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Glory Days Relived

With The Boss back out on the road again with his trusty band of performers The E-Street Band, it’s high time to introduce a new generation to his music and this Greatest Hits package is a great way to do it. There may be a couple of official and unofficial collections of Bruce Springsteen’s work already, but this one is jam-packed with top tunes, including two live tracks and several tracks recorded since 1995, which weren’t available on the original ‘Greatest Hits’.

The album certainly spans Springsteen’s epic career and includes tracks that are dear to every fan’s heart like ‘Rosalita’, while anyone who isn’t bowled over by the powerful run of ‘Born To Run’ followed by ‘Thunder Road’ followed by ‘Badlands’ can’t call themselves a real rock fan. The fact that this album also bears the E-Street Band’s name also means that some more jazzy tunes that show off the saxophone solos amongst other things make an appearance, with ‘Blinded By The Light’ being a notable inclusion.

The epic, aching numbers like ‘Radio Nowhere’ are complemented by upbeat, celebratory tunes such as the opener ‘Blinded By The Light’ and ‘Hungry Heart’, the latter are done especially well with The E-Street Band’s powerful backing; these are the kind of tunes that will have you dancing in the street. Mixed in with these blazing anthems are more subtle and slowbuilding numbers like, ‘I’m On Fire’ and ‘Lonesome Day’

The bonus live tracks are a definite high point as both were only previously available on the ‘Live 1975-1985’ boxset which is slightly more pricey than this new compilation and lacks the new and more recent tracks. The rendition of ‘Because The Night’s with a fantastic blazing guitar solo really stands out while ‘Fire’ provides a short, sweet burst of shuffling rock.

Greatest hits albums are always a commercial venture, but this one is a very handy introduction to some of Bruce Springsteen’s finest work at a time when young rock fans may be intrigued by all the buzz around his Glastonbury performance. This is no alternative to checking out The Boss’ music and collecting your favourite albums, but it is a neat package of catchy rock tracks that will teach you just why Springsteen is so popular after all of these years.