Fontayne all appear on 'Philadelphia Sessions,' which has wrongly been referred to as a 'hip-hop' album.
'Twilight Hours,' the strongest album in the collection, is a companion to 2019's 'Western Stars,' according to the 'Tracks II' liner notes, and was recorded in a 1960s orchestra pop style in 2010 and '11 as a nod to the repertoire of the Burt Bacharach and Hal David classics.
'Because I love Burt Bacharach and I love those kinds of songs and those kinds of songwriters,' says Springsteen in the liner notes. 'I took a swing at it because the chordal structures and everything are much more complicated, which was fun for me to pull off.'
So why seven albums now? Each work has its Bruce-ian reason for not being previously released. 'The Street of Philadelphia Sessions' was too much of a 'relationship' album to come after the similarly-themed 'Tunnel of Love,' 'Human Touch' and 'Lucky Town.'
'LA Garage Sessions' was held back for another record: 'Born in the USA.'
'I've always released my records with great care, making sure my narratives built upon one another,' Springsteen says in the liner notes. 'I'm glad I did, as it usually assured the best of what I had came out, weaving a clear picture in my fans' minds of who I was and where I was going in my work life at that moment. The records in this collection did not comfortably fit into that narrative, my creative arc.'
There is so much here, such variety and quality, that new narratives will be born on June 27. The Boss goes back to rock 'n' roll roots on 'LA Garage Sessions' with 'Little Girl Like You,' a Buddy Holly homage and, and 'Don't Back Down,' which echoes early Beach Boys.
A pre-''Born in the USA' 'My Hometown' is here, sung in a higher key than the 1984 version. It's one of several songs on 'Tracks II' that have been released in different versions elsewhere.
'The Klansman' from 'LA Garage Sessions' is a compelling and driving rocker, unsettling in lyrical content and more than 40 years later more topical than ever.
Marty Rifkin, a member of the Seeger Session Bands, lights up 'Somewhere North of Nashville' on his steel guitar, sizzling on 'Repo Man' with E Street (and Seeger Sessions) keyboardist Charles Giordano. Rifkin also gives a warm prairie echo to a cover of the Johnny Rivers classic 'Poor Side of Town.'
First heard on 'Western Stars,' the song 'Somewhere North of Nashville' is given the Rifkin and Giordano treatment, and it sweetly aches.
The stark 'Inyo' has several gems, including 'The Lost Charro,' which evokes Marty Robbins when trumpets ring in glory as fatal circumstances befall a noble hero.
In 'Ciudad Juarez,' a daughter vanishes into the streets as told in this haunting ballad. 'Inyo' is set on the borders of California and Texas with one exception: 'Our Lady of Monroe.' The song takes place in Monroe, about 15 miles west of Springsteen's Freehold hometown, and it's a testament to Springsteen's eyes and ears as an artist that he gets it exactly right.
Yes, it's very plausible that a retired Newark cop would come to live in one the senior communities in Monroe to try 'to lose some of what he'd seen' on duty.
'Another Thin Line,' co-written with 'Grushecky' from 'Perfect World,' is rocker that hits the mark with authority. "Cutting Knife' features a Springsteen rarity: a near-falsetto Boss on the chorus. The trusty E Street glockenspiel chimes in, this time played by co-producer Ron Aniello, and it's at once familiar and enticingly fatalistic.
Like fellow Jerseyan Walt Whitman, the Boss contains multitudes.
Prices for 'Tracks II: The Lost Albums' range from $14.98 for the companion CD, 'Lost And Found: Selections from The Lost Albums,' to $349.98 for the box set in vinyl format. Visit thelostalbums.net for more information.
Follow That Dream
Don't Back Down On Our Love
Little Girl Like You
Johnny Bye Bye
Sugarland
Seven Tears
Fugitive's Dream
Black Mountain Ballad
Jim Deer
County Fair
My Hometown
One Love
Don't Back Down
Richfield Whistle
The Klansman
Unsatisfied Heart
Shut Out The Light
Fugitive's Dream (Ballad)
Blind Spot
Maybe I Don't Know You
Something In The Well
Waiting On The End Of The World
The Little Things
We Fell Down
One Beautiful Morning
Between Heaven and Earth
Secret Garden
The Farewell Party
Faithless
The Desert (Instrumental)
Where You Goin', Where You From
All God's Children
A Prayer By The River (Instrumental)
God Sent You
Goin' To California
The Western Sea (Instrumental)
My Master's Hand
Let Me Ride
My Master's Hand (Theme)
Repo Man
Tiger Rose
Poor Side of Town
Delivery Man
Under A Big Sky
Detail Man
Silver Mountain
Janey Don't You Lose Heart
You're Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone
Stand On It
Blue Highway
Somewhere North of Nashville
Inyo
Indian Town
Adelita
The Aztec Dance
The Lost Charro
Our Lady of Monroe
El Jardinero (Upon the Death of Ramona)
One False Move
Ciudad Juarez
When I Build My Beautiful House
Sunday Love
Late in the Evening
Two of Us
Lonely Town
September Kisses
Twilight Hours
I'll Stand By You
High Sierra
Sunliner
Another You
Dinner at Eight
Follow The Sun
I'm Not Sleeping
Idiot's Delight
Another Thin Line
The Great Depression
Blind Man
Rain In The River
If I Could Only Be Your Lover
Cutting Knife
You Lifted Me Up
Perfect World
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Chris Jordan, a Jersey Shore native, covers entertainment and features for the USA Today Network New Jersey. Contact him at cjordan@app.com
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Bruce Springsteen 'Tracks II: The Lost Albums' review
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