Axl's Catch Groove

For the TL;DR crowd: Mega-success and love have not ruined Taylor Swift – she can still churn out the bops and bangers, the upbeat and cheeky tone is an antidote to our dark times.

Taylor Swift didn’t resonate with me until her album 1989 (released in 2014). And I only got into that because of the Ryan Adams cover of the album. Once on the bandwagon, I have not gotten off. I am not obsessive enough to be considered a Swifty, but I am definitely a fan. I don’t fit the stereotypical demographic as a 66-year-old male who primarily listens to Americana, jam bands, indie rock, and jazz. However, I do have a soft spot for the occasional pop star, such as Swift, Gaga, and Madonna.

I was concerned about The Life of a Showgirl. Would the massive success of the Eras Tour and the Travis Kelce romance ruin her art? The good news is no. The new album is sparkling pop music at its finest. Swift wrote and produced “The Life of a Showgirl” with mega-producers Max Martin and Shellback, marking the duo’s first collaboration since “Reputation“ (2017). They were also responsible for the big tracks in 1989 (“Blank Spaces,” “Shake It Off,” and “Bad Blood”).

The album opens with “The Fate of Ophelia,” which is dance pop, or as we oldsters call it, disco. This is a Travis Song – the opening line: “I heard you callin’ on the megaphone” is a reference to him using his platform as a famous NFL player and podcaster to get a date with Swift. The title refers to William Shakespeare’s famous play Hamlet, where Ophelia goes insane and commits suicide by drowning herself after her father’s death. The song suggests Travis saved Swift from this fate. Swift is promoting this as the album’s first single, and it is, as the kids say, a banger.

“Elizabeth Taylor” has a singer-songwriter vibe, and I interpret it to be a recognition that Tay and Big Yeti are the biggest celebrity couple since Liz Taylor and Richard Burton.

The “Opalite” sound is a nod to late 1970s Fleetwood Mac (hopefully Taylor and Travis have a better fate than Stevie and Lindsey). Opalite is a milky, iridescent glass substitute for genuine opals. This is another Travis song (Easter egg alert: the opal is Travis’ birthstone) – after a bunch of failed relationships, this is the one: “Never met no one like you before.”

“Father Figure” is a nod to George Michael (it contains an interpolation of “Father Figure,” a 1987 song written and performed by George Michael). The song appears to be about her nemesis, former record label CEO Scott Borchetta, whom she equates to a mafioso. However, Taylor gets the last laugh: “You made a deal with this devil, turns out my dick’s bigger” – I assume this is a reference to Taylor gaining control of her catalog.

“Eldest Daughter” has a classic Swift sound with a sparse piano-focused arrangement. On Amazon Music, Taylor has a commentary introduction to each of the songs. On this one, she says:

“It’s a love song about kind of the roles that we play in our public life, because nowadays everyone has a public life. You have a life that you portray to other people or what you portray on social media, and then you have the you that everyone gets to know who has earned the right to be closest to you. And it’s really hard to be sincere publicly because that’s not really what our culture rewards. People reward you for being like tough and unbothered and like too busy to care. And you may be that about some things, but everyone has things that matter to them and people that matter to them. This song really kind of gets to the heart of when someone gets close enough to you to earn your trust, that’s when you can admit to them that you actually really do care about some things.”

“Ruin The Friendship” features a fantastic bass line, classic Taylor, making it easy to sway and sing along to. I love the flutter pop vocal. Per Taylor, the song is about “the idea of if you told this person you had feelings for them or if you kissed this person, you might ruin the friendship. And it kind of goes back in time and, and explores what really would have been so bad about that.” The key lyric: “Should’ve kissed you anyway.”

“Actually Romantic” is a signature Taylor diss track about someone who is insulting toward you, and the comeback troll is suggesting their bile is actually a sign of how infatuated they are with you. According to the internet, the song is a response to Charli xcx, who has called Swift a “Boring Barbie.”

“It’s actually sweet
All the time you’ve spent on me
It’s honestly wild
All the effort you’ve put in
It’s actually romantic“

“Wi$h Li$t” – after all the fame and fortune, the song’s narrator just wants a mundane life, married with kids living in the suburbs.

“I just want you, huh
Have a couple kids, got the whole block looking like you
We tell the world to leave us thе fuck alone, and they do, wow
Got me drеaming about a driveway with a basketball hoop
Boss up, settle down, got a wish list (Wish list)
I just want you“

“Wood” evokes the Jackson 5, but the lyrics are not so innocent. It is cheeky and filled with sexual humor:

“Forgive me, it sounds cocky
He ah-matized me and opened my eyes
Redwood tree, it ain’t hard to see
His love was the key that opened my thighs”

CANCELLED! is typical rock star complaining – it is tough to be on top. Musically, it has a Lady Gaga vibe. The chorus says it all:

“Good thing I like my friends cancelled
I like ’em cloaked in Gucci and in scandal
Like my whiskey sour
And poison thorny flowers
Welcome to my underworld
Where it gets quite dark
At least you know exactly who your friends are
They’re the ones with matching scars“

“Honey” can be a term of endearment, but it can also be used as a weapon. Taylor plays with that contradiction. Apparently, Travis is the good honey.

