Greatest Hits (Bruce Springsteen album)

Greatest Hits
Greatest hits album by Bruce Springsteen
Released February 27, 1995
Recorded 1974–1995
Genre Rock
Length 76:35
Label Columbia
Producer Bruce Springsteen, Mike Appel, Jon Landau, Steven Van Zandt, Chuck Plotkin, Roy Bittan
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. "Murder Incorporated"
    Released: 1995
  2. "Secret Garden"
    Released: April 11, 1995
  3. "Hungry Heart '95"
    Released: 1995
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[2]
Rolling Stone[3]

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.

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.[4] "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.[5]

Critical reception

The reception by music critics of Greatest Hits was rather negative upon the album's release, as were 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.[2]

The Rolling Stone review of the album by Parke Puterbaugh was rather unfavorable, which is surprising as most of Springsteen's albums were praised by the magazine. 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.[3] A more contemporary review by Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine was 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.[1]

Track listing

All tracks written by Bruce Springsteen. 

No. TitleOriginal album Length
1. "Born to Run"  Born to Run (1975) 4:30
2. "Thunder Road"  Born to Run 4:48
3. "Badlands"  Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978) 4:03
4. "The River"  The River (1980) 5:00
5. "Hungry Heart"  The River 3:20
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 (1994) 3:16
15. "Secret Garden"  New song: Recorded in January 1995 at The Hit Factory, New York City 4:27
16. "Murder Incorporated"  New song: Recorded at The Power Station in April/May 1982 3:57
17. "Blood Brothers"  New song: Recorded in January 1995 at The Hit Factory, New York City 4:34
18. "This Hard Land"  New song: Recorded in January 1995 at The Hit Factory, New York City 4:50

Personnel

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Chart (1995) Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart[6] 1
Austrian Albums Chart[7] 1
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[8] 1
Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[9] 2
Canadian RPM Albums Chart[10] 1
Danish Albums Chart[11] 2
Dutch Albums Chart[12] 2
European Albums Chart[13] 1
Finnish Albums Chart[14] 1
French Compilations Chart[15] 1
German Albums Chart[16] 1
Hungarian Albums Chart[17] 7
Irish Albums Chart[18] 1
Italian Albums Chart[19] 1
New Zealand Albums Chart[20] 1
Norwegian Albums Chart[21] 1
Portuguese Albums Chart[22] 2
Spanish Albums Chart[23] 1
Swedish Albums Chart[24] 1
Swiss Albums Chart[25] 1
UK Albums Chart[26] 1
US Billboard 200[27] 1

Certifications and sales

Region Certification Certified units/Sales
Australia (ARIA)[28] 4× Platinum 280,000^
Austria (IFPI Austria)[29] 2× Platinum 100,000*
Belgium (BEA)[30] Platinum 50,000*
Canada (Music Canada)[31] 4× Platinum 400,000^
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[32] Platinum 76,419[32]
France (SNEP)[33] Platinum 300,000*
Germany (BVMI)[34] 2× Platinum 1,000,000^
Italy (FIMI)[35] 3× Platinum 350,000[36]
Norway (IFPI Norway)[37] 2× Platinum 100,000*
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[38] Platinum 50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[39] 4× Platinum 1,200,000^
United States (RIAA)[40] 4× Platinum 4,000,000^
Summaries
Europe (IFPI)[41] 5× Platinum 5,000,000*

