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Shut Out the Light: Bruce Springsteen Offers Seven Unheard Albums on 'Tracks II'

April 3, 2025 By Mike Duquette 26 Comments

Tracks II

BUY NOW FROM AMAZON.COM

More than a quarter century after releasing his first major vault project, Bruce Springsteen is back with a sequel that's even bigger.

True to its name, Tracks II: The Lost Albums 1983-2018 promises not just a wealth of unreleased recordings from the Thrill Hill vaults, as 1998's Tracks offered. This time, the rock icon presents seven full albums' worth of material, sharing thematic and recording cohesion and even, in some cases, seriously considered for release at one time or another. (Though all imagery has yet to be revealed, each set will be packaged as its own album.) The 7CD or 9LP set will be released June 27; each version features a 100-page clothbound hardcover book offering notes on the albums by writer Erik Flannigan, an introduction penned by Springsteen and scores of archival photos. A single CD or double LP, Lost and Found: Selections from the Lost Albums will be available on the same date.

Though every recording on Tracks II is previously unreleased, hardcore fans will have heard some of these tracks before. The set's opening disc, L.A. Garage Sessions '83 - a thematic and sonic link between the spare acoustic demos of 1982's Nebraska and 1984's rock blockbuster Born in the U.S.A. - features songs that were later reworked as B-sides to various Born in the U.S.A. singles, including "Johnny Bye Bye" and "Shut Out the Light." (One, "My Hometown," even made that album proper, serving as the closing track and seventh and final Top 10 hit from the LP.) The next album, Streets of Philadelphia Sessions, draws back to the song of the same name (not included here), the Oscar-winning single from the moving Tom Hanks-Denzel Washington drama Philadelphia (1993). These tracks continue the sonic threads of that song, featuring Springsteen manipulating synths and percussion loops to create a much different atmosphere than his work with The E Street Band or even the group of musicians assembled for 1992's Human Touch and Lucky Town albums. ("Secret Garden," a ballad later included on The Boss' 1995 greatest-hits package, makes an early appearance here.)

"I often read about myself in the 1990s as having some 'lost period,'" Springsteen discusses in the Tracks II trailer released today. "Not really. I was working the whole time." Indeed, while the three albums of that decade - Human Touch, Lucky Town and 1995's The Ghost of Tom Joad - might feel like Springsteen was comparatively resting on his laurels after a breakneck two decades, Tracks II reveals even more roads not taken from that era. Somewhere North of Nashville, one of the set's albums, dates back to that same mid-'90s period, and offers more versions of Born in the U.S.A. B-sides ("Janey, Don't You Lose Heart," "Stand on It") and even a title track reworked for the underrated country-rock venture Western Stars (2018). Inyo, one of the most intriguing inclusions, was recorded not long afterward during solo acoustic touring for The Ghost of Tom Joad; from its track titles, it seems to have a running lyrical theme of stories in and around the Southwest, from Mexico to the California/Nevada border (where Inyo County is located).

Springsteen Lost and Found

BUY NOW FROM AMAZON.COM

Springsteen kept experimenting with sounds in the 2000s even after often returning to his typical heart-on-sleeve rock sound in the 21st century (even reuniting The E Street Band at the turn of the millennium). The mid-'00s Faithless is described as the soundtrack to an unmade film; three of its 11 songs are instrumentals. Perfect World, the closing album of Tracks II, is a more straightforward rocker, featuring several songs that were co-written with longtime friend Joe Grushecky, bandleader of Pittsburgh's Iron City Houserockers. (The closing title track was cut by another pal of Springsteen's, John Mellencamp, on 2023's Orpheus Descending.) The set also offers Twilight Hours, a companion piece from the sessions that produced Western Stars, retaining that album's blend of country and string-augmented pop/rock. (The album features an alternate version of one of the more unusual songs from Bruce's vault: he initially cut "I'll Stand by You" after reading the Harry Potter books, allegedly offering the song to the producers of the film series; it later played over the closing credit to Blinded by the Light, the 2019 drama based on writer Sarfraz Manzoor's memoir of growing up with Springsteen's music as a Pakistani-born Brit at the height of Thatcherism in the mid-'80s.