“You can call me ‘Honey’ if you want because I’m the one you want
I’m the one you want
You give it different meaning, ’cause you mean it when you talk”

“The Life of a Showgirl” (featuring Sabrina Carpenter) is Taylor’s commentary on show business. It is a hard life, but: “And now I know the life of a showgirl, babe / Wouldn’t have it any other way” Per Taylor:

“It is the story of a fictional showgirl named Kitty and how my character in the song goes to see her perform and is completely inspired by her. But rather than responding with, like, fakeness, she tells it like it is. And she kind of warns me off of this lifestyle because it’s much more than just the glitter and the glamour. There’s a lot else that comes with it. so it’s kind of an ode to show business and the women who move through those pitfalls and obstacle courses I thought who better to ask to be a part of this song than the ultimate show girl Sabrina Carpenter.”

Overall, The Life of a Showgirl is a success, but it is too early to rank it in her catalog (this post is based on mere 24 hours with the album). I love its upbeat and cheeky tone as an antidote to our dark times. Mega-success and love have not ruined Taylor Swift – she can still churn out the bops and bangers!

Since 1996, the Minneapolis hip-hop duo Atmosphere, comprising rapper Slug (Sean Daley) and DJ/producer Ant (Anthony Davis), has remained remarkably consistent. Three decades in, Jestures is proof that they are still on top of their game.

Atmosphere is one of a handful of hip-hop acts that I actually like. I dig Ant’s vintage funk and soul beats, as well as Slug’s flow and storytelling lyrics. The fact that we are all Minneapolis southsiders doesn’t hurt either. Atmosphere are aging gracefully which has made it easy for this old man to follow their career.

From the Rhymesayers Entertainment website:

On Jestures, Atmosphere’s sprawling new album, Slug digs deep into the complexities of life, confronting the unexpected points of friction in middle-aged domesticity and stability. Long past the belief that great art needs great pain, he challenges the notion that creativity must stem from trauma. Instead, their fifth release of the 2020s explores a different kind of tension—one rooted in reflection, responsibility, and the quiet revelations of daily life. The result is a record that captures personal evolution without romanticizing the past or fearing the future. 

The album’s format is as ambitious as its themes: 26 songs, each beginning with a different letter of the alphabet, sequenced in order from A to Z. Even the guest features follow suit—Evidence appears on “Effortless,” Kurious on “Kilowatts,” and Musab, Muja Messiah, and Mike the Martyr all land on “Mash.” While the tracklist might seem sprawling, many of these songs are deceptively short—often just one or two verses—delivering their core ideas with surgical precision. The effect is a curated, flowing mosaic that captures a full emotional and creative arc without overstaying its welcome. 

More than a retrospective, Jestures is a meditation on movement and meaning—on how time shapes us, and how even the mundane can be transformative. Slug blends past and present with ease, referencing iconic Atmosphere sounds while exploring evolving relationships, memory, and self-awareness. Ant’s rich production provides the perfect backdrop, shifting between electro-glitch, somber drones, and playful twang. At its heart, Jestures is a story of progress, building toward a future defined by resilience and creative clarity.

Despite the restrictions of the alphabet concept, the song sequence doesn’t feel forced. The album flows smoothly.

I have met Slug and Ant a few times (Minneapolis is ultimately a small town, and these are the least pretentious “rock stars” you could ever imagine), and they are totally relatable. Slug declares he is an optimistic skeptic in “Ophidiophobia,” which is my brand – I can relate.

Jestures is not mind-blowing; it is just like meeting an old friend you haven’t seen in years and picking up where you left off, as if it were yesterday when you last talked.

