CDs of the week: Sam Taylor
Bruce Springsteen is the second-most bootlegged artist in rock, after Bob Dylan, and Tracks (Columbia), a four- CD, 66-track compilation of unreleased material has been long anticipated. Inevitably, it is not wholly satisfying. There are too many unremarkable outtakes from his weakest albums, Born in the USA and Human Touch, and not enough from his best, Nebraska and Darkness on the Edge of Town. In particular, his greatest unreleased song, The Promise, a glowering piano ballad recorded for Darkness on the Edge of Town, is not included.
Still, there is much to love here. Disc one (1972-77), is mostly made up of the bar-room belters that Springsteen would play with The E-Street Band – all squeezebox, saxophone and sore throats. It’s a side of Springsteen that has rarely found its way to his albums, and is well worth hearing. Lyrically, these songs tend to banality or gaucheness: Zero and Blind Terry, the prototype for Incident on 57th Street, contains the immortal line: “Together they ran like reindeers in the street”!
By disc two, culled from sessions for The River and Nebraska, the lyrics have improved beyond recognition. The third and fourth discs are crammed with too many glossy throwaway rockers, but also contain several songs in the subdued, romantic mould of Tunnel of Love.
While much of Tracks will be familiar to fans, it’s worth buying for sound quality alone; each track has been digitally remastered, and the results are clean and punchy. Less romantic than bootleg hiss, maybe, but a lot more listenable.
Soundbites
Sumi Jo: La Promessa (Erato) Perfect style and exquisite taste perhaps best describe this elegant recital by Sumi Jo, accompanied by Vincenzo Scalera. In an Italian recital ranging from Giordani’s Caro mio ben through Handel’s Lascia ch’io pianga to Verdi’s Ad una stella, the Korean soprano, here showing a new richness in her lower register added to her still bell-like lyric high register, spins phrases of breathtaking beauty and refinement, without any exaggeration la Bartoli. An absolute treasure. – Coenraad Visser
McAlmont: A Little Communication (Hut) The calibre of David McAlmont’s soaring voice has never been in question, but he too easily tips over into hysteria. In these minimalist soul settings, he reveals a more controlled and engaging style, evocative of Marvin Gaye and Prince but still bearing his own edgy emotionalism. A class act, in fact. – Neil Spencer
Metallica: Garage Inc (Vertigo) This is two CDs’ worth of cover versions by the Californian thrash merchants, some fresh, some dating back to 1987. They predominantly cover other metal types, hence there’s little to say about their versions of tunes by Mercyful Fate, Diamond Head and Blitzkrieg. They do a good, pub-rockin’ job on Thin Lizzy’s Whisky in the Jar, however, and if you’ve ever wondered how Nick Cave’s Loverman would sound, sung by a werewolf … – Caroline Sullivan