So a friend of mine from overseas was interested in getting into some Bruce Springsteen music.   Knowing what a fanatic I am of the Boss, she asked me to put together a compilation disc; a seemingly simple task which ended up being far more dauntless than I thought.  Dauntless, considering we're talking about 30+ years worth of music, most of it being pretty much gold in my book.  Sure, I could've gone the easy route, and simply hit her with a four or five disc set, but that might have been too much too soon.  Besides, it gave me the opportunity to truly sit down, analyze, and indulge on the complete works of one of my most favorite artists of all-time.

Below is the tracklisting I've come up with, which represents my absolute personal best of Springsteen.  I think most who are even vaguely familiar with Springsteen's works will likely enjoy it.  For your listening pleasure, I decided to put it up for download.  Crank this baby up to 11 and enjoy!

Bruce Springsteen / Angie's Very Best Selection 1975-2007
01) Glory Days (1984) (3:49)
02) Dancing In The Dark (1984) (4:03)
03) Born In The USA (1984) (4:41)
04) Born To Run (1975) (4:30)
05) Hungry Heart (1980) (3:20)
06) Badlands (1978) (4:03)
07) Janey Don't You Lose Your Heart (1983) (3:26)
08) Blood Brothers (1996) (4:34)
09) I'll Work For Your Love (2007) (3:34)
10) Murder Incorporated (1995) (3:57)
11) Long Walk Home (2007) (4:34)
12) Last To Die (2007) (4:16)
13) Darlington County (1984) (4:50)
14) I Wish I Were Blind (1992) (4:48)
15) Pink Cadillac (1983) (3:36)
16) Better Days (1992) (3:44)
17) Roll of The Dice (1992) (4:17)
18) Your Own Worst Enemy (2007) (3:18)
19) Worlds Apart (2002) (6:07)

Total run time: 1:19:27

How can you create a "best of" Springsteen CD without Thunder Road?

Ahh, it was one of the tracks I regrettably had to cut.  More specifically, the one I wanted in was one of the Live versions from...... god, I wish I knew from which concert.  I only have it as a music file which my brother had ripped ages ago.  I suppose I should ask him if he knows, but maybe you can identify it?

Thunder Road - Live Version:
http://briefcase.yahoo.com/bc/angie_liu … c.&.view=l

No idea, I'm a pretty casual fan with it comes to the Boss and I really only like his early E-Street band stuff (although Magic was pretty good).  I'm going to see him next week, can't wait, and I'm hoping he'll play Rosalita and Kitty's Back.

Yeah, I'll admit that the E Street Band material is typically better than his solo stuff.  I was hardly able to contain my excitement for Magic to hit last year, and boy, they sure didn't disappoint.  "Last To Die" and "I'll Work For Your Love" are some of the best songs they've put out in years.

Have fun at the concert - and know that I'm insanely jealous.  ;)  Are you in Texas or Florida?

Been listening to Springsteen's latest album "Working On A Dream."  It's ridiculously enjoyable, but certainly a different tonality than "Magic."  Springsteen trades in Magic's raw power-rock and bleak political-laden lyrics for a breezier rock/pop excursion.   Working On A Dream is Springsteen in pontification mode, where the themes of the day are the celebration of life, the passing of age, and love and days past.  The inclusion of strings and chorals is a distinct stand-out to most of Springsteen's other works.

Outlaw Pete, which, clocking in at eight minutes, makes for one hell of an opening.  An epic folk-western rock saga, illustrating the life and death of one bad mofo named Pete.  The catchy hooks, slow build-up sections and harmonica accompaniment definitely makes this one of the centerpieces of the album.  The title track Working On A Dream has its heart in the right place, but the repetitiveness of the title lyric can become a tad intrusive.  Surprise, Surprise is a perfect birthday song I would dedicate to anyone, and Kingdom of Days shares wonderful melodic strains reminiscent of Blood Brothers and I Wish I Were Blind.

Last night was a night to remember.  East Rutherford NJ's Giants Stadium played host to Springsteen's final concert -- "final" in the sense that after 33 years, the venue will be torn down, but also that this is going to be one of the E Street Band's final live performances for who knows how long. (They've confirmed that they'll be taking an extended break after this year.)

