Occasional Albums Thing 041 - Bruce Springsteen “Greatest Hits”

Yes it’s a Bruce Springsteen Greatest Hits compilation and you may well be wondering, as I’ve covered all the Springsteen albums in some detail elsewhere, why do I need to write about this, surely we’ve already covered everything ? Well just hold on there a cotton pickin’ minute…firstly it’s on Red vinyl, and you all know how I feel about that, but somewhat more importantly it contains some tracks that I didn’t already have on vinyl.

This 2 LP collection was originally released in 1995 (actually this one I have is an RSD 2018 re-issue, hence the  Red vinyl). Springsteen had parted ways with the E Street Band in 1989, he’d released and toured the somewhat disappointing “Human Touch/Lucky Town” pairing with his Other Band through 1992. In 1994 he wrote and recorded “Streets Of Philadelphia” for Jonathan Demme’s Oscar winning movie “Philadelphia” (Springsteen won the Grammy for song of the year too). That song is one of the reasons I snagged this album, I only had it as a download.  It was quite the departure for Springsteen, a moody song based around a drum loop and synthesizers. Demme was apparently expecting a more traditional rocker for his theme tune (he’d called Neil Young before Springsteen but Shakey sent him a piano ballad) and was taken aback by “Streets Of Philadelphia”s spareseness. 

It’s a superb lyric, a man who doesn’t know how he feels, doesn’t recognise his own reflection, feels alone and shunned because of the disease he has (let’s not forget the panic around AIDS back then) and “At night I could hear the blood in my veins, Just as black and whispering as the rain”. It fit the film perfectly, much to Demme’s dismay, and gave Springsteen his first hit in a long time.

Tucked away in his home studio with members of the Other Band Springsteen proceeded to record an entire album in the style of “Streets Of Philadelphia”…and then shelved it, thinking his audience wouldn’t go for a moody record made up of relationship songs and drum loops (it has recently been released as part of the mammoth “Tracks II” box set…more of that later) and he shelved it. So what did he do instead ? Well he started to compile this Greatest Hits record as a stop gap. In early 1995 he reconvened the E Street band  to cook up some bonus tracks for it. So right next to the “hits” (“Born To Run”, “The River”, “Dancing In The Dark”, “Born In The USA”…they’re all here) you get a whole side of “new” E Street Band recordings…now that’s a bonus!

“Secret Garden” was recorded at the Hit Factory in NYC with the reconvened E Street Band and could well be the least E Street Band sounding song that could have been chosen to kick off Side 4. It’s very much in the vein of “Streets Of Philadelphia” it meanders along and finishes on a soulful Big Man solo. 

The real gem contained here is next, “Murder Incorporated”. Originally recorded in 1982 and slated for inclusion as track 2 on “Born In the USA” it fell by the wayside. The recording here is an enhanced, remixed version of that original 1982 recording. It’s a ferociously angry song about which the writer has said “There’s a body count incorporated into our way of life. We’ve come to accept the expendability of some of our citizens’ lives and dreams as just a part of the price of doing business“. It was felt a video was needed for the song. That was recorded in front of a small audience in a nightclub in New York (https://youtu.be/Jj7hvKQ6Uhc?si=80YDu_m_JadOkIQp). Between takes for the video the band played E Street classics which ultimately led to the Reunion Tour in 1999, where “Murder Incorporated” was played every night and the song really sparked into life when the E Street Band took it on stage 132 times. I’ve linked this “Greatest Hits” version below but I’d advise you to look for the version included on the album “Live In New York City” recorded on that Reunion Tour, it’s absolutely brutal

“Blood Brothers” is one held in high regard by E Street fans as it’s come to represent everyone’s favourite Jersey bar band in the 21st century, but…it sounds just like “Devils & Dust” and yes I know this was written first but as I’ve known the latter song for a lot longer my allegiances will remain there. We reach an end on “This Hard Land”, which sounds like the archetypal title for a Bruce Springsteen song right ? It’s a re-recording of a song that had been originally taped in 1982 with an E Street Band sans Clarence and was eventually released on “Tracks” in 1998. It’s a pretty straight run through the original recording with Bruce living out his Dylan/Woody Guthrie/Steinbeck fantasies on a song that bears more than a passing resemblance to Van Morrison’s “Brown Eyed Girl”. Ultimately the fans get 4 new songs to salivate over.

“Greatest Hits” represents an important point in Springsteen’s story. He was again, as I posited at the time of “Nebraska”, at a crossroads. This period bought the E Street Band back into his world, later in 1995 he released “The Ghost Of Tom Joad”, arguably “Nebraska” Pt.2, eventually the Reunion Tour happened and at the start of the 21st century tragic events in New York City led to “The Rising”. Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band now had something to say.

Murder Incorporated - https://youtu.be/oshU-C5zTWE?si=ktz6P29RYfJp2SnX