{"id":18413,"date":"2025-09-15T21:26:14","date_gmt":"2025-09-15T13:26:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/artgardenhub.com\/?p=18413"},"modified":"2025-09-15T21:26:16","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T13:26:16","slug":"bruce-springsteen-sends-shockwaves-through-the-music-world-as-tracks-ii-the-lost-albums-leak-over-40-previously-unreleased-songs-surface-exposing-the-darkest-most-intens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artgardenhub.com\/?p=18413","title":{"rendered":"Bruce Springsteen Sends Shockwaves Through the Music World as \u2018Tracks II: The Lost Albums\u2019 Leak \u2014 Over 40 Previously Unreleased Songs Surface, Exposing the Darkest, Most Intense, and Deeply Personal Era of His Creative Journey That Fans Have Been Waiting Decades to Hear"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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At some point, all artists with lengthy careers start to release archival recordings, and Bruce is no different to Bob, Neil, and all the others. \u201cTracks<\/em>\u201d \u2013 or what presumably should now be called \u201cTracks I<\/em>\u201d was an extensive career-spanning best of. \u201cTracks II<\/em>\u201d is a somewhat different beast \u2013 seven full albums that were recorded but for whatever reason were not released at the time of recording. That\u2019s not completely true as one album is a massive cull from studio sessions that were not aimed at a themed album, and there\u2019s one album of a similar nature that was recorded across a longer period of time and just seem to fit together now as a coherent work. The eighty-three new releases thus breakdown into: \u201cLA Garage Sessions \u201983\u2033, \u201cStreets of Philadelphia Sessions\u201d, \u201cFaithless\u201d, \u201cSomewhere North of Nashville\u201d, \u201cInyo\u201d, \u201cTwilight Hours\u201d, <\/em>and \u201cPerfect World\u201d <\/em>and offer music that is generally similar to that which preceded and followed these recordings in the existing official releases. \u201cLA Garage Sessions \u201983\u2033, <\/em>for example, is the bridge from \u201cNebraska\u201d <\/em>to \u201cBorn in the USA.\u201d <\/em>As these recordings span over thirty-five years, there is a wide range of musical approaches, and some seem more successful than others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"BRUCE<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Every litter has a runt, so let\u2019s get that out of the way as quickly as possible \u2013 \u201cTwilight Hours\u201d <\/em>is Springsteen indulging his admiration for the mid-century sounds of Bacharach and David, he does it well, but it\u2019s questionable if there were many people looking to hear him do it. \u2018Sunday Love<\/em>\u2018 and \u2018Late in the Evening<\/em>\u2018 with its expansive orchestration are the most successful renditions \u2013 worryingly they are also the first two songs on the album so it may be the case of two songs in this style is plenty thanks Mr Springsteen, as, sadly, songs like \u2018I\u2019ll stand by you always<\/em>\u2018 are instantly forgettable in this format. The most interesting thing, perhaps, is the insight into the writer\u2019s process as it\u2019s easy to imagine several of the songs \u2013 like \u2018High Sierra<\/em>\u2018 \u2013 working with more \u201ctypical of the artist<\/em>\u201d arrangements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The abortive film soundtrack \u201cFaithless<\/em>\u201d was recorded between the conclusion of the \u201cDevils & Dust<\/em>\u201d tour in November 2005 and the release of \u201cWe Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions<\/em>\u201d in April 2006. \u201cFaithless<\/em>\u201d was mooted as a \u201cspiritual western\u201d and musically we\u2019re somewhere between \u201cO Brother, Where Art Thou<\/em>\u201d and \u201cSINNERS<\/em>\u201c. There\u2019s a lot of energy in the ragged blurs spiritual of \u2018All God\u2019s Children<\/em>\u2018, but the instrumentals are mostly restrained in tone, whilst in \u2018Goin\u2019 To California<\/em>\u2018 so little happens that it really feels like it needs an image of a hoboing train rider or a long shot of someone making their way down a long (very long) and dusty (very dusty) dirt road. If this was issued as a standalone release, then it\u2019d probably get a \u201cfor completists\u201d recommendation \u2013 it\u2019s fine, but there are only seven similarly themed folk songs here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLA Garage Sessions \u201983<\/em>\u201d has the greatest density of songs, with a full eighteen, leaning into double LP territory. It\u2019s a mix of completely new songs, songs that have had limited release, and early\/alternate versions of well-known songs. There\u2019s quite a variation in the presentation of the songs \u2013 with the alternate \u2018My Hometown<\/em>\u2018 closer to \u201cNebraska<\/em>\u201d in feel, whilst \u2018One Love<\/em>\u2018 preshadows the dialled-in synth\u2019 horror (or joy, if you happen to be so inclined) of \u201cBorn In The USA<\/em>\u201c. It\u2019s a song in search of an idea, whilst melodically it\u2019s reminiscent of \u2018La Bamba<\/em>\u2018 stuffed through a shredding machine. One has to take into account that these are well-developed demos, not fully polished and finalised songs, and they serve to illustrate the breadth of the rock and roll that Springsteen was thinking about at the time. \u2018Don\u2019t Back Down<\/em>\u2018 could be made into an anthemic call for resiliance; it\u2019s almost there. The most satisfying songs, perhaps not surprisingly, are the ones that are most \u201cNebraska<\/em>\u201d like \u2013 \u2018Richfield Whistle<\/em>\u2018 and the very similar \u2018Jim Deer<\/em>\u2018, which share an opening verse and are both in the \u2018Johnny 99<\/em>\u2018 mould.