Bruce Springsteen: Tracks

Since boxed sets are often criticized solely for their omissions, it would seem that Bruce Springsteen's four-CD Tracks, which is more or less a collection of omissions from throughout his career, could do no wrong. If 56 of the 66 songs have never before been officially released, what's to complain about Beginning with his solo demo recorded for John Hammond in 1972, back when Springsteen was being touted as the next Dylan, and stretching through his most recent work as a solo artist (the newest songs were recorded just last August), Tracks is a nearly overwhelming buffet at which Boss fans can now gorge themselves. The timing of the box couldn't be better: Springsteen is about to be inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall Of Fame; the holiday shopping season is upon us; an excellent book of his lyrics, rare pictures, and personal notes, Songs, just hit the shelves; and rumors are flying that The Boss might reunite with The E Street Band. Unfortunately, what Tracks is missing is context. Outside of a brief introduction by Springsteen himself, in which he refers to these various songs as a sort of "alternate route" of his career, there is very little notation. This means, among other things, that although the recording date of each song is printed, it's never clear exactly when each track was actually written, or what album it was originally intended for. For instance, it may be common knowledge that the acoustic "Born In The U.S.A." was originally meant for the bleak Nebraska album, but that's no reason to leave that important factual tidbit out of the set. Similarly, "Frankie," recorded during the Born In The U.S.A. sessions, sounds like a throwback to Springsteen's mid-'70s period. A more glaring fault is related to the fact that Springsteen supposedly retooled several of the songs, even going so far as to add horns to a few tracks, but you'd never know that from the liner notes. Finally, for a collection of omissions, there are a few glaring ones. To put Tracks in perspective, a few years ago, a monumental 21-disc bootleg series of Springsteen outtakes, alternate recordings, and live rehearsals was sneaked out to the public. Almost immediately upon its release, Springsteen sought to pull it from circulation, the first indication that the wheels were in motion for a rarities collection of his own. But the bootlegs gave a glimpse of just how much stuff—literally entire albums of material—remains in the vaults, stuff that probably could have somehow found its way onto this set (perhaps in place of some of the good but by no means revelatory '90s material). Although there's little on Tracks that hardcore collectors haven't already heard, the vast majority of these songs will be new even to serious Springsteen admirers. Problems with the presentation aside, there's nary a bum track here, backing up Springsteen's claim that the running orders of his albums were often arbitrary and by no means indicative of the quality of the leftovers. The fact that Springsteen's second-hand songs still command more attention than the work of most of today's superstars, as well as many of his peers, stands as testament to the man's enormous talents.