In the liner notes to his volume of {@Columbia}'s {^The Essential} series, {$Bruce Springsteen} immediately lays out the problem with hits collections: "In any body of work there are obvious high points. The rest depends on who's doing the listening. Where you were, when it was, who you were with when a particular song or album cut the deepest." All artists have this problem, but {$Springsteen} has it more than most, since he not only has a deep and varied body of work, but he has a passionate, dedicated fan base. Within that following, there are listeners who prefer his big-hearted, sprawling early work, those who love the cinematic grandeur of {^Born to Run}, those who love his stark, intimate acoustic {\ballads}, and those who adore his pile-driving rockers. He's had hits in all of these styles, and he's had concert and {\album rock} radio staples in all those styles -- all of these tunes for his basic canon, the "obvious high points" -- but he's such a strong songwriter and record-maker that this leaves behind songs that many other artists would be thrilled to call their best work, whether it's the epic street poetry of {&"It's Hard to Be a Saint in the City"} or the old-time {\rock & roll} throwaway of {&"Pink Cadillac."} Neither of those tunes are on the double-disc, 30-track {^Essential Bruce Springsteen}, but any two-disc set can't hold all of {$Springsteen}'s great songs. It can only offer a representative sampling, which means there will be lots of terrific tracks and fan favorites absent -- {$Springsteen} admits this, citing {&"Growin' Up,"} {&"Racing in the Street,"} {&"Backstreets,"} and {&"My City of Ruins"} as MIA, while others could make just as convincing an argument for {&"My Hometown,"} {&"Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out,"} {&"Fade Away,"} {&"I'm on Fire,"} {&"Prove It All Night,"} {&"Adam Raised a Cain,"} and the list goes on. The strength of {^The Essential} is that you never notice these songs are missing. Unlike the previous {$Bruce} compilation, the misguided, haphazardly selected {^Greatest Hits}, {^The Essential} contains all the big songs -- not just the obvious hits of {&"Hungry Heart,"} {&"Born to Run,"} {&"Born in the U.S.A.,"} and {&"Glory Days,"} but selections from his first two albums that were ignored completely the previous time out -- and it also contains just the right amount of latter-day material from the acclaimed {^The Rising}, plus {&"American Skin (41 Shots)"} and {&"Land of Hope and Dreams,"} two songs previously only available on {^Live in New York City}. It adds up to an ideal introduction to {$Springsteen}'s music, capturing all sides of his musical output while being a hell of a good listen. While the two main discs are for neophytes and casual fans, the third "bonus" disc is for the hardcore -- the kind of fans who will argue about the song selection on the previous two discs, and would be more interested in unreleased material than hits. This third disc is a clearing-house for items that should have made it to his previous rarities collection, {^Tracks}, but didn't. This includes previously unreleased cuts, B-sides, contributions to {\soundtracks} and benefit albums, covers, and an alternate, "{\country}-{\blues}" acoustic version of {&"Countin' on a Miracle"} from {^The Rising}. The disc follows a roughly chronological sequence and basically divides into early-'80s material and mid-'90s material. The '80s material has the edge due to the variety and strength of the material: the rampaging rocker {&"From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come),"} a song {$Bruce} gave to {$Dave Edmunds} and has never released before now; the spare, tough {&"The Big Payback,"} a B-side; the searching {&"None but the Brave,"} cut during the {^Born in the U.S.A.} sessions; the evocative {&"County Fair,"} cut after {^Nebraska}; a cover of {$Jimmy Cliff}'s {&"Trapped,"} cut on the {^River} tour; a wonderfully raucous live {&"Held Up Without a Gun,"} a variation on {&"You Can Look but You Better Not Touch"} with topical lyrics previously released as a B-side. These are fantastic performances, and while there are also very good cuts of a more recent vintage -- such as the {$Joe Grushecky} collaboration {&"Code of Silence,"} his title song from {$Tim Robbins}' {#Dead Man Walking}, and a fun version of {&"Viva Las Vegas"} -- these '80s songs are the heart of the collection. It's an unexpected gift to have them officially released as a bonus disc to a hits collection, and for the hardcore, it's worth buying two discs of songs you already have just get these rarities. And it helps make {^The Essential Bruce Springsteen} really live up to its title. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide