Vastly expanding 1995's single disc Greatest Hits, The Essential Bruce Springsteen easily surpasses the earlier best-of set by serving up all its true essentials and tossing in less appreciated treats and a full disc of rarities. Disc one spans the first decade of Springsteen's recording career, serving up at least two tracks each from the six albums that laid the groundwork for his '80s burst into superstardom. Disc two picks up with his mainstream breakthrough, 1984's Born in the U.S.A., and carries on through 2002's The Rising, tossing in live recordings of "American Skin" and "Land of Hope and Dreams" for good measure. The selections and sequencing surpass those made on Greatest Hits, though there's not too much in the way of surprises, other than that it appears that Born in the U.S.A. hasn't aged all that well for the Boss; here, he selects only three songs from the hit-laden smash, one fewer than is found on the skimpy Greatest Hits. Disc three is where the fun really starts for all but neophytes. The live "Held Up Without a Gun" is as gutsy a one minute and 20 seconds as Springsteen as one could ask for, and the likes of "Trapped," "Countin' on a Miracle," and a cover of "Viva Las Vegas" rank with his signature songs. --Steven Stolder

Customer Rating:
Summary: Essential Bruce Springsteen CD
Comment: thank you for sending a wonderful CD, a great collection of Bruce's music over the decades. Thanks

---

Customer Rating:
Summary: Essentials but missing a few old favs.
Comment: This is a great album for getting a taste of the Boss from all eras of his career except the most recent of course seeing as this cd was done in the early 90's.
It missed a few old favorites, like Growing Up, Seaside Bar Song but it was a good mix, wish it had Something in the Night, and Tougher Than The Rest. The third cd has some not so often heard music on it.
It is a great addition to your Bruce Springsteen Library

---

Customer Rating:
Summary: Who's to blame?
Comment: Is this complilation Bruce's fault, or the record label's? I mean, I've seen many other collections that are missing songs and figured that the label must be screwing people. Has Bruce pulled a Metallica?

There are a lot of good songs on here, but no My City of Ruin (which was a 9/11 anthem, and which Kevin Smith liked enough to include in the movie Jersey Girl)? No The Rising? In fact, I find it funny that the guys screaming "sell out" aren't even asking about these songs. Those are some of my favorites.

---

Customer Rating:
Summary: The point
Comment: I have read most of the reviews on this. The fact that a live "Trapped" was included made this entire collection worth the $30.

Isn't the point of being a music artist and selling music to keep putting out material that you... the fan... will WANT to buy? What would happen if Bruce included ALL of your favorite songs in one box set? What if "Tracks" included everything you all think it should have included? The answer is... There would be no reason for Bruce to put out anything else eccept new albums of new material that you would probaby bash anyway... saying things like "Bruce has lost it.""His music sucks now""Hasn't put out a great album since 'The River'."

All of Bruce's releases are great. I didn't become a HUGE fan of All Things Bruce until I saw him live this year in Dallas. One of the most incredible concerts I have ever seen. And although he doesn't have the voice of an angel... he's no Pavoratti... he does have a distict voice and I could listen to him all day. So bring on more Greatest Hits Collections and box sets... include more rarities... and did someone say the is a 17 minute version of Born In The USA?? Holy crap! Put that on a CD by itself and charge $50 a pop! I'll but it!!

---

Customer Rating:
Summary: good stuff
Comment: this is a great album for what it is and it is a career spanning compilation and as such is meant to include the finest tracks and is meant to give a sampler of an artist work which it does exceptionally well. no it doesn't have all his best tracks and yes everybody has their little probelems,but for those uniniated or just starting out with a minimal springsteen collection its a great starter i guarantee you'll come back too time and again. its just plain great music

---