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. “Tracks” – or what presumably should now be called “Tracks I” was an extensive career-spanning best of. “Tracks II” is a somewhat different beast – seven full albums that were recorded but for whatever reason were not released at the time of recording. That’s not completely true as one album is a massive cull from studio sessions that were not aimed at a themed album, and there’s 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: “LA Garage Sessions ’83″, “Streets of Philadelphia Sessions”, “Faithless”, “Somewhere North of Nashville”, “Inyo”, “Twilight Hours”, and “Perfect World” and offer music that is generally similar to that which preceded and followed these recordings in the existing official releases. “LA Garage Sessions ’83″, for example, is the bridge from “Nebraska” to “Born in the USA.” As these recordings span over thirty-five years, there is a wide range of musical approaches, and some seem more successful than others.
Every litter has a runt, so let’s get that out of the way as quickly as possible – “Twilight Hours” is Springsteen indulging his admiration for the mid-century sounds of Bacharach and David, he does it well, but it’s questionable if there were many people looking to hear him do it. ‘Sunday Love‘ and ‘Late in the Evening‘ with its expansive orchestration are the most successful renditions – 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 ‘I’ll stand by you always‘ are instantly forgettable in this format. The most interesting thing, perhaps, is the insight into the writer’s process as it’s easy to imagine several of the songs – like ‘High Sierra‘ – working with more “typical of the artist” arrangements.
The abortive film soundtrack “Faithless” was recorded between the conclusion of the “Devils & Dust” tour in November 2005 and the release of “We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions” in April 2006. “Faithless” was mooted as a “spiritual western” and musically we’re somewhere between “O Brother, Where Art Thou” and “SINNERS“. There’s a lot of energy in the ragged blurs spiritual of ‘All God’s Children‘, but the instrumentals are mostly restrained in tone, whilst in ‘Goin’ To California‘ 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’d probably get a “for completists” recommendation – it’s fine, but there are only seven similarly themed folk songs here.
“LA Garage Sessions ’83” has the greatest density of songs, with a full eighteen, leaning into double LP territory. It’s a mix of completely new songs, songs that have had limited release, and early/alternate versions of well-known songs. There’s quite a variation in the presentation of the songs – with the alternate ‘My Hometown‘ closer to “Nebraska” in feel, whilst ‘One Love‘ preshadows the dialled-in synth’ horror (or joy, if you happen to be so inclined) of “Born In The USA“. It’s a song in search of an idea, whilst melodically it’s reminiscent of ‘La Bamba‘ 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. ‘Don’t Back Down‘ could be made into an anthemic call for resiliance; it’s almost there. The most satisfying songs, perhaps not surprisingly, are the ones that are most “Nebraska” like – ‘Richfield Whistle‘ and the very similar ‘Jim Deer‘, which share an opening verse and are both in the ‘Johnny 99‘ mould.
A change of direction is offered by “Streets of Philadelphia Sessions” which, perhaps not surprisingly, consists of songs recorded at the same time as the 1994 single ‘Streets of Philadelphia‘ and which share a similarly “modern” sound – 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 (‘Little Things‘) and hints of dark deeds – ‘Something In The Well‘ 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 Springsteen. Why he chose to not release this album at the time is an unfathomable mystery.
“Inyo” 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 ‘The Lost Charro‘ singing a modern cowboy and itinerant worker song worthy of Tom Russell. ‘Ciudad Juarez‘ is a chilling choppy acoustic guitar and mariachi trumpet touched tale of crime and loss on the border – “the drugs flow North across the river the guns flow South / the blood flows here from the Devil’s mouth” – 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.
A similar comment is applicable to “Somewhere North Of Nashville“, which comes barrelling out of the stops with ‘Repo Man‘, laying down a statement of intent that revolves around honky-tonk, country, pedal steel, and a great dollop of rock. This, then, is Springsteen’s Alt-Country album, and very welcome it is. The similarly sounding ‘Detail Man‘ adds in sexual braggadocio and burning blues riffs, whilst the other man on the album, the ‘Delivery Man‘, is a country bad luck story of a live chicken delivery van encountering a bridge too low. Which has musical overtones of ‘Maggie’s Farm‘. ‘Blue Highway‘ is a country road song – 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’t making it in Nashville, a piano ballad with aching pedal steel as the regrets build up about trading love for musical ambition.
With the variability of the albums, it’s tempting to score each individually, but that’s not how they are available, so you have to take the good with the not as good. And “Twilight Hours”. And, it’s worth noting a couple of things – the physical version of this release includes a hardback book telling the story of the albums, alongside the seven CDs. Although we don’t like to talk about money usually, the CD set retails around £230, with a tag of around £290 for the deluxe LP release. That seems a little steep – £30 for the book and £15 per CD would be a still not cheap £135. There is also a “best of” Double LP or single CD as well – both feature 20 songs from across the seven albums, they are around £35 and £13 respectively.
