Having already given Born to Run and Darkness on the Edge of Town the deluxe reissue treatment, The Boss announced today the release of The Ties That Bind: The River Collection.
The 4-CD/3-DVD set captures Springsteen at a pivotal moment in his history—the gritty ennui of Darkness was giving way to a larger, more ambitious sound that would come to its full fruition on 1984’s Born in the USA. The double album, which was originally released in 1980, yielded his first top-five hit in “Hungry Heart” and found him experimenting not only with the stadium-sized pop of that track, but also showed the first flashes of his burgeoning interest in The Clash and the kind of stormy folk that would pour out of him two years later on Nebraska.
The set includes the original double-album version of The River, a followup to Darkness that Springsteen recorded in 1979 and immediately scrapped entitled The River: Single Album, and a disc of outtakes that includes eleven never-heard tracks that were apparently unknown even to fans as well as eleven additional B-sides and singles that were released on earlier box sets.
The three DVDs include a sixty-minute documentary about the making of the record entitled The Ties That Bind, as well as a double-disc multi-camera recording of Springsteen’s 1980 show in Tempe, long considered one of Springsteen’s best performances.
The entire set comes packaged with a thick coffee table book full of previously unseen photos of Springsteen and the E Street Band, along with liner notes by journalist Mikal Gilmore.
If that’s not more Bruce than you can handle, the entire track list is below.
Originally published October 16, 7:51 a.m.
Updated: October 16, 10:20 a.m.
As Consequence of Sound points out, Springsteen has shared one of The Ties That Bind: The River Collection‘s outtakes, “Meet Me in the City.” That track, as well as the box set’s artwork and track list, are below.
The Ties That Bind: The River Collection track list
CD1
The River – Disc One
The Ties That Bind
Sherry Darling
Jackson Cage
Two Hearts
Independence Day
Hungry Heart
Out In The Street
Crush On You
You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch)
I Wanna Marry You
The River
CD2
The River – Disc Two
Point Blank
Cadillac Ranch
I’m A Rocker
Fade Away
Stolen Car
Ramrod
The Price You Pay
Drive All Night
Wreck On The Highway
CD3
The River: Single Album
The Ties That Bind
Cindy
Hungry Heart
Stolen Car (Vs.1)
Be True
The River
You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch) (Vs.1)
The Price You Pay
I Wanna Marry You
Loose End
CD4
The River: Outtakes
Meet Me In The City
The Man Who Got Away
Little White Lies
The Time That Never Was
Night Fire
Whitetown
Chain Lightning
Party Lights
Paradise By The “C”
Stray Bullet
Mr. Outside
Roulette
Restless Nights
Where The Bands Are
Dollhouse
Living On The Edge Of The World
Take ’em As They Come
Ricky Wants A Man Of Her Own
I Wanna Be With You
Mary Lou
Held Up Without A Gun
From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come)
DVD 1
The Ties That Bind (Documentary)
DVD 2
The River Tour, Tempe 1980
Concert – Part 1
Born To Run
Prove It All Night
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
Jackson Cage
Two Hearts
The Promised Land
Out In The Street
The River
Badlands
Thunder Road
No Money Down
Cadillac Ranch
Hungry Heart
Fire
Sherry Darling
I Wanna Marry You
Crush On You
Ramrod
You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch)
DVD 3
The River Tour, Tempe 1980
Concert – Part 2
Drive All Night
Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
I’m A Rocker
Jungleland
Detroit Medley
Where The Bands Are (Credits)
Bonus: The River Tour Rehersals
Ramrod
Cadillac Ranch
Fire
Crush On You
Sherry Darling
The Ties That Bind: The River Collection is out December 4 on Columbia.