Postscript: I picked up Jestures at my favorite record store, Electric Fetus, in Minneapolis, and when I brought it up to the cash register, the clerk swapped it out for an autographed copy. Rhymesayers, Atmosphere’s label, does such a great job with packaging – per the hype label:

EMBOSSED & SPOT / GLOSS GATEFOLD JACKET / WITH DIE CUT RECORD SLEEVES

Tracklist:

Side A

1. Asshole
2. Baby
3. Caddy
4. Daley
5. Effortless (feat. Evidence)
6. Furthermore
7. Grateful

Side B

8. Heavy Lifting (feat. Haphduzn)
9. Instrument
10. Jester
11. Kilowatts (feat. Kurious)
12. Locusts
13. Mash (feat. Mike the Martyr, Musab, and Muja Messiah)

Side C

14. Neptune
15. Ophidiophobia
16. Past
17. Quicksand
18. Really
19. Sean

Side D

20. Trying
21. Used To
22. Velour
23. Westbound
24. XXX
25. Yearning (feat. Yoni Wolf of WHY?)
26. Zorro (feat. ZooDeVille)

I am a huge Wilco fan, but Jeff Tweedy’s solo and side projects have generally not resonated with me—until now. Twilight Overdrive is as good as anything in the Wilco catalog.

Per Jon Pareles, in his album review/profile in the New York Times, he provides some of the backstory:

The way Jeff Tweedy tells it, “Twilight Override” — his new triple album, with 30 songs on three discs — got its start on a road trip.

Tweedy, who leads the long-running band Wilco, was planning a four-hour drive with his two sons, Spencer and Sammy. He decided it was a good occasion to listen all the way through “Sandinista!,” the 1980 triple album by the Clash: a sprawl of brash, style-hopping songs and studio experiments. Soon, the idea of making his own triple album took hold. In a video interview, he jokingly dubbed the new album “Sad-inista.”

A triple album is “counterintuitive,” he said. “By giving somebody a lot of music to luxuriate in, you’re setting up a little barrier. But it’s also for a certain type of listener to be rewarded. And I just thought that it flies in the face of a culture that’s gotten faster, more surface level.”

In a pre-release profile in Pitchfork, Tweedy is quoted:

“When you choose to do creative things, you align yourself with something that other people call God, and when you align yourself with creation, you inherently take a side against destruction. You’re on the side of creation. And that does a lot to quell the impulse to destroy. Creativity eats darkness.”

In interviews, Tweedy has suggested his ideal would be for the listener to consume the entire album in one sitting (that would be just shy of two hours). I have yet to do that, but Twilight Overdrive has been in my primary rotation since its release day (in the car, on bike rides, as background music, and active listening, etc.). So I am certainly luxuriating. With each listen, I am not growing tired of it, nor am I tempted to skip a song, and with every listen, I discover a new favorite song.

The collection is generally more relaxed and mellow compared to a Wilco album. Not sloppy, just casual. It is not entirely acoustic, but acousticish (there is some trademark Tweedy cacophony too). It is how I imagine a song sounds before Wilco, the band, “Wilco’s it up.” You forget that, despite Tweedy’s prominence in Wilco (as lead vocalist, composer, lyricist, and frontman), Wilco is first and foremost a band. Twilight Override has a singer-songwriter vibe that is different than Wilco. I am reminded of John Lennon’s work after the Beatles – a whole other thing.

The more I listen, the more I understand that Tweedy did not intend these songs for Wilco. Twilight Override is just Tweedy, which is very Wilcoish, but different. Twilight Override is performed as a band, but not as Wilco: Tweedy (vocals, guitars, and a variety of instruments), Tweedy’s sons Spenser (on drums, vocals, and a variety of other instruments) and Sammy (keys and vocals), Kids These Days’ Kazar (bass, guitar, piano, and vocals), Finom the singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist duo Sima Cunningham and Macie Stewart (vocals and keys) and English singer-songwriter James Elkington (guitars, mandolin and piano).

I look forward to seeing Jeff Tweedy, with a full band, supporting this album cycle live later this fall at First Avenue in Minneapolis.

My first exposure to HAIM was a late afternoon performance at Lollapalooza in Chicago in 2016. Their 2013 debut, Days Are Gone, was well hyped, but didn’t catch my attention. The live performance was great, and so I checked out Days Are Gone, but I found my reaction was meh (although time has enlightened me – I now see its greatness). Their next album, Something to Tell You (2017), did hook me – “Want You Back” was a banger!

Women in Music Pt. III (2020) was even better– more experimental and quirky (in a good way). I quit (2025) is their best yet, and “Relationships” is their greatest single.

HAIM is a sibling band made up of three Haim sisters, Este (bass guitar and vocals), Danielle (lead vocals, guitar, and drums), and Alana Haim (guitars, keyboards, and vocals). Their Israeli-born father, Mordechai “Moti” Haim, and their American mother Donna, were both musical; though he had been a professional soccer player in Israel, Moti also played drums, while Donna won a contest on The Gong Show in the 1970s, singing a Bonnie Raitt song. The sisters played in various bands, and Danielle was a musician in various touring bands (Jenny Lewis, Julian Casablancas, etc.). In 2012, they released an EP and started gaining traction. They are famously close friends of Taylor Swift. Sibling bands are generally corny, yet when they work, they are sublime. HAIM works. HAIM has a dash of punky mischief, and they come off as if the Beastie Boys were a ’60s girl group – they are brilliantly ridiculous.