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

References

  1. 1 2 Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Review: Greatest Hits by Bruce Springsteen". Allmusic. United States. Retrieved July 21, 2011.
  2. 1 2 Browne, David (March 10, 1995). "Music Review: Bruce Springsteen: Greatest Hits (1995)". Entertainment Weekly (265). ISSN 1049-0434. Retrieved July 21, 2011.
  3. 1 2 Puterbaugh, Parke (April 6, 1995). "Album Review: Greatest Hits by Bruce Springsteen". Rolling Stone. Jann S. Wenner. Retrieved July 21, 2011.
  4. ↑ Collins, Roger. "Springstreet staples". Iomusic. Retrieved December 9, 2008.
  5. ↑ Grein, Paul. "Week Ending Oct. 19, 2008: Battle Of The Hat Acts". Yahoo! Music. October 22, 2008.
  6. ↑ "Bruce Springsteen – Greatest Hits (Album)" (ASP). Australian Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved July 20, 2011.
  7. ↑ "Bruce Springsteen – Greatest Hits (Album)" (ASP). Austrian Charts (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved July 20, 2011.
  8. ↑ "Bruce Springsteen – Greatest Hits (Album)" (ASP). Ultratop (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved July 20, 2011.
  9. ↑ "Bruce Springsteen – Greatest Hits (Album)" (ASP). Ultratop (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved July 20, 2011.
  10. ↑ "100 Albums (CD's & Cassettes)" (PDF). RPM. 61 (7). March 20, 1995. ISSN 0315-5994. Retrieved July 21, 2011.
  11. ↑ "Hits of the World – Ireland". Billboard. 107 (14). April 8, 1995. p. 61. ISSN 0006-2510.
  12. ↑ "Bruce Springsteen – Greatest Hits (Album)" (ASP). Dutch Charts (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved July 20, 2011.
  13. ↑ Nielsen Business Media, Inc (April 15, 1995). "Hits of the World – Eurochart". Billboard. 107 (15). p. 61. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved October 11, 2012.
  14. ↑ Nielsen Business Media, Inc (April 15, 1995). "Hits of the World – Finland". Billboard. 107 (15). p. 61. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved October 11, 2012.
  15. ↑ "Les "Charts Runs" de chaque Album Classé" (PHP). InfoDisc (in French). Search for "Bruce SPRINGSTEEN" on the drop-down menu to see results.
  16. ↑ "Chartverfolgung / Springsteen,Bruce / Longplay". Music Line (in German). Media Control Charts. Retrieved July 20, 2011.
  17. ↑ "Archivum: Top 40 Album". MAHASZ (in Hungarian). Retrieved July 20, 2011.
  18. ↑ Nielsen Business Media, Inc (April 15, 1995). "Hits of the World – Ireland". Billboard. 107 (15). p. 61. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved October 11, 2012.
  19. ↑ Marinella Venegoni (March 7, 1995). "La nuova hit parade trasparente rivoluziona la classifica festivaliera. Sanremo, i veri vincitori. Volano alto i Neri per Caso e Fiorello". La Stampa (in Italian). p. 21. Retrieved July 21, 2012.
  20. ↑ "Bruce Springsteen – Greatest Hits (Album)" (ASP). New Zealand Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved July 20, 2011.
  21. ↑ "Bruce Springsteen – Greatest Hits (Album)" (ASP). Norwegian Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved July 20, 2011.
  22. ↑ Nielsen Business Media, Inc (April 1, 1995). "Hits of the World – Portugal". Billboard. 107 (13). p. 49. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved October 11, 2012.
  23. ↑ Nielsen Business Media, Inc (April 8, 1995). "Hits of the World – Portugal". Billboard. 107 (14). p. 60. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved October 11, 2012.
  24. ↑ "Bruce Springsteen – Greatest Hits (Album)" (ASP). Swedish Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved July 20, 2011.
  25. ↑ "Bruce Springsteen – Greatest Hits (Album)" (ASP). Swiss Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved July 20, 2011.
  26. ↑ "All the Number One Albums: 1995". The Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 20, 2011.
  27. ↑ "Greatest Hits – Bruce Springsteen". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved July 20, 2011.
  28. ↑ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2008 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association.
  29. ↑ "Austrian album certifications – Bruce Springsteen – Greatest Hits" (in German). IFPI Austria. Enter Bruce Springsteen in the field Interpret. Enter Greatest Hits in the field Titel. Select album in the field Format. Click Suchen
  30. ↑ "Les Disques d'Or/de Platine - 2000" (in French). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved July 22, 2012.
  31. ↑ "Canadian album certifications – Bruce Springsteen – Greatest Hits". Music Canada.
  32. 1 2 "Bruce Springsteen" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland.
  33. ↑ "French compilation certifications – Bruce Springsteen – Greatest Hits" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique.
  34. ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Bruce Springsteen; 'Greatest Hits')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
  35. ↑ "Italian album certifications – Bruce Springsteen – Greatest Hits" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Select Album e Compilation in the field Sezione. Enter Bruce Springsteen in the field Filtra. The certification will load automatically
  36. ↑ Marinella Venegoni (January 4, 1996). "L'hit parade canta italiano Il blues napoletano alle stelle mentre Giorgia resta al palo". La Stampa (in Italian). Retrieved June 2, 2013.
  37. ↑ "Norwegian album certifications – Bruce Springsteen – Greatest Hits" (in Norwegian). IFPI Norway.
  38. ↑ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Bruce Springsteen; 'Greatest Hits')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien.
  39. ↑ "British album certifications – Bruce Springsteen – Greatest Hits". British Phonographic Industry. Enter Greatest Hits in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Platinum in the field By Award. Click Search
  40. ↑ "American album certifications – Springsteen, Bruce – Greatest Hits". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
  41. ↑ "IFPI Platinum Europe Awards – 2003". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/27/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.