Occasional Albums Thing 045 - Bruce Springsteen “Tracks II: The Lost Albums”

Dear lord, these favourite artists of ours have us vinyl junkies wrapped around their l’il ol’ fingers don’t they !

Bruce Springsteen released the first volume of “Tracks” in 1998. It was a 4 CD box set containing 66 tracks of demo’s and outtakes many of them previously unreleased. Now I know I’ve said I’m not usually too fussed about theses type of things, it being that this stuff was unreleased for a reason but a) it’s Bruce Springsteen FFS ! and b) a number of these songs should have been released, a case in point being “My Love Will Not Let You Down” a song that didn’t make it onto “Born In The USA” but now, 40 years later, regularly features in Springsteen’s live set, in fact he opened with it at Anfield in June this year.

Rumours of the release of “Tracks II” had circulated for years but in April 2025 it happened, “Tracks II: The Lost Albums”, a huge collection of previously unreleased songs, 7 complete unreleased albums spread over 9 LP’s, recorded (but never issued) between 1983 and 2018, including a 100-page cloth-bound, hardcover book with a personal introduction from The Boss himself. I uhmmed and ahhh’d for a couple of weeks but of course I had to have it which is why I now find myself in possession of this beautiful item and a couple of quid over 300 poorer…wrapped around your l’il ol’ finger I most certainly am Mr Springsteen.

The seven complete LP’s contained within are “LA Garage Sessions ’83” (recorded ala “Nebraska” and featuring an early version of “My Hometown” later to find a home on “Born In The USA”), “Streets Of Philadelphia Sessions” (a continuation of recording in the style of his Grammy award winning theme song for the movie “Philadelphia”), “Faithless” (the long-lost soundtrack to a movie that was never made), “Somewhere North Of Nashville” (inspired by honky tonk, rockabilly, uptempo country and recorded simultaneously with “The Ghost of Tom Joad” in the summer of 1995), “Inyo” (songs set throughout the border states of California and Texas), “Twilight Hours” (an orchestral pop album recorded around the time of “Western Stars” in 2018) and “Perfect World” (the one “album” here that wasn’t originally conceived as such).

Since the announcement of its release I’ve been anxious to get amongst it and find out what treasures are within. Some of the songs here have been distributed on various bootlegs, but I’ve never been much of a fan of those. Some of these songs are titles that I’ve long known about (“Sugarland”, “The Klansman”) but never heard. Some of these songs I have heard (“County Fair”, “Secret Garden”, “I’ll Stand By You”, “Somewhere North Of Nashville”) but separated from the music that surrounded them or in different versions. Almost all of it is new to me so it’s gonna take me some time to get through it and digest it all. So here I am, the day after delivery day, 28/6/25 (***), about to go in, let’s see how long before I have anything to say about this manna from heaven (well for us Springsteen fans it is!)

LA Garage Sessions ‘83 - Although in the notes Springsteen says these records were conceived as full albums in all honesty this one feels like a bunch of demo’s all recorded at the same time. I can’t imagine any circumstance in 1983 or ‘84 where this, as it stands, would have been released. In fact he even recycles himself in places, this version of “Johnny Bye Bye” (another version is on the original “Tracks”) features an opening line he’d used almost verbatim in “Atlantic City” on “Nebraska” the year before (“Well she drew out all her money from the Southern Trust, And put her little boy yeah on a Greyhound bus”) and “Fugitive’s Dream”, “Fugitive’s Dream (Ballad)” and “Unsatisfied Heart” all begin with identical lyrics in the first verse. There’s a very early demo of “My Hometown” which I’m tellin’ ya was never seeing a release sounding like this. It does have it’s moments, “Sugarland”, “Fugitive’s Dream”, “Black Mountain Ballad”, “Unsatisfied Heart”, “Richfield Whistle” and “The Klansman” all stand out and would have made the backbone of another “Nebraska” style album, although they are all very obviously demo’s, and the rewrite of Elvis’s “Follow That Dream” kicks things off well. “LA Sessions” feels like a real interchange, there are hangovers from some of the frat house rockers found on “The River”, songs that sound like better recorded bits of “Nebraska” and there are very obvious nods toward “Born In The USA” but what we have here are unfinished demo’s and this was never about to be released in this format, I think Bruce is being disingenuous claiming otherwise.

