TERRY GROSS, HOST:
This is FRESH AIR. Bruce Springsteen just released seven albums' worth of previously unreleased material. The collection is called "Tracks II: The Lost Albums," a sequel to the first "Tracks" anthology from 1998. The new collection includes songs written and recorded between the mid-1980s through the late 2010s. The range of sounds and styles is considerable, from synth pop to folk ballads. Rock critic Ken Tucker has listened to all 83 songs and has a review of this trove of new Bruce music.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BLIND SPOT")
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN: (Singing) We inhabited each other like it was some kind of disease. I thought that I was flying but I was crawling on my knees. Everybody's got a blind spot that brings 'em down.
KEN TUCKER, BYLINE: A workaholic and a pack rat, Bruce Springsteen is known for the volume as well as the quality of his music. These seven so-called lost albums each represent collections that, at the time of recording, were polished up and ready to go but then were held back for various reasons. I'll give you an example. In the liner notes to the album now called the "Streets of Philadelphia Sessions," Springsteen says this material, created mostly alone in the studio during the 1990s, would have followed, quote, "three solo albums about relationships in a row." He felt the sustained downbeat tone might test his audience's patience. So he switched gears, got the E Street Band back in action and went in a different direction. But it's nice to hear some of these quiet, intimate compositions, such as "The Little Things."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE LITTLE THINGS")
SPRINGSTEEN: (Singing) She said, we could just sleep together. There'd be nothing wrong. Yeah, we could just hold each other with our clothes on. I went to answer, I don't think we should. Then I heard a voice say, yeah, I guess we could. She kissed me lightly, said, you know, sometimes when you're down, it's the little things that count. It's the little things...
TUCKER: The seven albums in this collection include "Inyo," consisting of original folk songs influenced by Springsteen's motorcycle trips around California, Texas and Mexico. There's another album called "Somewhere North Of Nashville," full of pedal steel guitar and the Bruce version of country music. My favorite moment on that one isn't a Springsteen original, but a lovely cover of Johnny Rivers' great 1966 No. 1 hit, "Poor Side Of Town."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "POOR SIDE OF TOWN")
SPRINGSTEEN: (Singing) How can you tell me that you miss me when the last time I saw you, you wouldn't even kiss me? That rich guy you've been seeing really must have put you down. So welcome back, baby, to the poor side of town.
TUCKER: Given seven albums of material, there are inevitable weak spots. "Faithless " described as the soundtrack to a Western movie that was never shot, is rather listless, a slowpoke cowpoke. Another album that's a kind of stunt is "Twilight Hours." By contrast, the best album of the seven is the "LA Garage Sessions," the sparse, low-fi, one-man band recordings he cut in 1983. This was after Springsteen's solo album "Nebraska" and before his huge E Street hit, "Born In The USA." In the liner notes, he refers to these sessions as a critical bridge between those two albums. It includes some marvelously unpretentious music, including the Beach Boys-ish "Don't Back Down On Our Love" and this song called "Little Girl Like You," that carries echoes of The Everly Brothers.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LITTLE GIRL LIKE YOU")
SPRINGSTEEN: (Singing) I want a little house on a little hill. I want to settle down. Yeah, I think I will. Settle down and find a little love that's true. Settle down with a girl like you. I've seen a lot of girls, had a lot of fun. I ran around a lot, now my running's done. Honey, all I want, want to be running to is the arms of a girl like you.
TUCKER: At its best, this capacious grab bag of music yields not just good songs, but songs that seem unlike anything else Springsteen has ever done. From the album called "Perfect World," I love this thundercloud ballad called "If I Could Only Be Your Lover," which sounds like the theme to a film noir not yet made.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "IF I COULD ONLY BE YOUR LOVER")
SPRINGSTEEN: (Singing) Just another town, another house boarded up, foreclosure sign. Once this town, this house and you were mine. A rusted latch on a backyard fence, a swing set swallowed up in weeds, growin' up some back-porch steps. If I could only be your lover, I'd never covet any other.
TUCKER: Most of these lost albums contain striking songs that would have deepened our understanding of both Springsteen's process and his value during any of the periods during which the music was made. Spilling out these 83 tunes now is like finding the missing jigsaw puzzle pieces that enable fans to complete the full picture of who Bruce Springsteen has been for the past four decades.
GROSS: Ken Tucker reviewed Bruce Springsteen's new collection "Tracks II: The Lost Albums."
If you'd like to catch up on FRESH AIR interviews you missed, like this week's collection of our interviews with the late Bill Moyers, an interview with Jeffrey Sellers, a producer of "Hamilton," "Rent" and "Spring Awakening," and journalist Jacob Soboroff on how the immigration crackdown is sweeping up workers and longtime residents, check out our podcast. You'll find lots of FRESH AIR interviews.
FRESH AIR's executive producer is Danny Miller. Our technical director and engineer is Audrey Bentham. Our managing producer is Sam Briger. Our interviews and reviews are produced and edited by Phyllis Myers, Roberta Shorrock, Ann Marie Baldonado, Lauren Krenzel, Therese Madden, Monique Nazareth, Susan Nyakundi and Anna Bauman. Our digital media producer is Molly Seavy-Nesper. Thea Chaloner directed today's show. Our co-host is Tonya Mosley. I'm Terry Gross.
(SOUNDBITE OF WARREN VACHE JR'S "COTTONTAIL") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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