Any 'Essential' album is going to be subject to some discussion on the song selection and there are certainly some inclusions which many fans will question when they're at the expense of some notable omissions - are LivingProof and StreetsofPhiladelphia really more essential than Backstreets?
However, as an introduction this is probably as good an album as you could get with probably the best songs off each of Springsteen's studio albums up to and including 2003's TheRising.
Also included, on the first 2 discs are 2 new tracks, both live versions (neither has ever had a studio recording) taken from the superb LiveinNewYorkCity CD - 41Shots and LandofHopeandDream. The later is arguably the best thing Springsteen has produced in a long, long time - a soaring, epic, anthem that rightly closed many of his shows during the 'Reunion' and 'Rising' tours. It certainly deserves its place in an Essential Collection.
Now, some might say the inclusion of a 3rd disc of previously unreleased material is a cynical ploy to get hard core fans to part with their cash and buy an album that otherwise they'd not even consider purchasing. But considering you can get the 3 CD package for little more than the price of a normal single CD release, maybe that's a tad unfair.
The selection of unreleased material on CD3 is not as strong as that on 18Tracks, but it does include the classic anthem Trapped (which often appears in the live set during the current Magic tour) as well as the gentle BornintheUSA outtake CountyFair and DeadManWalking - written for the soundtrack of the Oscar winning film of the same name.
All in all a great collection. The first 2 CDs being essential for those new to 'The Boss'; the 3rd equally essential for any compleatist of all his recorded material.
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