Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band
Greatest Hits

THE REVIEW

On May 29th in Italy, as in the whole of Europe, coinciding with the start of the European tour, a new greatest hits album by Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band was released, but only for the European market. Was it necessary? No! But it's always a pleasure.

The CD contains 16 hits by the Boss exclusively from the albums where his historic band also played, plus two bonus tracks taken from "Live 1975-1985". So no songs from "Nebraska", "Human touch", "Lucky town", "The ghost of Tom Joad", "Devils & dust" and not even "Tunnel of love" in which the band played, but never all together.

Unlike the 1995 "Greatest Hits", there are 2 songs from the first 2 albums, namely; the beautiful "Blinded By The Light" and the classic "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)" both taken from the first two albums of 1973, respectively "Greetings From Asbury Park" and "The Wild, the Innocent And The E Street Shuffle". And then the episodes of 2000 like "The Rising" and "Lonesome Day" taken from the post-9/11 album "The Rising", which were both present in "The Essential", a triple box set from 2003, so the only new ones are "Radio Nowhere" and "Long Walk Home" directly from "Magic" of 2007, which was followed by an extraordinary 100-date tour, which according to Springsteen himself, was his most exciting tour. No tracks from the latest studio work of the band "Working On A Dream". Perhaps because this greatest hits is meant to show that Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band are the best living rock machine, and in "Working On A Dream" there is very little rock. In fact, none at all. Otherwise, you can find the usual songs of the Boss that were not missing in the "Greatest Hits" of '95 and in "The Essential". Namely, "Born To Run" "Born In The U.S.A.", the usual "The River" and "The Hungry Heart" and the still indispensable live "Badlands" and "Darkness On The Edge Of Town". With the novelty of "I'm On Fire" instead of "My Hometown", both quieter songs from "Born In The U.S.A.", though I would have preferred "Working On The Highway" or "No Surrender" which in the latest tours has been greatly re-evaluated.

The two bonus tracks taken from the live '85 are "Because The Night" and "Fire". Instead of "Fire", I would have picked something from the live 2001, to give an idea of what both the Boss's tours were like 15 years apart.

In conclusion, this album can be a great opportunity to discover the Boss, while fans will find it absolutely non-essential, also due to the lack of unreleased material. However, for those who don't know him, it will surely be interesting.

Until next time.....