Greatest Hits (Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band album)
| Greatest Hits | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Cover of the American edition | ||||
| Greatest hits album by | ||||
| Released | January 13, 2009 (American edition) June 1, 2009 (European edition) | |||
| Recorded | 1972–1984, 2002–2007 | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 53:08 (American edition) 79:03 (European edition) | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Bruce Springsteen chronology | ||||
| ||||
| European cover | ||||
 Cover of the European edition | ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic (American) |    [1] |
| Allmusic (European) | [2] |
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band Greatest Hits is Bruce Springsteen's fifth compilation album, released as a limited edition first in the United States, Canada and Australia on January 13, 2009, exclusively through Wal-Mart retailers.[3]
History
[edit]The album is a collection of some of Springsteen's hit singles and popular album tracks through the years. Springsteen released a similar Greatest Hits album in 1995. Unlike the previous release, this album is billed to "Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band", the first time Springsteen's backing band has been credited with a compilation release. As such, it contains no Springsteen material recorded between 1984 and 2002, during which period he did virtually no studio recording with the E Street Band.[4]
Springsteen's association with Wal-Mart drew puzzled reactions from the media, given the singer's longtime support for labor causes and the company's longtime anti-union actions.[5] Huffington Post writer Tony Sachs pronounced the release one of the "top five boneheaded music industry moves of 2008",[6] while The Wall Street Journal wrote that it reflected the duality of "the liberal singer-songwriter and the commercial juggernaut recording artist."[7] Longtime Springsteen writer Charles R. Cross said that fans were now more accepting of such blatant commercial strategies given the overall slump in the music business.[7] Nevertheless, the release did draw criticism from some fans as well as from labor union activists and independent record store owners.[7][8] In response, Springsteen manager Jon Landau said, "[L]et's start with the premise that Bruce is already in Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart has been 15% of our sales in recent years. It's not a question of going into Wal-Mart; we're there. They, and other retailers, are all looking for some way to differentiate themselves, and we try to accommodate each one. We're not doing any advertising for Wal-Mart. We haven't endorsed Wal-Mart or anybody else."[8] But then Springsteen himself, during publicity for his appearance at Super Bowl XLIII, admitted that they "dropped the ball" with the association with Wal-Mart, and attributed it to insufficient vetting due to too many activities going on.[9]
Track listing
[edit]All songs written by Bruce Springsteen except where noted.
US edition
[edit]- "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)" – 7:02
- From the album The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle, 1973
- "Born to Run" – 4:31
- From the album Born to Run, 1975
- "Thunder Road" – 4:47
- From the album Born to Run
- "Darkness on the Edge of Town" – 4:28
- From the album Darkness on the Edge of Town, 1978
- "Badlands" – 4:03
- From the album Darkness on the Edge of Town
- "Hungry Heart" – 3:18
- From the album The River, 1980
- "Glory Days" – 4:15
- From the album Born in the U.S.A., 1984
- "Dancing in the Dark" – 4:00
- From the album Born in the U.S.A.
- "Born in the U.S.A." – 4:38
- From the album Born in the U.S.A.
- "The Rising" – 4:47
- From the album The Rising, 2002
- "Lonesome Day" – 4:05
- From the album The Rising
- "Radio Nowhere" – 3:19
- From the album Magic, 2007
Europe edition
[edit]- "Blinded by the Light" – 5:04
- From the album Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J., 1973
- "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)" – 7:02
- From the album The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle
- "Born to Run" – 4:31
- From the album Born to Run
- "Thunder Road" – 4:47
- From the album Born to Run
- "Badlands" – 4:03
- From the album Darkness on the Edge of Town
- "Darkness on the Edge of Town" – 4:28
- From the album Darkness on the Edge of Town
- "Hungry Heart" – 3:18
- From the album The River
- "The River" – 5:00
- From the album The River
- "Born in the U.S.A." – 4:38
- From the album Born in the U.S.A.
