Tracks (Bruce Springsteen album)

Tracks is a four-disc box set by Bruce Springsteen, released in 1998 containing 66 songs. This box set mostly consists of never-before-released songs recorded during the sessions for his many albums, but also includes a number of heretofore unavailable single B-sides, as well as demos and alternate versions of already-released material.

History

The collection starts with Springsteen's audition for John Hammond, the legendary producer who discovered Bob Dylan, and includes mainly unreleased material as well as rare B-sides. As the sleevenotes mention, Springsteen was in the habit of producing albums that were thematically linked even if they were not strictly concept albums; so some tracks that "didn't fit" the theme of the album ended up orphaned.

The four-disc box set was later condensed into an album called 18 Tracks.

A few of the unreleased tracks received fairly regular appearances on the 1999-2000 Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Reunion Tour. These included "My Love Will Not Let You Down", "I Wanna Be With You" (which had peaked out a #33 appearance on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks chart), and "Where the Bands Are".

Track listing

Disc one

1. "Mary Queen of Arkansas" – 4:30
• Recorded at CBS Studios, NY on May 3, 1972
2. "It's Hard to Be a Saint in the City" – 2:57
• Recorded at CBS Studios, NY on May 3, 1972
3. "Growin' Up" – 2:42
• Recorded at CBS Studios, NY on May 3,......
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