I always thought that after releasing Nebraska, Springsteen's simply moved on to Born In The U.S.A. Heck, some of the Nebraska leftovers appear on Born In The U.S.A. so it seemed a logical assumption. Logical, but wrong.

Turns out that after Bruce relocated to Los Angeles, he took another go-round with the Nebraska concept, recording solo but with better equipment this time that let him do a little more overdubbing and with much better sound quality. The album doesn't have the same bleak feel as Nebraska, but I think that's due to a mix of the sound quality and the songwriting. The only carryover from these sessions to Born In The U.S.A. is "My Hometown". This version is surprisingly similar in arrangement to the final version. This take is rougher and a bit sparser, but he didn't change it much. The rockabilly of "Don't Back Down On Our Love" is a big highlight. I'm surprised he never reused this one on a later album. The guitar and harmonica of "Jim Deer" feels like it could have fit on Nebraska. The most chilling song on the album is "The Klansman", documenting a day when "the trouble spread around" because of a recruiting visit from a Klansman. The song is quite short, and the last bit has no lyrics, making me wonder if Bruce was still working on a conclusion to the story.

I can understand why this wouldn't have been released at the time - I'd imagine it feeling like an attempt at a Nebraska II. Still, I'm amazed that more of these songs weren't reused for later projects. There's great stuff on here. If you like Nebraska, you'll like this.

Springsteen recorded "Streets Of Philadelphia" for the film Philadelphia. It's a moody, evocative song built around a drum loop, some keyboards, and Bruce's voice. The song won an Oscar for Best Original Song and four Grammys including Song Of The Year. Turns out, Bruce did more than just one song in this style. Streets Of Philadelphia Sessions contains ten more songs written and performed in much the same manner. The main difference is the addition of guitar and real drums at places.

The album was slated for release in early 1995, but Springsteen changed his mind and focused on reuniting the E Street Band to record two new songs for his upcoming Greatest Hits album. "Secret Garden" made the leap from one project to the other, swapping out the drum loops for the E Street rhythm section, but otherwise it's a similar arrangement. Songs like "Waiting On The End Of The World" seem like they'd be tailor made for the band, but this solo version is fabulous. "One Beautiful Morning" and "Secret Garden" are the other big highlights, but there's not a weak song on here. This is my favorite album in the box.

Faithless is a soundtrack for a "spiritual Western" movie that never even got made. The album feels like a soundtrack including three short instrumentals that feel like they'd work as background music. In accordance with that "spiritual Western" description, the album mixes folk, country and gospel, and there's a cinematic feel to the album. The highlight here is "All God's Children" which sounds to my ear like Bruce doing an impression of a Tom Waits singing gospel. It's wonderfully off kilter. Overall, it's an interesting listen with some highlights, but it's not an album I'd pull out to listen to on its own. It'd have been interesting to hear this music used as intended.

Recorded in 1995 alongside The Ghost Of Tom Joad, Somewhere North Of Nashville is a pretty straight country album. I'm not a big fan of country music, so you generally lose me when the steel guitars come in. There were a few highlights though: "Delivery Man" adds in some rockabilly energy. "Under A Big Sky" is a genuinely pretty song, and I'd be curious to hear it done with a more pop arrangement. "Detail Man" is the closest the album gets to rock and roll. It's my favorite here.

I've read album reviews where the reviewer clearly doesn't like the band or the style of music, and that always seems unhelpful if not a little insulting (see example here). So, is the more traditional country music on the album good or not? I'm not a country listener, so I can't give you a fair evaluation.

Recorded in 1995-1997 during The Ghost Of Tom Joad tour, Inyo has a similarly folky country sound, but with a Mexican flavor mixed in - a mariachi band is even included on several songs. Yes, I totally get that this sounds like an odd combination, but they turn out to be the best songs on the album: "Adelita" and "The Lost Charro" are the clear standouts. Overall, I like this one better than Faithless and Somewhere North Of Nashville. It's an odd left turn, but it works.

Recorded during the Western Stars sessions, Twilight Hours is a collection of Bruce singing melancholy songs with the feel of "The Great American Songbook" (think Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Burt Bacharach, etc.). Western Stars had a similar feel, but songs with a more Western flavor were put aside for that album. The songs here are originals, but this album is more along the lines of Linda Ronstadt's trilogy of standards albums recorded with Nelson Riddle. The songs are lush, traditional pop and Springsteen's voice fits the style far better than I might have imagined. The gorgeous "Sunday Love" kicks off the album with one of the best songs in the set. Don't sleep on this one.

Strictly speaking, Perfect World isn't a "lost album". It's a compilation of recordings from 1994 to 2011 that Bruce pulled together for this box set to end the set with some rock and roll. This isn't an E Street Band album, but Roy Bittan, Max Weinberg, Garry Tallent, Steven Van Zandt, and Patti Scialfa all make appearances, so it's certainly "E Street adjacent". The set opens with three songs Bruce cowrote with Joe Grushecky and recorded by Joe Grushecky & The Houserockers. They fit Bruce's style perfectly, and they're the best things on this album. "Rain In The River" is just crying out for a stadium crowd clapping and singing along. It's got that massive sound that Springsteen does so well. "You Lifted Me Up" is an unusual song: musically, it's a classic Springsteen single. Lyrically, it's a very simple song, with just a few different lines repeated. It could either be a song of faith, or a song about his wife Patti. My second favorite album in the set.