Next month Columbia will bring two new Bruce Springsteen collections to market: a three-disc best of audio collection and a two-disc live DVD. The career-spanning audio set, “The Essential Bruce Springsteen,” is due Nov. 11; as previously reported, the “Live in Barcelona” DVD will be released Nov. 18.
“Essential” boasts two discs of the best-known songs from the Boss’ Columbia albums, plus live versions of the songs “American Skin (41 Shots)” and “Land of Hope and Dreams,” which have never appeared on any of his studio releases. The former was part of 2001’s “Live in New York City,” while the latter appeared last year as the B-side of “The Rising” single.
A third, limited-edition disc will feature rare and previously unreleased songs. Among the goodies are live versions of Jimmy Cliff’s “Trapped” and the song “Held Up Without a Gun” captured during Springsteen’s tour in support of 1980’s “The River.”
Home recordings of the songs “County Fair” and “The Big Payback” were made shortly after similar recordings that made up 1982’s stark classic “Nebraska.” The former is a little-known song that was performed live for the first time Sept. 20 in Buffalo, N.Y., near the end of Springsteen’s recently wrapped world tour with the E Street Band. Others, such as “Dead Man Walking” and “Missing,” were written for and released on film soundtracks, while a version of “Viva Las Vegas” was contributed to a NME benefit album.
“Live” consists of an entire Springsteen/E Street show in October 2002. The concert at Barcelona’s Palau St. Jordi saw the band perform 24 songs. Many were drawn from “The Rising,” with favorites such as “Badlands,” She’s the One” and “Night” peppered in throughout the set. MTV Europe and CBS in the U.S have previously broadcast portions of the show.
The DVD set, which features a Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound mix, will also contain “Drop the Needle and Pray: The Rising on Tour,” a featurette that includes footage of Springsteen’s summer 2003 concerts in Boston’s Fenway Park and New Jersey’s Giants Stadium, a photo montage and previously unseen interviews with the artist and E Street Band members.
Here is “The Essential Bruce Springsteen” track list:
Disc one:
“Blinded By the Light”
“For You”
“Spirit in the Night”
“4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)”
“Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)”
“Thunder Road”
“Born To Run”
“Jungleland”
“Badlands”
“Darkness on the Edge of Town”
“The Promised Land”
“The River”
“Hungry Heart”
“Nebraska”
Atlantic City”
Disc two:
“Born in the USA”
“Glory Days”
“Dancing in the Dark”
“Tunnel of Love”
“Brilliant Disguise”
“Human Touch”
“Living Proof”
“Lucky Town”
“Streets of Philadelphia”
“The Ghost of Tom Joad”
“The Rising”
“Mary’s Place”
“Lonesome Day”
“American Skin (41 Shots)” (live)
“Land of Hope and Dreams” (live)
Disc three:
“From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come)” (1979)
“The Big Payback” (home recording)
“Held Up Without a Gun” (live in Uniondale, N.Y., 1980)
“Trapped” (live)
“None But the Brave” (recorded during “Born in the USA” sessions)
“Missing” (from the Sean Penn film “The Crossing Guard”)
“Lift Me Up” (written for John Sayles’ film “Limbo”)
“Viva Las Vegas” (recorded for NME benefit album)
“County Fair” (home recording)
“Code of Silence” (live, 1999)
“Dead Man Walking” (written for the Tim Robbins film of the same name)
“Countin’ on a Miracle” (acoustic)
Here is the “Live in Barcelona” track list:
Disc one:
“The Rising”
“Lonesome Day”
“Prove It All Night”
“Darkness on the Edge of Town”
“Empty Sky”
“You’re Missing”
“Waitin’ on a Sunny Day”
“The Promised Land”
“Worlds Apart”
“Badlands”
“She’s the One”
“Mary’s Place”
“Dancing in the Dark”
“Countin’ on a Miracle”
“Spirit in the Night”
“Incident on 57th Street”
“Into the Fire”
Disc two:
“Night”
“Ramrod”
“Born To Run”
“My City of Ruins”
“Born in the USA”
“Land of Hope and Dreams”
“Thunder Road”
Featurette: “Drop the Needle and Pray”
