You’d be allowed some temporary confusion on the time thing, this week, when considering the release of the first video from the upcoming Bruce Springsteen set, “The Promise” (see Preview: Bruce Springsteen ‘The Promise’" here).
The new release features two discs of 21 previously unreleased songs from the sessions for Springsteen’s 1978 classic, “Darkness On The Edge Of Town,”; Bruce recorded almost 70 songs and pared things down to 10 for the original release.
"'Darkness' was my 'samurai' record," Springsteen writes in the liner notes, "stripped to the frame and ready to rumble...But the music that got left behind was substantial." For the first time, fans will have access to previously-unreleased songs from the 'Darkness' recording sessions, songs that, as Springsteen writes, "perhaps could have/should have been released after 'Born To Run' and before the collection of songs that 'Darkness on the Edge of Town' became."
Highlights include the extraordinary rock version of "Racing in the Street," the never-before-released original recordings of "Because The Night," "Fire," and "Rendezvous," the supreme pop opus "Someday (We'll Be Together)," the hilarious "Ain't Good Enough For You," the superb soul-based vocal performance on "The Brokenhearted," the utterly haunting "Breakaway," and the fully orchestrated masterpiece and title song "The Promise."
All 21 songs have been mixed by Springsteen's long-time collaborator Bob Clearmountain. According to long-time manager/producer Jon Landau, "There isn't a weak card in this deck. 'The Promise' is simply a great listening experience."
Springsteen adds, "Rather than being a record of outtakes, it was really a separate double album that stands on its own as a piece of work." Little Stevie says, "These cannot be considered outtakes."
You can preview 15 tracks from “The Promise” courtesy of NPR here.
The first video from the new set is “Save My Love,” and it plays with time and space by featuring early images and clips of a 1970s Bruce mixed with present day Bruce footage.
Bruce Springsteen – Save My Love (2010)