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A change of direction is offered by \u201cStreets of Philadelphia Sessions<\/em>\u201d which, perhaps not surprisingly, consists of songs recorded at the same time as the 1994 single \u2018Streets of Philadelphia<\/em>\u2018 and which share a similarly \u201cmodern\u201d sound \u2013 all sparse, steely guitar parts, atmospheric synths, echo effects and hip-hop shout outs. It makes for a very consistent series of songs that, whilst dealing with typical Springsteen themes of desperate and hopeless love, emotional pain inspired insomnia, acts of desperation (\u2018Little Things<\/em>\u2018) and hints of dark deeds \u2013 \u2018Something In The Well<\/em>\u2018 is a closed-off confessional murder ballad. Because the songs eschew anthemic bombast, they sit consistently together in a shared downbeat mood that, for all the musical innovation, seems very<\/em> Springsteen. Why he chose to not release this album at the time is an unfathomable mystery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cInyo<\/em>\u201d is another themed album, with Springsteen telling a dozen dusty border tales gathered from the perspectives of water-starved farmers watching the precious liquid head off to the city of the angels, old lawmen no longer needed, and on \u2018The Lost Charro<\/em>\u2018 singing a modern cowboy and itinerant worker song worthy of Tom Russell. \u2018Ciudad Juarez<\/em>\u2018 is a chilling choppy acoustic guitar and mariachi trumpet touched tale of crime and loss on the border \u2013 \u201cthe drugs flow North across the river the guns flow South \/ the blood flows here from the Devil\u2019s mouth<\/em>\u201d \u2013 with a spirit of vengance in the heart of the narrator searching for his lost daughter in these cursed lands. This is a joy of an album, and it just beggars belief that it was held back for so long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A similar comment is applicable to \u201cSomewhere North Of Nashville<\/em>\u201c, which comes barrelling out of the stops with \u2018Repo Man<\/em>\u2018, laying down a statement of intent that revolves around honky-tonk, country, pedal steel, and a great dollop of rock. This, then, is Springsteen\u2019s Alt-Country album, and very welcome it is. The similarly sounding \u2018Detail Man<\/em>\u2018 adds in sexual braggadocio and burning blues riffs, whilst the other man on the album, the \u2018Delivery Man<\/em>\u2018, is a country bad luck story of a live chicken delivery van encountering a bridge too low. Which has musical overtones of \u2018Maggie\u2019s Farm<\/em>\u2018. \u2018Blue Highway<\/em>\u2018 is a country road song \u2013 endless miles of restless movement with a narrator who hankers over settling down, and the title song is a companion piece for heartbroken songwriters who aren\u2019t making it in Nashville, a piano ballad with aching pedal steel as the regrets build up about trading love for musical ambition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, \u201cPerfect World<\/em>\u201d sweeps up a collection of previously unused songs that were recorded from the 1990s up to 2012 and have a range of styles \u2013 \u2018Another Thin Line<\/em>\u2018 toys with a shiny metal style in the Van Halen mode whilst \u2018Idiot\u2019s Delight<\/em>\u2018 is the Dylan of \u201cInfidels<\/em>\u201d with a little Al Kooper \u201960s keyboard worked in. As a set, it sounds like a compilation taken from a decade\u2019s worth of other unreleased albums, an imaginary decade where Springsteen pursued a glossier and more pop-chart influenced path. \u2018The Great Depression<\/em>\u2018 is a song that cries out for a more rustic version \u2013 as it stands, it\u2019s like an over-polished up Seeger Sessions outtake, it\u2019s very shiny, but it\u2019d be better with the patina. \u2018Rain In The River<\/em>\u2018 is U2 adjacent, as the band experiments with a big drum sound. Overall, it\u2019s certainly an album that has its moments, but it\u2019s not the strongest contribution to the box set.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the variability of the albums, it\u2019s tempting to score each individually, but that\u2019s not how they are available, so you have to take the good with the not as good. And \u201cTwilight Hours\u201d. <\/em>And, it\u2019s worth noting a couple of things \u2013 the physical version of this release includes a hardback book telling the story of the albums, alongside the seven CDs. Although we don\u2019t like to talk about money usually, the CD set retails around \u00a3230, with a tag of around \u00a3290 for the deluxe LP release. That seems a little steep \u2013 \u00a330 for the book and \u00a315 per CD would be a still not cheap \u00a3135. There is also a \u201cbest of\u201d Double LP or single CD as well \u2013 both feature 20 songs from across the seven albums, they are around \u00a335 and \u00a313 respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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