Bruce Springsteen: The Essential Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen has spent the last three years restoring his reputation as the most singularly entertaining and inspiring rock star of his generation, which makes it an apt time for The Essential Bruce Springsteen, a flawed but marvelous career summation. The first disc is the strongest–it balances Springsteen's best-known singles and album cuts while tracing his initial 10-year evolution from motor-mouthed boogie poet to lean narrator of blue-collar malaise. The second disc is less successful at salvaging the best of Springsteen's post-Tunnel Of Love wilderness decade. While it aptly documents the samey drudgery of booming '90s rock anthems like "Lucky Town," as a listening experience it would benefit from the presence of out-of-character ballads like "If I Should Fall Behind" and "Secret Garden." And though the five tracks of '00s Springsteen revivalism are well-chosen, it would've been nice had Springsteen opted for shorter studio versions of "Land Of Hope And Dreams" and "American Skin (41 Shots)," if only to clear room for more songs. The bonus third disc mostly offers previously uncollected Springsteen ephemera, from benefit-album contributions like "Trapped" to soundtrack cuts like "Dead Man Walkin'." The raw rockabilly Nebraska leftover "The Big Payback" and the moving Born In The U.S.A. deletion "None But The Brave" are great, though they may leave fans wondering why Springsteen left them off the supposedly all-inclusive outtakes box set Tracks. Similarly, some may rightfully complain that the 50-minute Essential bonus disc doesn't include still-lost songs like the sweet River-era "Cindy," or any of the E Street Band's attempts at the Nebraska material. Such are the frustrations of being a Springsteen follower: He gives so generously, yet still keeps too much off the table.