Streets of Philadelphia Sessions - The long known about, mythical “loops album” as some fans call it. Springsteen had written and won a Grammy for “Streets Of Philadelphia”, the theme tune for Jonathan Demme’s film about AIDS and its effects, “Philadelphia”. It was a song recorded using drum loops and keyboards, a departure for the great American rock star but one of his very best. He’s said he carried on recording in that style, finished this entire album but didn’t think his audience would accept another “relationships” record done in this style. But…at least half of this album doesn’t use drum loops, Other Band drummer Zachary Alford features on 6 of the ten tracks and the musical settings aren’t so different to much of “Tunnel Of Love” to my ears, “Waiting On The End Of The World” would have sat very comfortably there. The standout is likely “One Beautiful Morning” as it’s really the only song that breaks out of the laid back groove. If you add in “Streets Of Philadelphia” (which is conspicuously missing) to the track list I can see how this would have sold well if released, solid but unspectacular. Oh, and for those that have also referred to this as Springsteen’s “hip hop” album, that ain’t what you’re getting here.

Faithless - The soundtrack for a movie that has, as yet, not been made. As we’ve not been able to see the movie it’s difficult to envisage how the music would fit within it so I can only take it as a collection of songs and instrumental pieces. The lyrics have a very spiritual lean to them, Christian really when you consider titles like “All God’s Children”, “God Sent You” and the title itself, which is fitting as the unmade movie has been described as a “spiritual Western”. “Faithless” was recorded in a 2 week window in 2005 and as it was created between “Devils & Dust” and The Seeger Sessions album it very much has the feel of those two and “The Ghost Of Tom Joad” about it. Springsteen wrote all the music without knowing what the film looked like (obviously) basing the feel on what he picked up from the overall story and themes of the film. Other than the song “All God’s Children” it all has a very subdued, weary, can I say dusty, atmosphere about. The instrumentals (there are 4 of them) are short and again moody. I wonder if “Faithless” will ever get made as it would be interesting to see how this all fits together.

Somewhere North Of Nashville - The Boss goes full on country ! But this ain’t no “Islands In The Stream” no, no, no…this is Country like it should be done. This one is winning the battle of which is my favourite of the 7 “albums” in the “Tracks II” box. There’s a trio of what you can only call “Man” songs, “Repo Man”, “Delivery Man” and “Detail Man”, add to those 3 “Stand On It” (not that songs first rodeo to coin a phrase, a version of it was the b-side to “Glory Days” in 1985 and another edit was on the original “Tracks”) and you have a quartet of rocking country, barroom barnstormers touting twanging (Gretsch ?) guitars and pedal steel alongside some braggadocious (“Well a detail man will never leave you in doubt, I'll kiss you in places other men ain't even heard about”) and humorous lyrics (“Stand On It’s” couplet “Well now Columbus he discovered America even though he hadn't planned on it, He got lost and woke up one morning when he's about to land on it” made I chuckle). There’s lovelorn ballads like “Poor Side Of Town”, a cover of Johnny Rivers 1966 US #1, and the title track also made an appearance in another guise on “Western Stars”. “Janey Don’t You Lose Heart” was on the original “Tracks” collection in 1998 but here that earlier “Born In The USA” outtake becomes a Countrified delight with Marty Rifkin’s superb pedal steel replacing a particularly awkward vocal part from the original. Finally “Silver Mountain” has the feel of “Death To My Hometown” (from “Wrecking Ball”) about it but tells the story of a man coming to get his woman no matter what.  Alongside “Twilight Hours” this is probably my favourite “album” within “Tracks II” and like “Twilight Hours” with “Western Stars”, “…Nashville” was recorded side by side with “The Ghost Of Tom Joad”.