- "I'm on Fire" - 2:34
- From the album Born in the U.S.A.
- "Glory Days" – 4:15
- From the album Born in the U.S.A.
- "Dancing in the Dark" – 4:00
- From the album Born in the U.S.A.
- "The Rising" – 4:47
- From the album The Rising
- "Lonesome Day" – 4:05
- From the album The Rising
- "Radio Nowhere" – 3:19
- From the album Magic
- "Long Walk Home" – 4:35
- From the album Magic
- "Because the Night" (Springsteen, Patti Smith) – 5:21
- From the album Live/1975–85, 1986
- "Fire" - 2:49
- From the album Live/1975-85
Personnel
[edit]- Roy Bittan – piano, synthesizer
- Ernest "Boom" Carter – drums
- Clarence Clemons – saxophone, percussion, backing vocals
- Danny Federici – organ, glockenspiel
- Nils Lofgren - guitar, backing vocals
- Vini "Mad Dog" Lopez – drums
- David Sancious – piano, organ
- Patti Scialfa - backing vocals
- Bruce Springsteen – guitar, lead vocals, harmonica
- Garry Tallent – bass guitar
- Soozie Tyrell – violin, backing vocals
- Max Weinberg – drums
- Steven Van Zandt – guitar, backing vocals
Charts
[edit]| Chart (2009) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia[10] | 17 |
| Austria[11] | 7 |
| Belgium[12] | 6 |
| Canada[13] | 21 |
| Denmark[14] | 3 |
| Finland[15] | 5 |
| Germany[16] | 25 |
| Ireland[17] | 2 |
| Italy[18] | 17 |
| Netherlands[19] | 4 |
| Norway[20] | 3 |
| Spain[21] | 6 |
| Sweden[22] | 1 |
| Switzerland[23] | 12 |
| U.K.[24] | 3 |
| U.S. Billboard 200[25] | 43 |
References
[edit]- ^ Allmusic (American) review
- ^ Allmusic (European) review
- ^ "Greatest Hits (Wal-Mart Exclusive), Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band", Wal-Mart. Retrieved December 22, 2008.
- ^ "Bruce Springsteen Plans Wal-Mart Only 'Greatest Hits'", Rolling Stone, December 22, 2008.
- ^ Gottlieb, Jed (2009-01-13). "Non-union label: Bruce Springsteen silent on his Wal-Mart exclusive". Boston Herald. Retrieved 2009-01-16.
- ^ Sachs, Tony (2009-01-03). "The Top Five Boneheaded Music Industry Moves Of 2008". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2009-01-16.
- ^ a b c Smith, Ethan (2009-01-16). "Born to Run – and Promote". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2009-01-16.
- ^ a b Waddell, Ray (2009-01-23). "Bruce Springsteen Prepping 'Darkness' Reissue". Billboard. Retrieved 2009-01-23.
- ^ Pareles, Jon (2009-02-01). "The Rock Laureate". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-01-29.
- ^ australian-charts.com - Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band. Accessed on August 22, 2010.
- ^ "Austria Albums Top 75". Archived from the original on 2011-07-06. Retrieved 2009-07-15.
- ^ Belgium Albums Top 50
- ^ CANOE-JAM! Music; Albums Top 100[usurped]
- ^ "Denmark Album Top 40". Archived from the original on 2012-02-26. Retrieved 2009-06-14.
- ^ Suomen virallinen lista - Albumit Archived 2009-09-03 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Die offiziellen deutschen Album-Charts
- ^ Ireland Top 100 Individual Artist Albums Archived 2012-11-05 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ FIMI Italy Albums Top 100 Archived 2009-03-01 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Dutch Album Top 100
- ^ Topp 40 Album
- ^ Promusicae Spain Top 100 Albums[permanent dead link]
- ^ Swedish Album Chart
- ^ Swiss Chart - Albums Top 100
- ^ UK Top 40 Albums
- ^ Billboard Top 200 Albums
