After teasing the project for the last two days, Bruce Springsteen has announced full details about his forthcoming archival box set, Tracks II: The Lost Albums. The impressively expansive collection, which will be released on June 27, features seven full-length previously unheard albums spanning from 1983 through 2018.
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Tracks II: The Lost Albums will be available as a limited-edition nine-LP set, a seven-CD collection, and via digital formats. Each of the seven albums will feature its own distinct packaging. The physical versions of the box set will also include a 100-page cloth-bound, hardcover book boasting rare photos, liner notes on each album by essayist Erik Flannigan, and an introduction penned by Springsteen himself.
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Tracks II includes more than 80 songs in all, 74 of which have never been heard before.
“The Lost Albums were full records, some of them even to the point of being mixed and not released,” Springsteen said in a statement. “I’ve played this music to myself and often close friends for years now. I’m glad you’ll get a chance to finally hear them. I hope you enjoy them.”
The seven albums are titled LA Garage Sessions ’83, Streets of Philadelphia Sessions, Faithless, Somewhere North of Nashville, Inyo, Twilight Hours, and Perfect World.
A song from the Perfect World album titled “Rain in the River” has been the first advance track from the box set. You can listen to the song now via streaming services and on YouTube.
An abridged companion album to the Tracks II collection, titled Lost and Found: Selections from The Lost Albums, also will be released on June 27. The 20-song set will be available on CD and as a two-LP set.
A Tracks II Trailer Has Premiered
A trailer for the Tracks II, featuring commentary from Bruce and Flannigan, has premiered on Springsteen’s official YouTube channel.
“I often read about myself in the ’90s as having some lost period or something. And really, I was working the whole time,” the Boss commented at the beginning of the promo. “During the pandemic, what I did for that period of time was I finished everything I had in my vault. So this is Tracks II.”
He continued, “The Lost Albums are records that were full records, some of them even to the point of being mixed, and not released. For one reason or another, something I felt was missing from some of them or they just didn’t feel complete at the time.”
Bruce added, “Over a period of time, I built up a small collection of full albums that, for one reason or another, never got put out.”
Also in the trailer, Flanigan discussed the bounty of material featured on the box set, as well as commenting on the wide range of styles Springsteen explored on the various albums.
“This is a massive collection of music,” the writer enthused. “There is nine pieces of vinyl here. … It’s seven new albums. What for someone else would be their entire career added onto the career that he’s already had.”
He added, “This is Bruce recording on his own time, on his own terms, and with that, I think, came the freedom to explore these new forms, new genres, new sonic modalities. Kind of a revelatory set of new music that slides in adjacent to many of the records that we’ve loved for the last 40 years.”
Tracks II: The Lost Albums can be pre-ordered now. Check out more details about the box set at LostAlbums.net.
Details About the Various Albums in the Box Set
A press release offered some details about the material on the box set’s seven albums.
LA Garage Sessions ’83 is described as a “low-fi exploration” that serves “as a crucial link between Nebraska and Born in the U.S.A.” Streets of Philadelphia Sessions showcases “drum loop and synthesizer sounds.”
Faithless features “sonic experimentation” resulting in a soundtrack “for a movie that was never made.” Somewhere North of Nashville boasts country-influenced songs featuring pedal steel guitar. Inyo features tunes described as “richly-woven border tales.” Twilight Hours is a collection of “orchestra-driven, mid-century noir” songs.
Meanwhile, LostAlbums.net, the just-launched webpage dedicated to Tracks II, features a quote from Springsteen regarding the final album in the box set, Perfect World.
“[It’s] a record I pieced together from work I had held for this project,” he explained. “I wanted just a little fun, noise, and rock ‘n’ roll to finish the package.”
Tracks II: The Lost Albums Track List:
LA Garage Sessions ’83
- “Follow That Dream”
- “Don’t Back Down on Our Love”
- “Little Girl Like You”
- “Johnny Bye Bye”
- “Sugarland”
- “Seven Tears”
- “Fugitive’s Dream”
- “Black Mountain Ballad”
- “Jim Deer”
- “County Fair”
- “My Hometown”
- “One Love”
- “Don’t Back Down”
- “Richfield Whistle”
- “The Klansman”
- “Unsatisfied Heart”
- “Shut Out the Light”
- “Fugitive’s Dream (Ballad)”
Streets of Philadelphia Sessions
- “Blind Spot”
- “Maybe I Don’t Know You”
- “Something in the Well”
- “Waiting on the End of the World”
- “The Little Things”
- “We Fell Down”
- “One Beautiful Morning”
- “Between Heaven and Earth”
- “Secret Garden”
- “The Farewell Party”
Faithless
- “The Desert” (Instrumental)
- “Where You Goin’, Where You From”
- “Faithless”
- “All God’s Children”
- “A Prayer by the River” (Instrumental)
- “God Sent You”
- “Goin’ to California”
- “The Western Sea” (Instrumental)
- “My Master’s Hand”
- “Let Me Ride”
- “My Master’s Hand (Theme)”
Somewhere North of Nashville
- “Repo Man”
- “Tiger Rose”
- “Poor Side of Town”
- “Delivery Man”
- “Under a Big Sky”
- “Detail Man”
- “Silver Mountain”
- “Janey Don’t You Lose Heart”
- “You’re Gonna Miss Me When I’m Gone”
- “Stand on It”
- “Blue Highway”
- “Somewhere North of Nashville”
Inyo
- “Inyo”
- “Indian Town”
- “Adelita”
- “The Aztec Dance”
- “The Lost Charro”
- “Our Lady of Monroe”
- “El Jardinero (Upon the Death of Ramona)”
- “One False Move”
- “Ciudad Juarez”
- “When I Build My Beautiful House”
Twilight Hours
- “Sunday Love”
- “Late in the Evening”
- “Two of Us”
- “Lonely Town”
- “September Kisses”
- “Twilight Hours”
- “I’ll Stand by You”
- “High Sierra”
- “Sunliner”
- “Another You”
- “Dinner at Eight”
- “Follow the Sun”
Perfect World
- “I’m Not Sleeping”
- “Idiot’s Delight”
- “Another Thin Line”
- “The Great Depression”
- “Blind Man”
- “Rain in the River”
- “If I Could Only Be Your Lover”
- “Cutting Knife”
- “You Lifted Me Up”
- “Perfect World”
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