Need more thoughts on this, Fetch! I underwent a series of insanely long bus journeys last week so got to sit with
Tracks II a whole lot. I'm as much of a Boss diehard as anybody I think, but I'm not as effusive about this set as others seem to be. While there's at least one keeper on every disc, I do not understand the point of
Inyo (frequently cringe - plz no more mariachi bands! - and also totes superfluous when we have
The Ghost of Tom Joad),
Somewhere North of Nashville (hillbilly rock? yeah nah.), or
Perfect World (makes as much sense as
High Hopes, but at least that has two of my faves on it).
The much-anticipated
Streets of Philadelphia Sessions seems overpraised imo - I'm not at all convinced that this would be seen as his finest 90s record if released. Most of Bruce's sonic 'experiments' seem dated even for the time, and his storytelling feel light years removed from the sophistication of
Tom Joad just a year later. It's an interesting project though, as are
Faithless and
Twilight Hours which feel like the most cohesive 'albums' to me. Like the
Philadelphia Sessions, they could have done with further tweaking to strengthen their overall merits, but I like Bruce in spiritual mode ('God Sent You' is getting under my skin majorly) and who'da thunk that latter-day Boss would be capable of crooning so captivatingly?
Twilight Hours might be the revelation of this set tbh, certainly in terms of Bruce's musical range. I'm glad we got
Western Stars instead - that one's probably his strongest record post-imperial era imo - but songs like 'Lonely Town' and 'September Kisses' very much indicate that he's got an
In the Wee Small Hours kinda record within him somewhere which is unexpectedly
.
Predictably, the songs that I'm most drawn to are mainly on
LA Garage Sessions '83. I agree that it's too bloated to consider it a good album, or even an album at all tbh, but the best of it ('Fugitives Dream', 'Sugarland', 'Black Mountain Ballad', 'Seven Tears', 'The Klansman') can stand proudly alongside the second-tier stuff from that era. That sounds shady, but
Nebraska is one of the greatest records ever made imo, and as far as commerical juggernauts go,
Born in the U.S.A. is very much up there with the best of them - so it's a tough af era! For me, the strongest track here is actually the first: 'Follow That Dream' is one of those transformative covers that Bruce sometimes does which revitalizes even the gloomiest depths of my spirit (see also: his life-affirming re-interpretation of Suicide's 'Dream Baby Dream'). Bless his soul.
As for what's coming next: I don't really understand why there's a film, but if it shines a spotlight on
Nebraska then I'm here for it. I also can't even begin to imagine what
Tracks III might contain. I read confirmation that an
Electric Nebraska exists somewhere in the vaults, so perhaps that comes out eventually? I kinda hope it doesn't tbh. I know the fanbase has been gagging for it for decades now, but an integral part of that album's brilliance is precisely that it isn't 'electric' and it baffles me that anyone would wish to sully what's already perfect. To wit: none of the
Tracks II songs which were already familiar to us manage to improve upon what he actually released imo (with the possible exception of 'County Fair'). Some things are better left unheard.