Since they first came on the scene, their Fleetwood Mac influence is obvious – something the band admits. I would specifically narrow that down to Lindsey Buckingham. Buckingham is the mad professor in Fleetwood Mac with the ability to create pop perfection and stay weird (and annoying). That is what I see them stealing from Fleetwood Mac: Lindsey Buckingham’s pixie dust. HAIM is on the weird to pop-perfection spectrum, leaning into the rock – despite being pop as AF, they are ultimately a rock band, and this becomes obvious when you see them live.

I quit is a perfection of the sound they have been evolving. It rocks, it’s funky, but also has a singer-songwriter vibe – they remind me of Sheryl Crow in her prime. I recently saw Haim live in Minneapolis, and the I quit songs were prominent in the set list (12 of the 15 songs from the album in a 21-song set). After hearing I quit live, I like it even more.

Margo Price has passed Steven Hyden’s five-album test. The five-album test is an artist or group releasing five consecutive albums ranging from very good to flat-out excellent. Many artists have five good to excellent albums over their career, but very few string five together consecutively. Margo’s five-album run:

1. Midwest Farmer’s Daughter (2016) After years of struggling in Nashville, Margo took her last shot, pawned her car and wedding ring to record the album at Sun Studios in Memphis. She couldn’t get any labels to bite, but somehow convinced Jack White and Third Man Records to release a traditional country album, and she suddenly became an “overnight success.” I said at the time: “With a voice somewhere between Emmy Lou and Dolly and with the pen of Loretta Lynn, Margo Price storms out of a Memphis studio in a Nashville state of mind. This is one hell of a debut.”
2. All American Made (2017) Her Third Man follow-up was solid, I said at the time: “This is no sophomore slump. Midwest Farmer’s Daughter was not the work of a rookie – Price was a mature talent in her early thirties with plenty of life and musical experience when she recorded it. So it is not surprising she has released a solid follow-up.“
3. That’s How Rumors Get Started (2020) – After two albums produced by Matt Ross-Spang, Margo turned to her old buddy Sturgill Simpson to record a rock album. In my original review, I said: “Margo Price does not want to be boxed into a genre. After two magnificent country albums (I mean real country, not Nashville pop) she has released a 70s rock album and it is fantastic! There are so many influences: Stevie Nicks/Fleetwood Mac, the Stones, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, Linda Ronstadt – so many influences that it sounds original. Rather than copying her influences, she has been inspired by them.“
4. Strays and Strays II (2023) – Margo brilliantly went down a psych-rock rabbit hole with Jonathan Wilson (Father John Misty’s producer) and perfected her rock sound into a female Tom Petty. It was perfect.
5. Hard Headed Woman (2025) – Margo returns to her country sound with her original producer, Matt Ross-Spang, recording the album at the legendary RCA Studio A.  Hard Headed Woman might be her best yet!

Per Jeremy Ivey, Margo’s husband and primary musical collaborator, hyping Hard Headed Woman on his Instagram:

“People seem to put so much emphasis on the current authentic no bullshit country revival, but don’t remember how it started. She was one of the ones to put up two middle fingers up and definitely the first woman since the likes of Lorretta Lynn to take a swing at the behind the times male centric universe of country music filled with bigotry and backwards thinking. The Nashville system that for so long has only used women as lustful objects and vapid ornaments. Fuck them! Here’s your villain you weak ass bitches! She’s a hard headed woman and she don’t owe you shit”

Hard Headed Woman track by track:

“Prelude {Hard Headed Woman}” is a brief opener that is based on everything I know about Margo, her elevator speech:

“I’m a hard-headed woman, and I don’t owe you shit
I ain’t ashamed, I just am what I am
And I am high as the heavens
I’m stubborn as hell
I ain’t ashamed, I’m just a hard-headed woman”

“Don’t Let The Bastards Get You Down” is classic Outlaw country. Coming out of Margo’s mouth, this sounds like a Nashville industry survival anthem, but its themes are universal to anyone trying to survive a soul-crushing line of work.

“Red Eye Flight” has a late 70s Emmylou Harris vibe. It combines breakup and traveling – a need to get out of town fast.

“Don’t Wake Me Up” (featuring Jesse Welles) is a song where the narrator would rather live in the dream world than the conscious world: “Don’t wake me up, I ain’t up for that.” Jesse Welles is the perfect male voice to subtly harmonize with Margo. Nice timing, Margo – just as Jesse Welles is having a moment!

“Close To You” has a Lucinda Williams vibe (and Margo namechecks Lu in the lyrics).

“Nowhere Is Where” is a gorgeous traveling song – yet another get out of town song.