Tracks II is out June 27 and can be pre-ordered below alongside the Lost and Found compilation. (A note to our readers: we cannot and will not attempt to explain the eye-watering price of the big sets.) Check out those pre-order links and track lists below. (As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.)

Tracks II: The Lost Albums 1983-2018 (Columbia/Legacy, 2025)

7CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
9LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

Lost and Found: Selections from the Lost Albums (Columbia/Legacy, 2025)

1CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

All versions of tracks previously unreleased. + included on Lost and Found: Selections from the Lost Albums

CD 1/LP 1-2: L.A. Garage Sessions '83

  1. Follow That Dream +
  2. Don't Back Down on Our Love
  3. Little Girl Like You
  4. Johnny Bye Bye
  5. Sugarland
  6. Seven Tears +
  7. Fugitive's Dream
  8. Black Mountain Ballad
  9. Jim Deer
  10. County Fair
  11. My Hometown
  12. One Love
  13. Don't Back Down
  14. Richfield Whistle
  15. The Klansman
  16. Unsatisfied Heart +
  17. Shut Out the Light
  18. Fugitive's Dream (Ballad)

Version of Track 4 released on "I'm on Fire" single - Columbia, 1985
Version of Track 10 released on The Essential Bruce Springsteen (Limited Edition) - Columbia, 2003
Version of Track 11 released on Born in the U.S.A. - Columbia, 1984
Version of Track 17 released on "Born in the U.S.A." single - Columbia, 1984

CD 2/LP 3: Streets of Philadelphia Sessions

  1. Blind Spot +
  2. Maybe I Don't Know You
  3. Something in the Well +
  4. Waiting on the End of the World +
  5. The Little Things
  6. We Fell Down
  7. One Beautiful Morning
  8. Between Heaven and Earth
  9. Secret Garden
  10. The Farewell Party

Version of Track 9 released on Greatest Hits - Columbia, 1995

CD 3/LP 4: Faithless

  1. The Desert (Instrumental)
  2. Where You Goin', Where You From
  3. Faithless +
  4. All God's Children
  5. A Prayer by the River (Instrumental)
  6. God Sent You +
  7. Goin' to California
  8. The Western Sea (Instrumental)
  9. My Master's Hand
  10. Let Me Ride
  11. My Master's Hand (Theme)

CD 4/LP 5: Somewhere North of Nashville

  1. Repo Man +
  2. Tiger Rose
  3. Poor Side of Town
  4. Delivery Man
  5. Under a Big Sky
  6. Detail Man +
  7. Silver Mountain
  8. Janey Don't You Lose Heart
  9. You're Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone +
  10. Stand on It
  11. Blue Highway
  12. Somewhere North of Nashville

Version of Track 8 released on "I'm Goin' Down" single - Columbia, 1985
Version of Track 10 released on "Glory Days" single - Columbia, 1985
Version of Track 12 released on Western Stars - Columbia, 2019

CD 5/LP 6: Inyo

  1. Inyo +
  2. Indian Town
  3. Adelita +
  4. The Aztec Dance
  5. The Lost Charro +
  6. Our Lady of Monroe
  7. El Jardinero (Upon the Death of Ramona)
  8. One False Move
  9. Ciudad Juarez
  10. When I Build My Beautiful House

CD 6/LP 7-8: Twilight Hours

  1. Sunday Love +
  2. Late in the Evening
  3. Two of Us
  4. Lonely Town
  5. September Kisses
  6. Twilight Hours
  7. I'll Stand by You
  8. High Sierra +
  9. Sunliner +
  10. Another You
  11. Dinner At Eight
  12. Follow the Sun

Version of Track 7 released on Blinded by the Light (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) - Columbia/Legacy, 2019

