Greatest Hits (Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band album)

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Greatest Hits
Cover of the American edition
Greatest hits album by
ReleasedJanuary 13, 2009 (American edition)
June 1, 2009 (European edition)
Recorded1972–1984, 2002–2007
GenreRock
Length53:08 (American edition)
79:03 (European edition)
LabelColumbia
Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band chronology
Magic Tour Highlights
(2008)
Greatest Hits
(2009)
Working on a Dream
(2009)
Bruce Springsteen chronology
Magic Tour Highlights
(2008)
Greatest Hits
(2009)
Working on a Dream
(2009)
European cover
Cover of the European edition
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
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]

  1. "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)" – 7:02
  2. "Born to Run" – 4:31
  3. "Thunder Road" – 4:47
    • From the album Born to Run
  4. "Darkness on the Edge of Town" – 4:28
  5. "Badlands" – 4:03
    • From the album Darkness on the Edge of Town
  6. "Hungry Heart" – 3:18
  7. "Glory Days" – 4:15
  8. "Dancing in the Dark" – 4:00
    • From the album Born in the U.S.A.
  9. "Born in the U.S.A." – 4:38
    • From the album Born in the U.S.A.
  10. "The Rising" – 4:47
  11. "Lonesome Day" – 4:05
    • From the album The Rising
  12. "Radio Nowhere" – 3:19
    • From the album Magic, 2007

Europe edition[edit]

  1. "Blinded by the Light" – 5:04
  2. "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)" – 7:02
    • From the album The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle
  3. "Born to Run" – 4:31
    • From the album Born to Run
  4. "Thunder Road" – 4:47
    • From the album Born to Run
  5. "Badlands" – 4:03
    • From the album Darkness on the Edge of Town
  6. "Darkness on the Edge of Town" – 4:28
    • From the album Darkness on the Edge of Town
  7. "Hungry Heart" – 3:18
    • From the album The River
  8. "The River" – 5:00
    • From the album The River
  9. "Born in the U.S.A." – 4:38
    • From the album Born in the U.S.A.
  10. "I'm on Fire" - 2:34
    • From the album Born in the U.S.A.
  11. "Glory Days" – 4:15
    • From the album Born in the U.S.A.
  12. "Dancing in the Dark" – 4:00
    • From the album Born in the U.S.A.
  13. "The Rising" – 4:47
    • From the album The Rising
  14. "Lonesome Day" – 4:05
    • From the album The Rising
  15. "Radio Nowhere" – 3:19
    • From the album Magic
  16. "Long Walk Home" – 4:35
    • From the album Magic
  17. "Because the Night" (Springsteen, Patti Smith) – 5:21
  18. "Fire" - 2:49
    • From the album Live/1975-85

Personnel[edit]

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]

  1. ^ Allmusic (American) review
  2. ^ Allmusic (European) review
  3. ^ "Greatest Hits (Wal-Mart Exclusive), Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band", Wal-Mart. Retrieved December 22, 2008.
  4. ^ "Bruce Springsteen Plans Wal-Mart Only 'Greatest Hits'", Rolling Stone, December 22, 2008.
  5. ^ Gottlieb, Jed (2009-01-13). "Non-union label: Bruce Springsteen silent on his Wal-Mart exclusive". Boston Herald. Retrieved 2009-01-16.
  6. ^ Sachs, Tony (2009-01-03). "The Top Five Boneheaded Music Industry Moves Of 2008". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2009-01-16.
  7. ^ a b c Smith, Ethan (2009-01-16). "Born to Run – and Promote". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2009-01-16.
  8. ^ a b Waddell, Ray (2009-01-23). "Bruce Springsteen Prepping 'Darkness' Reissue". Billboard. Retrieved 2009-01-23.
  9. ^ Pareles, Jon (2009-02-01). "The Rock Laureate". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-01-29.
  10. ^ australian-charts.com - Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band. Accessed on August 22, 2010.
  11. ^ "Austria Albums Top 75". Archived from the original on 2011-07-06. Retrieved 2009-07-15.
  12. ^ Belgium Albums Top 50
  13. ^ CANOE-JAM! Music; Albums Top 100[usurped]
  14. ^ "Denmark Album Top 40". Archived from the original on 2012-02-26. Retrieved 2009-06-14.
  15. ^ Suomen virallinen lista - Albumit Archived 2009-09-03 at the Wayback Machine
  16. ^ Die offiziellen deutschen Album-Charts
  17. ^ Ireland Top 100 Individual Artist Albums Archived 2012-11-05 at the Wayback Machine
  18. ^ FIMI Italy Albums Top 100 Archived 2009-03-01 at the Wayback Machine
  19. ^ Dutch Album Top 100
  20. ^ Topp 40 Album
  21. ^ Promusicae Spain Top 100 Albums[permanent dead link]
  22. ^ Swedish Album Chart
  23. ^ Swiss Chart - Albums Top 100
  24. ^ UK Top 40 Albums
  25. ^ Billboard Top 200 Albums