Music Review: Bruce Springsteen takes seven 'Lost Albums' off the shelf for a new box set

NEW YORK -- NEW YORK (AP) — Bruce Springsteen's new project, “Tracks II: The Lost Albums,” is entirely about that age-old question: What if?

The box set, out June 27, comprises seven albums encompassing the period between 1983 and 2018, all but one he prepared to release in its time but ultimately shelved. Now that he's decided to drop them simultaneously, they offer a fascinating alternative story of his musical life.

Building on its predecessor “Tracks,” 1998's four-disc, 66-song collection of unreleased material, there are 83 songs here. While some slipped out on other projects — “My Hometown” and “Secret Garden” among them — the vast majority hadn't been heard publicly. This is all fully completed material, not half-baked or half-finished outtakes. It's not unusual for artists to leave songs — or even full-lengths — on the cutting-room floor, but multiple entire albums? Springsteen explains that he's taken care releasing albums, looking to build a narrative arc for his career, and believes this approach has served him well.

Perhaps as a result, the most interesting work on “Tracks II” comes when he stretches out and explores pathways not in his wheelhouse: countrypolitan Bruce, border-town Bruce, Burt Bacharach-inspired Bruce and a set of synthesizer-based songs modeled after his Oscar-winning “Streets of Philadelphia.” Oddly, the one disc of strays cobbled together that feels most like an E Street Band record is the least compelling.

Since these are seven distinct albums, it's worth evaluating them that way.

“LA Garage Sessions '83” captures Springsteen working virtually alone at a home in the Hollywood Hills. It was squarely in between his “Nebraska” and “Born in the USA” albums, and he seems torn between those two approaches. There are character studies here, and more lighthearted fare like “Little Girl Like You,” with a single man yearning to settle down. The most striking cut is “The Klansman,” about a boy and his racist father, yet it cries out for more development. Ultimately, Springsteen chose the right albums to release at the time.

The song “Streets of Philadelphia” was a genuine departure musically, and Springsteen decided to make an album in the same vein, with synthesizers and drum loops the dominant elements. If released in the early 1990s, this would have been the most contemporary-sounding disc of his career, with atmospherics that occasionally recall U2. Springsteen pulled it at the last minute, reasoning that the stories of doomed relationships — sample lyric: “We loved each other like a disease” — was too much like “Tunnel of Love.”

At the same time he recorded “The Ghost of Tom Joad” in 1995, Springsteen also convened a country band steered by pedal steel player Marty Rifkin. Their work was terrific, led by the one-two punch of “Repo Man” and the Johnny Rivers cover, “Poor Side of Town.” The title cut to a disc he calls “Somewhere North of Nashville” escaped into the public some two decades later. Since the somber “Joad” won a Grammy, who are we to second-guess his choice of what to put out? “Nashville,” though, is a rollicking good time.

“Inyo” is similar to “Joad” and “Devils & Dust,” mostly acoustic-based narratives, here many of them stories of the Southwest. Springsteen even appropriately brings in mariachi bands for “Adelita” and “The Lost Charro.” Soozie Tyrell's violin is notable, particularly on the majestic “When I Build My Beautiful House.” We're guessing that Springsteen may have considered “Inyo” one album too many in the same style, but it's still strong work.

At one point Springsteen considered making “Western Stars,” his salute to early 1970s California songwriting, a double album. When he didn't, the songs on “Twilight Hours” were left behind. Here Bacharach is the primary influence, and this almost feels like Elvis Costello's collaboration with Burt, only without him (and is the lyric “God give me strength” a hat-tip to that project?). The crooning Bruce of “Sunday Love” is spellbinding, maybe the box's best song. “Lonely Town” sits at the intersection of Bacharach and Roy Orbison, while “Dinner at Eight” is a lovely sum-up. “Twilight Hours” may startle Springsteen fans — and impress them, too.

The workmanlike songs on “Faithless” were written on commission in two weeks, the soundtrack to a movie that was never made. It's a good bet it would have been a moody Western.

When Springsteen duels with Tom Morello on the song “Another Thin Line,” you realize how little you've heard his electric guitar on “Tracks II.” The album “Perfect World” is the one here made up of leftovers from different periods, with the greatest E Street Band participation. Here's the deal, though: Most good E Street Band material has already been released. The best left behind for this disc is “You Lifted Me Up,” with minimalist lyrics and a vocal collaboration with Patti Scialfa and Steve Van Zandt.

The box gives Springsteen completists plenty to mull over, and you can question whether these “lost discs” would get more attention released separately instead of together. If it's too much, he's releasing a 20-song set of its highlights.

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David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and entertainment for the AP. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder and https://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.social.

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