CD 7/LP 9: Perfect World

  1. I'm Not Sleeping +
  2. Idiot's Delight
  3. Another Thin Line
  4. The Great Depression
  5. Blind Man
  6. Rain in the River +
  7. If I Could Only Be Your Lover
  8. Cutting Knife
  9. You Lifted Me Up +
  10. Perfect World

Version of Tracks 1-2 released by Joe Grushecky & The Houserockers on Coming Home - Viceroy Music, 1997
Version of Track 3 released by Joe Grushecky & The Houserockers on East Carson Street - Schoolhouse, 2009
Version of Track 10 released by John Mellencamp on Orpheus Descending - Republic, 2023

 

Categories: News Formats: Box Sets, CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl Genre: Classic Rock, Rock Tags: Bruce Springsteen

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Mike Duquette

Mike Duquette (Founder) was fascinated with catalog music ever since he was a teenager. A 2009 graduate of Seton Hall University with a B.A. in journalism, Mike paired his profession with his passion through The Second Disc, one of the first sites to focus on all reissue labels great and small. His passion for reissues turned into a career, holding positions at Legacy Recordings and Rhino Records and contributing to Allmusic, Discogs, City Pages, Ultimate Classic Rock and Mondo Records, for whom he penned liner notes for his favorite piece of music: John Williams' Oscar-winning score to 'E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial.' Born and raised in New Jersey, Mike lives in Astoria, Queens with his wife, a cat named Ravioli, twin daughters and a large yet tasteful collection of music.

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Comments

  1. izzy says

    April 3, 2025 at 11:33 am

    Between the ticket prices and the prices of these sets, "the man of the people" is getting a bit gouge-y!

    Reply
    • Mark says

      April 14, 2025 at 1:13 pm

      I would change your work gougey to GREEDY. All that rollin' up his sleeves , just goin' to work, carrying his lunch box was a facade. I hope Tracks II sinks to the bottom of the charts.

      Reply
  2. JG says

    April 3, 2025 at 11:54 am

    I’d be happy to read the liner notes in the included book, but I’m even happier that I finally made the jump to streaming and can save myself $300.

    Reply
  3. uninvited guest says

    April 3, 2025 at 12:07 pm

    What a money grab. No thanks.

    Reply
  4. Uninvited.guest says

    April 3, 2025 at 12:08 pm

    What a money grab. No thanks.

    Reply
  5. Harry Cohen says

    April 3, 2025 at 1:17 pm

    I have gone from being a diehard Bruce fan, ( including crying and being a little weak in the knees when I met him at a book event) to being beyond disappointed in his ridiculous ticket prices which began with the Broadway show.
    The price for this set is shocking, even for Bruce.
    No thanks, Mr. Springsteen.

    Reply
  6. ed says

    April 3, 2025 at 1:19 pm

    And Forbes recently classified him as a billionaire.

    Reply
  7. zally says

    April 3, 2025 at 1:27 pm

    $300 for 7 cds !!!!!!!! this set is not for the casual fan. $600 for 60 cds of the dead . he sold his catalog so who get the $

    Reply
  8. Tom M. says

    April 3, 2025 at 1:35 pm

    Holy smoke! $42.00 per (CD) disc? How much more money does The Boss need?

    Reply
  9. Michael Cooper says

    April 3, 2025 at 1:43 pm

    This is a totally ridiculous price point. No thank you, boss!

    Reply
  10. Robert Lett says

    April 3, 2025 at 2:07 pm

    I want it but I'm gonna see if the price drops.

    Reply
  11. BILL says

    April 3, 2025 at 4:08 pm

    I will get the single cd version.

    Reply
  12. Bruce Padgett says

    April 3, 2025 at 7:02 pm

    Let’s see…$16 for a 20-song CD of highlights vs. $300 for 83 songs spread over 7 discs, plus an overpriced book and unnecessary packaging. I’m not an economics wizard, but this diehard Springsteen fan knows how NOT to be ripped off. Way to go, Bruce.