“Losing Streak” is a lovely country-rock song that evokes both Dylan and Ryan Adams with universal sentiment: “Peace of mind is hard to find when you’re on a losin’ streak.”

“I Just Don’t Give A Damn” is a George Jones cover done as country funk with Bonnie Raitt sass.

“Keep A Picture” is a sad remembrance of a lover before things went south.

“Love Me Like You Used To Do” (featuring Tyler Childers) is a perfect bittersweet duet dripping with twang. The song was written by Steven Knudson, who appears to be an obscure Nashville Songwriter.

“Wild At Heart” is a lovely up-tempo country song that remembers a better time between a couple.

“Kissing You Goodbye” is an obscure Waylon Jennings song from an equally obscure 1996 Waylon album, Right For The Time. Love the Outlaw humor of the lyric: “So get your tongue out of my mouth, I’m kissing you goodbye.”

“Too Stoned To Cry” (featuring Billy Strings) is a bonus track on the CD edition (but is also available as a single on streaming services). The song was released as a single in September of 2024 and has been out there for a while. Classic country weeper with this chorus:

“There’s whiskey and wine
And pills for the pain
Fast easy women and a little cocaine
I’m walkin’ the line between hell bent and high
I ain’t happy, just too stoned to cry“

As much as I enjoyed Margo’s rock and roll detour, I am happy to have her back in the arms of country – especially her East-Nashville take on the genre which aligns with my alt-country/Americana taste. Great album and will for sure be on my best of 2025.

Sometimes you need to see an artist live in order to get it. For example, seeing Springsteen live at the St. Paul Civic Center in November of 1978. I recently witnessed Waxahatchee live at a music festival and was blown away. Now, when I listen to Tiger’s Blood, I get it.

Waxahatchee is a musical project of singer-songwriter Katie Crutchfield. It started as an acoustic solo project but has evolved into a full band on recordings and in concert. On a paper, Waxahatchee checks a lot of my musical boxes:

• Female singer-songwriter
• Folky/Americana genere
• Crutchfield is an Alabama native, as are some of my favorite musicians (clearly, there is something in the water): Brittany Howard/Alabama Shakes, Jason Isbell, Sun Ra, St. Paul & The Broken Bones, Emmylou Harris, etc.
• She has a distinctive voice like her musical inspiration Lucinda Williams (whose music Crutchfield describes as being “printed on [her] soul”

I am not sure why it took me so long to get into her music, but now I am all in.

Tiger’s Blood has a low-key vibe and a lo-fi aesthetic, but it is the perfect aesthetic for the songs. It has some unique twists like the kick drum and rumbling bass that I can feel in my throat. It has some nice instrumental flourishes like banjo, slide guitar, and harmonica. MJ Lenderman, who is also having a moment in the Americana scene, is all over the record, playing guitars and providing harmony and backup vocals.

The album received acclaim from critics, and it received a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Americana Album. If I had given this album a chance in 2024, it would have been on my best-of list. One of the things I love about music festivals is that they open my ears to artists I would not normally listen to or, as in this case, an artist I had underestimated. I will be digging deeper into the Waxahatchee catalog after falling for Tiger’s Blood.

When the Black Crowes went on hiatus in 2002, Chris Robinson pursued a solo career, releasing New Earth Mud later that year. That is a good album, but its follow-up, This Magnificent Distance, is even better, rivaling the best of the Black Crowes and Robinson’s side project catalogs. Robinson’s primary collaborator for those first two solo albums was British guitarist and producer Paul Stacey, who had done some production work for the Black Crowes before thier hiatus. Stacey’s most high-profile gig was with Oasis. When the Crowes got back together, he served as co-producer (with the rest of the band) for the Crowes’ brilliant reunion album Warpaint (2008). He is a co-writer on most of the songs on This Magnificent Distance and co-produces the album with Robinson.

This Magnificent Distance foreshadows the jam band vibe of the Chris Robinson Brotherhood, blending rock, blues, folk, country, Americana, and soul styles. Robinson is at the top of his game with his songwriting and vocal performance. Stacey’s guitar playing is muscular, but it is focused on serving the song rather than showing off. The Black Crowes and Robinsons’ side projects have never been particularly original; they are contemporary classic rock. The genius of the Crowes and Robinson is thier excellent execution and craft. I get bored hearing the same old classic rock songs, but I love the classic rock format. The Crowes and Robinson write new classic rock, which appeals to my bored ears.