The concert itself was absolutely spectacular, weighing in at an exhaustively-satisfying thirty-one song set that spanned nearly three and a half hours.  What made this a particularly special tour was that Springsteen had chosen to perform one of three full-length albums every night this week, in addition to the regular set.  The final night played host to "Born In The USA.", which is one of my most favorite album.  They nailed all twelve tracks beautifully, rousing crowd-pleasers that had the audience on their feet the entire time.  The double-whammy performance of Glory Days and Dancing In The Dark was an especially soaring highlight.

This would be the first time I'd heard the newly-written "Wrecking Ball", created specifically for this venue's shows.  It deftly interweaves the metaphorical with the literal, a remorseful invite to the inevitable, while making for a damned fine piece.  Other highlights include an incredible dual vocal performance by Springsteen and Van Zandt on "Long Walk Home", an impromptu marriage proposal, an appropriate cover of the Stones' "The Last Time", and having an adorable little girl take the mic to sing a small portion of the chorus to "Waiting On A Sunny Afternoon."  The biggest hoot, though, was Springsteen pulling a sign from the audience that stated, "Bald Guys Make Great Dancers" during Dancing In The Dark -- and then pulling out a "follically challenged man" to have him dance onstage with him a la Courtney Cox.  ^_~

Strangely, the perfect show capper was the rain.  It was anticipated all night, but never came..... until the final encore was over.  The moment it finished, the rain began to fall - a solemn and befitting finale for the long-standing stadium.  Of course, it made my drive back home to New York less than desirable.  Oh yes, and I picked myself up a souvenir.

An amazing experience overall, and definitely one the best concert I've ever been to.  It's humbling to have been in the same place where the group got their first big break twenty four years ago, and to have it all come to a head for the final time.

Angela, your taste in Bruce Springsteen songs is spectacular! Also pleased you covered some of his new stuff.

I went to the Wednesday  concert it was pretty amazing.  The 9/30 wednesday one.  The set list was pretty incredible but I negligently forgot my jacket and kind of freezed my ass off (out? haha).  Stocked up on some 5$ hot chocolates and was good to go though.

Two pics from my seats from my new iPhone:

http://dancey.pairsite.com/img/setup.jpg
http://dancey.pairsite.com/img/bruce.jpg

Thanks!  I've grown to really enjoy Working On A Dream (even the song itself), but now that I look at that 'Best of' listing again, I'm kicking myself for not putting in No Surrender, I'm Goin' Down, or Tougher Than The Rest.

Nice.  From your pics, it looks like I was right around the same seating area, but higher up: 328, 15.  There was stuff I would've loved to hear from the Born To Run set, such as Thunder Road and Jungleland.  Cool that you also got Rosalita, but then we got the awesome fifteen minute rendition of Kitty's Back.

I was in 325 20 I believe.

Looks like a huge ass show, I've gotten so used to looking up info on these tiny little VGM venues that it's kinda odd to see how absolutely huge those big Stadium Shows get.

It was a Wednesday show and it wasn't sold out (probably because it was a Wednesday), but this is the first Stadium show i've ever been to.  I've seen big bands but nothing stadium big.  I was wholeheartedly impressed with his crowd interaction the most.  He really does love his fans.  He had some young like 7 or 8 year old kid that was in the front row come up and sing a song with him (I can't recall the song, not a diehard boss fan just figured something I needed to do as a music fan growing up on the music from my parents and living in NJ).  He also had some middle aged woman come up on stage and dance with him for a song which probably made her entire life right then and there.  He also ran through this small walkway thing in between the two GA crowds during his more popular songs and took tons of pictures with fans and just seemed to be having a good time.  Impressive for someone who's been in the music industry for 40+ years and someone who just turned 60 that day.  I haven't ever really seen anything like that.

Hah!  Here he is, the Rockin' Cue-Ball himself. 

No doubt for Dancing In The Dark..... and yep, another quick search on Youtube, four minutes in, shows that it is.  Damn, I just loved the way he did that spinning guitar finish for the finale.  ^_^

Probably because it was both a Friday and the very last show, mine was completely sold out.  As a result, parking was absolutely nuts; I was re-routed all the way to the end of the Izod Center lot, and had to hoof the fifteen minute trek to the stadium.  I just consider myself lucky that they added those last two shows when I snagged my ticket back in June.

Springsteen's onstage presence, not to mention his stamina, is just unreal.  I sure as hell know I couldn't do three hour-plus performances with zero breaks the way he does.

Rest in peace, Clarence.  You will be missed.

Really sad news.