Greatest Hits (Bruce Springsteen album)

Greatest Hits is Bruce Springsteen's first compilation album, released February 27, 1995, on Columbia Records. It is a collection of some of Springsteen's hit singles and popular album tracks through the years along with four new songs at the end, mostly recorded with the E Street Band in 1995. The latter constituted Springsteen's first (albeit very partial) release with his backing band since the late 1980s. Some of the songs are shorter versions of the original album releases.

Greatest Hits
Greatest hits album by
Bruce Springsteen
ReleasedFebruary 27, 1995
Recorded1974–1995
GenreRock
Length76:35
LabelColumbia
Producer
Bruce Springsteen chronology
In Concert/MTV Plugged
(1993)		 Greatest Hits
(1995)		 The Ghost of Tom Joad
(1995)
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band chronology
Chimes of Freedom
(1988)		 Greatest Hits
(1995)		 Blood Brothers
(1996)
Singles from Greatest Hits
  1. "Streets of Philadelphia"
    Released: February 2, 1994
  2. "Murder Incorporated"
    Released: February 24, 1995 [1]
  3. "Hungry Heart '95"
    Released: March 1, 1995 [2]
  4. "Secret Garden"
    Released: April 11, 1995
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[4]
Rolling Stone[5]

The incorporation of the "new" tracks was portrayed in the 1996 documentary Blood Brothers. "Murder Incorporated" and "This Hard Land" were, in fact, unused 1982 songs from the Born in the U.S.A. sessions, with the latter being re-recorded here more than a decade later, and both subsequently became Springsteen concert staples.[6][7][8] "Blood Brothers", on the other hand, was played only as the final closing song of both the 1999–2000 Reunion Tour and 2002–2003 Rising Tour, both times with an extra verse added. "Secret Garden" achieved notoriety via the soundtrack of the 1996 film Jerry Maguire. Alternate versions of several of these new tracks were released on the 1996 Blood Brothers EP.

The compilation was commercially successful, hitting the peaks of the U.S. album chart and UK Album Chart and selling more than four million copies in the U.S.[9]

Critical reception

The reception by music critics of Greatest Hits was rather negative upon the album's release, as are more contemporary reviews. David Browne of Entertainment Weekly felt that the album was released when it was because the Grammy Awards were coming up and "Streets of Philadelphia" was up for five awards and that the songs on the album were selected because of charting success, which means that several important songs were overlooked. He also felt that "Murder Incorporated" (in reference to the 1930s Murder, Inc.) was the only good new song on the album and that overall the album felt as if Bruce did not believe in himself any more.[4]

The Rolling Stone review of the album by Parke Puterbaugh is rather unfavorable. Parke felt that the songs on the collection belonged on their original LP releases, that songs from before Born to Run should have been included and that the new songs weren't that good.[5] A more contemporary review by Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine is also unfavorable, saying that a lot of Bruce's hits and popular album tracks were missing, that "Murder Incorporated" was better than the other new songs, and that The Essential Bruce Springsteen was much better than Greatest Hits.[3]

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 the week of March 18, 1995 with more than 250,000 copies sold, it remained on the chart for forty-three weeks.[10][11] As of March, 2009 it has sold over 4,092,000 copies in the United States according to Nielsen SoundScan.[12] It was certified four times platinum by the RIAA on July 23, 1999 for shipments of 4,000,000.[13]

In the United Kingdom the album entered at number one on March 11, 1995, and topped the chart for two non consecutive weeks.[14] It was present on the chart for one hundred thirty four weeks.[14] It was certified four times platinum by the BPI on March 21, 2014 denoting shipments of 1,200,000 units.[15]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Bruce Springsteen.

No.TitleOriginal albumLength
1."Born to Run"Born to Run (1975)4:30
2."Thunder Road"Born to Run4:48
3."Badlands"Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978)4:03
4."The River"The River (1980)5:00
5."Hungry Heart"The River3:20
6."Atlantic City"Nebraska (1982)3:56
7."Dancing in the Dark"Born in the U.S.A. (1984)4:03
8."Born in the U.S.A."Born in the U.S.A.4:41
9."My Hometown" (Early fade-out)Born in the U.S.A.4:12
10."Glory Days" (Early fade-out)Born in the U.S.A.3:49
11."Brilliant Disguise"Tunnel of Love (1987)4:15
12."Human Touch" (Edited Radio Version)Human Touch (1992)5:10
13."Better Days" (Edited Version)Lucky Town (1992)3:44
14."Streets of Philadelphia" (Single Edit)Philadelphia soundtrack (1993)3:16
15."Secret Garden"New song: Recorded in January 1995 at The Hit Factory, New York City[16]4:27
16."Murder Incorporated"New song: Recorded at The Power Station in April/May 19823:57
17."Blood Brothers"New song: Recorded in January 1995 at The Hit Factory, New York City4:34
18."This Hard Land"New song: Recorded in January 1995 at The Hit Factory, New York City4:50

Personnel (tracks 15-18)

Charts and certifications

Certifications and sales
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[43] 9× Platinum 630,000^
Austria (IFPI Austria)[44] 2× Platinum 100,000*
Belgium (BEA)[45] Platinum 50,000*
Canada (Music Canada)[46] 4× Platinum 400,000^
Denmark (IFPI Denmark)[47] 5× Platinum 100,000
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[48] Platinum 76,419[48]
France (SNEP)[49] Platinum 300,000*
Germany (BVMI)[50] 2× Platinum 1,000,000^
Italy (FIMI)[51] Platinum 350,000[52]
Japan (RIAJ)[53] Platinum 200,000^
Norway (IFPI Norway)[54] 2× Platinum 100,000*
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[55] 2× Platinum 200,000^
Sweden (GLF)[56]
digipack		 Platinum 100,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[57] Platinum 50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[58] 4× Platinum 1,200,000^
United States (RIAA)[13] 4× Platinum 4,092,000[12]
Summaries
Europe (IFPI)[59] 5× Platinum 5,000,000*

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

References
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  2. "Hungry Heart - EP by Bruce Springsteen". March 1, 1995. Retrieved October 18, 2018.
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  4. Browne, David (March 10, 1995). "Music Review: Bruce Springsteen: Greatest Hits (1995)". Entertainment Weekly (265). ISSN 1049-0434. Retrieved July 21, 2011.
  5. Puterbaugh, Parke (April 6, 1995). "Album Review: Greatest Hits by Bruce Springsteen". Rolling Stone. Jann S. Wenner. Retrieved July 21, 2011.
  6. "Bruce Springsteen to re-release landmark box set of rare material - Uncut". August 12, 2013. Retrieved October 18, 2018.
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