There is not a bad song on the album, but my favorite is “Girl on the Mountain.” Quick takes on each track:

1. “40 Days” is classic Crowes’ style hard rock.
2. “Girl On The Mountain” is gorgeous folk rock psychedelia and could easily be on a Grateful Dead album.
3. “Mother Of Stone” is blissed-out rock that would sound great on a CSNY album.
4. “Train Robbers” is more dreamy psychedelia. Paul Stacey has a fantastic guitar solo.
5. “Like A Tumbleweed In Eden” is a gentle folk rock ballad.
6. “When The Cold Wind Blows At The Dark End Of The Night” is a power ballad with loud/quiet dynamics.
7. “…If You See California” has a sunny acoustic vibe.
8. “The Never Empty Table” is a piano-driven ballad.
9. “Eagles On The Highway” has a nice Americana feel.
10. “Surgical Glove” is an epic rocker with a Dylanesque vibe.
11. “Sea Of Love” is mistakenly listed as the final (12th) song on the CD. It has a heavy riff in the style of Black Sabbath.
12. “Piece Of Wind” is mistakenly listed as the penultimate (11th) song on the CD. It is classic Black Crowes’ swagger. Tracks 11 and 12 are accurately listed on streaming services.

This is one of my favorite albums in the Black Crowes/Chris Robinson catalog. It has a strong Southern California/Laurel Canyon vibe. I assume Robinson was in marital bliss with his actress wife, Kate Hudson, as there are a lot of love songs here. Highly recommended.

My introduction to Bruce Springsteen was Darkness On The Edge Of Town in the summer of 1978. I had a summer job at a window-washing company headquartered in North Minneapolis. As I commuted to and from work, the radio played songs from the album frequently. On November 29, 1978, a buddy in the dorm and I decided at the last minute to attend Bruce’s show at the Saint Paul Civic Center. The epic performance we witnessed blew me away.

The next day, I went to a record store and bought Greetings From Ashbury Park, N.J., because it was his first album, had a cool cover, and it had two hit songs (for the Manfred Mann’s Earth Band) I liked: “Blinded by the Light” and “Spirit in the Night.” When I returned to my room, I dropped the needle on Greetings From Ashbury Park, N.J. and was disappointed. This was nothing like what I heard the night before. “Blinded by the Light” and “Spirit in the Night” were like Manfred Mann, but not as good. A few days later, I bought Darkness, and it was closer to the live performance, but it still disappointed. I grew to love Darkness over the next few months, but it was not the live show. Several years later, when Born In The U.S.A. was the best-selling album of 1985, topping the charts in nine countries, including the U.S., and transforming Springsteen into a worldwide superstar, I still pined for the energy of that live show on vinyl—seeing the opening night of Born In The U.S.A. Tour in the summer of 1984 (also at the Saint Paul Civic Center) strengthened the desire.

Finally, in November of 1986, Live 1975–85 was released. I wasn’t the only one waiting; the album generated advance orders of more than 1.5 million copies, making it the largest dollar-value pre-order at the time. It was a 40-song behemoth released as a box set of five vinyl records, three cassettes, or three CDs. There was also an exclusive record club release of three 8-track cartridges. I had recently bought a CD player and bought the CD version. It was everything I hoped; the live magic had been captured. I only had a handful of CDs in 1986, so I played Live 1975–85 a lot.

Fast-forward to now, and I went to the RockNRoll Music Sale—a used vinyl and CD garage sale that Jeffery Larson hosts a few times a year out of his home in Maple Grove (a suburb of Minneapolis, Minnesota). I started crate digging and was gobsmacked to find a vinyl edition of Live 1975–85 in excellent condition for $25! Wow!

It turns out Live 1975–85 is not particularly valuable—on Discogs, the range is $19 to $115. But that has not tempered my joy, as I have long regretted not buying the vinyl vs. CD. Plus, Tracks II has rejuvenated my Springsteen fandom.

I have not listened to this album in at least 30 years. Listening to it now brings me back to that night in 1978 and an equally epic opening night of the Born In The U.S.A. Tour. I am impressed: the sonics are excellent, and the mix is clear, yet this is the antithesis of a studio album. I have heard a lot of live records, and this one is special.

Springsteen took a unique approach to this collection. It is not a single show, it is not even cherry-picked from a single tour; it is drawn from fifteen concerts at eight venues between 1975 and 1985. It is a “best of Bruce” from that time and includes songs from his albums, songs he penned for others, and four cover songs. Despite the diversity of concerts that the album was drawn from (the 500-capacity Roxy to the Giants’ football stadium), the collection feels like a single concert. The 3.5 hours of music are not unusual for a Springsteen concert. Songs are generally grouped by a single show rather than by album.

Once I had this collection, I was able to relax and appreciate the studio albums. I became a Bruce Tramp. After Live 1975–85, dozens of live Springsteen performances have been made available, but ironically, I have ignored most of them. This is the only live Springsteen you need.

