This came out in 1999 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
I still get the occasional e-mail telling me how much I suck for saying that last year’s Bruce Springsteen Tracks box was a disappointment with more filler than treasure.
Well, here’s the real paydirt: Most of the best of the box set on one CD, including The Boss’s audition tape of Growing Up, the spine-tingling acoustic Born In The U.S.A. demo and the dark rockabilly take of Pink Cadillac (I would argue that Thundercrack and Roulette should also be here, but hey, let’s not quibble). But what’s odd is that you also get three new songs, two of which — the 1973 classic The Fever and a new version of 1978’s The Promise — probably should have been on the box set in the first place. Oh, but then you wouldn’t have to buy this too, would you? Hey, I may suck — but not as much as paying for the same 15 songs twice.
