Bruce Springsteen is to release not one but seven albums worth of ‘new’ old material in June - a whopping 83 tracks, of which 74 have never seen the light of day before.
Manna from heaven for his legion of fans then. The 83 tracks on offer are from between 1983 and 2018. Tracks II: The Lost Albums are “full records, some of them even to the point of being mixed and not released”, Springsteen said in a statement.
“For one reason or another, something I felt was missing from some of them or it just didn’t feel complete at the time.”
It’s a project that took shape during the pandemic, apparently. “I’ve played this music to myself and often close friends for years now,” he said. “I’m glad you’ll get a chance to finally hear them. I hope you enjoy them.”
He’s put out a trailer for the project, which explains all. See below.
Those ‘complete’ albums include LA Garage Sessions 83, which apparently bridges the gap between the stripped-down sound of 1982’s Nebraska and its official follow-up, Born In The USA.
The Streets Of Philadelphia Sessions expands on its title track, which Springsteen recorded for Jonathan Demme’s 1993 film Philadelphia (and which was his biggest UK hit) complete with drum loops and synths.
There’s also Faithless, which was recorded for a film that never got made and the country-influenced Somewhere North Of Nashville and what Springsteen describes as “the richly-woven border tales” of Inyo.
In the trailer, the 75-year-old mega star makes a point of saying that the 1990s was far from a ‘lost’ period for him. “Really I was working the whole time,” he insists.
The physical release of the albums includes a lavish 100-page book featuring rare archival photos and liner notes for each record. For those Bruce fans on a budget there’s also a 20-track sampler from across the seven albums that will be released.
It’s been nearly five years now since Springsteen last released an album of new original material – 2020’s A Letter To You. Last year he had concerned many fans when he revealed that he had been suffering from an extended period of writers’ block.
“Songs don't come that often. I've gone two years without writing anything,” he told Entertainment Weekly back in October. This new announcement will more than make up for that.
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