Postscript: My wife and I have collected dozens of concert and promo posters over the years. We have them mounted rather than framed at Posters On Board (POB) in Richfield, Minnesota. I am pretty sure the Live 1975–85 promo poster was the first we had mounted at POB.

This collection is for serious Bruce Springsteen fans. It is 83 tracks (nearly five and a half hours) of mostly previously unreleased music. Unlike Tracks I (1998), which was a collection of unreleased songs, this is a collection of seven unreleased albums.

Catchgroove’s quick take: This collection does not revise Springsteen’s career arc, but it does fill in some blanks and satisfies my craving to hear music that has been rumored over the years. It is a satisfying listen that rivals other major archival projects by my favorite artists (e.g., Bob Dylan, Prince, Wilco, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, etc.). What I really like about the project is its diversity and that it reveals Springsteen’s musical curiosity.

Let’s start with what Bruce’s PR machine is saying. Per Bruce’s website/store:

TRACKS II: THE LOST ALBUMS are seven unheard Bruce Springsteen records made between 1983–2018. Featuring 82 previously unreleased songs, Tracks II: The Lost Albums fill in chapters of Springsteen’s expansive career timeline, while offering invaluable insight into his life and work as an artist. “The Lost Albums were full records, some of them even to the point of being mixed and not released,” said Springsteen. “I’ve played this music to myself and often close friends for years now. I’m glad you’ll get a chance to finally hear them. I hope you enjoy them.” From the lo-fi exploration of LA Garage Sessions ’83, serving as a crucial link between Nebraska and Born in the U.S.A., to the drum loop and synthesizer sounds of Streets of Philadelphia Sessions. Tracks II: The Lost Albums offers unprecedented context to 35 prolific years of Springsteen’s songwriting and home recording. “The ability to record at home whenever I wanted allowed me to go into a wide variety of different musical directions,” Springsteen explained. Throughout the set, that sonic experimentation takes the form of film soundtrack work (for a movie that was never made) on Faithless, country combos with pedal steel on Somewhere North of Nashville, richly woven border tales on Inyo, orchestra-driven, mid-century noir on Twilight Hours and E Street favored rock on Perfect World.  Tracks II: The Lost Albums is available in limited-edition nine-LP and seven-CD formats, including original packaging for each previously unreleased record, with a 100-page cloth-bound, hardcover book featuring rare archival photos, liner notes on each lost album from essayist Erik Flannigan and a personal introduction on the project from Springsteen himself.

Springsteen has a 17-minute video explaining the project:

One of my favorite music writers, Steven Hyden, has a great review and profile of the project at The Ringer.

I will comment on each of the “albums” in the collection.

ALBUM #1: L.A. Garage Sessions ’83 is the missing link between Nebraska and Born In The U.S.A. Springsteen fans are well aware of the gap and juxtaposition between Nebraska (released in September 1982) and Born In The U.S.A. (released in June 1984). After a decade of toiling and an upward trajectory that resulted in a number-one album, The River (1980), and an epic year-long tour in support of it, Bruce was trying to figure out his next artistic chapter. He recorded solo demos in his bedroom and decided to release them as is (rather than record them in a commercial studio with the E Street Band) under the name Nebraska. This was pretty mindblowing at the time – not the kind of thing a major rockstar would do on thier upward trajectory. It seemed like a side project, yet it opened up a new way of working for Springsteen. He learned that he could compose and record at home at his own whim. No need to book an expensive studio, manage the team (recording staff and band), and, most importantly, schedule his creativity. This would impact his record-making for the rest of his career.

As soon as he was done with Nebraska, he proceeded to record most of Born In The U.S.A. but had self-doubt about releasing what he could see was going to be a pop phenomenon. So he toiled in his L.A. home studio to create something more fleshed out than Nebraska, but not as over-the-top as Born In The U.S.A. L.A. Garage Sessions ’83 was the result. In the end, he shelved this and put out Born In The U.S.A., and as they say, the rest is history. This is a fascinating chapter in Bruce’s career – numerous books have been written about this period, and a biopic focused on this period is in the works (Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere, with The Bear’s Jeremy Allen White playing Bruce). For true fans, L.A. Garage Sessions ’83 has been available on bootlegs, but for the rest of us, Tracks II is a chance to finally discover what Bruce was thinking in anticipation of the biggest album of his career.

L.A. Garage Sessions ’83 are low-fi and sound like demos, just like Nebraska, but with more fleshed-out instrumentation than Nebraska. I find this low-fi presentation distracting; I wish that these songs had been finished by the E Street Band in a proper studio. Whereas the austere instrumentation of Nebraska allowed you to focus on the songs. All the same, it is nice to have this batch of songs, and there are some gems here.