    Reply
  13. John Phillips says

    April 3, 2025 at 7:44 pm

    I’ll play the waiting game.

    Reply
  14. Chris Barrett says

    April 4, 2025 at 4:57 am

    The people who think that Bruce Springsteen sets the prices for CDs are utterly clueless. Boycott it all you want but to blame him is beyond stupid.

    Reply
    • Ron says

      April 4, 2025 at 11:51 am

      Bruce has all the power in the world to say "No, you are not charging $40 per disc." He kept concert tix prices reasonable for decades, but gave the go ahead for the super high prices of the last tour. What we don't know is what the cost is in putting together a huge set like this and how many they will actually sell. Which might not actually be that many. Either way Bruce is doing just fine.

      Reply
      • Chris says

        April 4, 2025 at 10:42 pm

        No he doesn’t have the power. He sold his catalog to Sony.

        Reply
        • Ron says

          April 5, 2025 at 2:03 am

          Bruce Springsteen is still Bruce Springsteen. Yes he still has a huge say in whatever he wants to. He put this set together, not Sony.

          Reply
        • Uninvited.guest says

          April 5, 2025 at 2:17 pm

          Well, it’s not clear to me that these recordings are part of that deal. He sold his recorded works and his music publishing to Sony. Usually that is limited to released works. It sure is possible that deal included his vault works as well, but I wouldn’t assume that. The other commenters are right in any event. He also works with Sony on new output. I am certain that the recommended this price point and I am equally certain he signed off on it, just like he did with respect to dynamic ticket pricing. I agree with the posters suggesting this is designed to push folks to vinyl and that the cd process will ultimately come down. But if not, who cares. At most, there will be a handful of decent tracks with most it rubbish just like Tracks 1. There won’t be one essential song in the collection.

          Reply
          • Kevin says

            April 8, 2025 at 7:13 pm

            As with Dylan, I would believe that Springsteen has approval rights over releases

            Reply
  15. Andy F says

    April 4, 2025 at 8:29 am

    Judging from all the comments from loyal fans on various forums, I fear this may backfire on The Boss.

    Reply
  16. Rob M says

    April 4, 2025 at 9:40 am

    I’d have been way more excited about earlier/more E-Street vault stuff. This is too ‘90s-today oriented for me, not to mention the price.

    Reply
  17. Joe says

    April 4, 2025 at 11:50 am

    That price is absolutely ridiculous. Gosh, are the tariffs already i place (good excuse which we'll likely here on every new piece of merchandise going forward). I was so excited about this set but no more. I'm not even going to think about buying it.

    Reply
  18. John Phillips says

    April 4, 2025 at 1:41 pm

    If anybody is interested, CDJapan has it with the DHL shipping about $250.00.

    Reply
  19. David Plotkin says

    April 5, 2025 at 10:11 am

    I would say a lot of us veteran fans of a certain age, the target audience, all think it’s a total rip-off and should be filed under “dynamic ticket pricing” as an example of sheer greed.

    And let’s not forget all this stuff wasn’t deemed fit for release back in the day and now they want top dollar for it.

    I’m very suspicious about these bunches of songs being finished albums they left on the shelf. It might be a case of Bruce conveniently rewriting history after the fact.

    Certainly the 18 songs in the Hollywood Hills 83 “album” are a case in point. In 83, that would have had to be a double vinyl album. CD had yet to take over. It’s very unlikely that a double album of mostly solo recordings would have been considered so soon after Nebraska, even though we know he was heading that way for a long time before Landau twisted his arm to revisit the material that became BITUSA.

    Reply
  20. Jason That Prince Guy says

    April 19, 2025 at 12:35 am

    Although I always do my best to support artists, and buy physical releases, and hope to keep the cd format alive. But anything unusually high priced releases? This is one of the rare cases where I condone obtaining the material by any means necessary. I could care less about books. I have over 100 music artist books, and know all I need about my favorite artists.

    Reply

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