Inyo - Imagine an album that’s 50% “The Ghost Of Tom Joad” and 50% “Devils & Dust” and what you have is “Inyo”. There’s been an element of Mexican styled music in some of Springsteen’s songs since “The Ghost Of Tom Joad”, songs like “Sinaloa Cowboys”, “Across The Border”, “Leah” and others have had Mexican themes and sounds to them. “Inyo” was heralded as being inspired by trips through the border country and the sounds and sights of that are here. Maybe I was expecting/hoping for more of the TexMex feel that’s been scattered through Bruce’s records. I was hoping for a full on Mariachi fest, in a similar way to the Country vibe that’s taken over on “…Nashville”. It’s evident on about half the record, “Adelita”, “The Aztec Dance”, “The Lost Charro”, “El Jardinero (Upon The Death Of Ramona)” and the heartbreaking “Ciudad Juarez”. The remaining songs would have sat easily on “…Joad” or “D&D”. This one didn’t hit home like I thought it would. There’s nothing wrong here, just my expectations weren’t met and that’s my fault really, but it’s definitely growing on me.

Twilight Hours - Recorded side by side with 2019’s wonderful “Western Stars”, there are crossovers and similarities between the two. But whereas “Western Stars” was the music of the big wide open spaces of America “Twilight Hours” feels more big city than the big country. Here’s some lyrics from “Moonlight Motel”, the last song on “Western Stars”

I pulled in and stopped into my old spot
I pulled a bottle of Jack out of a paper bag
Poured one for me and one for you as well
Then it was one more shot poured out onto the parking lot, To the Moonlight Motel

The songs that make up “Twilight Hours” feel like they’re telling the story of that lost couple in that final verse of “Western Stars”, in a time before. These are songs you could imagine Sinatra singing as he pulled up the collar on his trench coat and stepped out onto a rainswept New York City street, I can hear Roy Orbison in them, I can hear the Great American songbook and endless showstopping show tunes, I could imagine Jimmy Webb and Glen Campbell making some of this music in their late 60’s pomp, it’s quite superb.

Perfect World - Springsteen has described”Perfect World” as “featuring E Street ready rockers” he wanted to have some fun at the end here. This collection wasn’t recorded as an album, it’s more a grab bag of songs from various times and sessions to rock out with. The opening 3 songs (“I’m Not Sleeping”, “Idiot's Delight’ and “Another Thin Line“) were all written with friend and Philly rocker Joe Grushecky. They all have E Street-ish elements (intros, solo’s etc.) but are all likely best left to Joe and his Houserockers. The best thing here is the song that was released as one of “Tracks II”s teasers, “Rain In The River”, a short blast of big guitars and angry vocals.

Springsteen has said in the build up to the release of this set, all the albums (perhaps except “Perfect World”) were considered for commercial release at the time of their creation. In the case of “LA Garage Sessions ‘83” I simply flat out don’t believe he ever considered releasing it in this form. Of the remaining five albums “Faithless” undoubtedly would have been released had the film been made, and “Streets Of Philadelphia Sessions” if he hadn’t reformed the E Street Band and been distracted. “Somewhere North Of Nashville” and probably “Twilight Hours” (perhaps the latter tweaked a little) deserved a release, “Inyo”, although it’s growing on me, is ultimately too similar to other records to have made the cut.

“Tracks II” is an absolute goldmine for Springsteen nuts, and I freely admit that is what I am. Over the coming months I will definitely find other things within it to captivate me. At this price no casual listener is going to buy this but if you were only vaguely interested in what was within, I hope this has helped explain a little.

*** and if you were paying attention you’ll see it took me 7 weeks and 5 days to get my head around all this music…

Repo Man - https://youtu.be/lj1x5LejAuM?si=bjxChBkyDxENebwZ