Unfortunately, there is no “Electric Nebraska” that is rumored to exist (the E Street Band versions I am pining for) – maybe we will get that on Tracks III (a follow-up collection that Bruce has teased). My guess is that the E Street Band only recorded a handful of the Nebraska and L.A. Garage Sessions songs, and thus, there was not a whole album of material to release in the spirit of the Tracks II project.

Sidebar: My introduction to Bruce Springsteen was KQ (a Twin Cities FM radio station) hyping his new album, Darkness on the Edge of Town, in the summer of 1978, as I drove to and from my window washing job in North Minneapolis. It hooked me enough that later that year, I hitchhiked from college (the College of St Thomas) to the St. Paul Civic Center Arena on November 29, 1978, to witness the Darkness on the Edge of Town tour. I was blown away by the show – a standout among the hundreds I have attended. It converted me to become a fan of the Boss. I was late to the Springsteen party (Darkness was his fourth album and his first after appearing on the covers of Time and Newsweek) – he was already a big deal at this point. But I have made up for it over the last four decades, keeping up with new releases and archival releases.

ALBUM #2: Streets of Philadelphia Sessions is the long-rumored drum loops album, a further exploration of the electronica sound of the Oscar-winning song “Streets of Philadelphia.” This album was recorded from 1993 to 1994.

One of the things I never realized about Bruce until this Tracks II project is how self-aware and deliberate he is about the narrative of his career. One of the things that has been bugging him for years is the perception that the 1990s was a lost decade for him. Some of his motivation for Tracks II was to correct the narrative. He wants everyone to know he was productive during the decade, and the Streets of Philadelphia Sessions is Exhibit Number One.

For me, this is the strongest lost album in the Tracks II collection. I loved the moody and dreamy atmosphere of “Streets of Philadelphia” when it came out. That Bruce sound has been hugely influential – The War On Drugs has made a career of it.

We will never know, but I think this would have been an artistically and commercially successful album if it had come out in 1995. However, Bruce decided to focus instead on his Greatest Hits album, which was a huge commercial success, and this album was set aside until now.

ALBUM #3: Faithless is the commissioned soundtrack to a movie that never got made, recorded between 2005 and 2006. This is the least satisfying of the seven albums. It is a combination of lyrical songs and instrumental music. This is not a bad album; it simply isn’t resonating with me.

ALBUM #4: Somewhere North of Nashville is Bruce’s stab at country and rockabilly music. It was recorded in 1995, concurrently with the sessions for The Ghost of Tom Joad. The fact that those two projects were happening simultaneously (Joad in the daytime and Nashville at night) is mind-blowing. Joad is stark and dark, whereas Nashville is rowdy and playful. Would Nashville have been a hit in the Grunge and Garth era? It’s hard to say, but the music is enjoyable, and the style suits Bruce well. I like that Bruce sings like Bruce. No country music affectations. He makes it his own. This is an excellent record, and I’m surprised he didn’t release it in the ’90s. Exhibit Number Two in the 90s was not a Springsteen wasteland argument.

ALBUM #5: Inyo is a companion to Joad, inspired by the culture of Mexican immigrants in the American Southwest, and appears to have been recorded during the Ghost of Tom Joad tour (1995–1997). It is a timely album in 2025. Although it features Mexican themes and music, this doesn’t sound like cultural appropriation; it’s simply Springsteen’s continued fascination with ordinary working men and women. Mexican influence on American culture is significant, and it seems only natural that Springsteen would be drawn to it. Despite the Mexican themes, this sounds remarkably like a Springsteen album. It is just as much a love letter to Southern California as it is about Mexican American culture. Inyo is Exhibit Number Three that the ’90s were not a Springsteen wasteland.

I went back to The Ghost of Tom Joad in light of how much I like Somewhere North of Nashville and Inyo. Joad never resonated with me, and my recollection was that it had starker arrangements. Returning to it in the context of Nashville and Inyo, Joad is a more energetic and enjoyable album than I recall. But I like Nashville and Inyo more than Joad.

ALBUM #6: Twilight Hours is a companion to 2019’s Western Stars, recorded between 2010 and 2011 and 2017 and 2018 during the Western Stars sessions. Western Stars was Bruce’s attempt at recreating the ’60s pop aesthetic of Burt Bacharach and Jimmy Webb. Bruce said Western Stars was his Jimmy Webb and Glen Campbell album, and Twilight Hours is his Burt Bacharach album.  Western Stars was Bruce dipping his toe in the water, and Twilight Hours is the full body plunge. Only “There Goes Miracle” on Western Stars sounds like Twilight Hours.

I grew up on the sounds of Jimmy Webb and Burt Bacharach, so I can understand why a pop musician a decade older than me would be intrigued by this music. I fully appreciate Webb and Bacharach. In case you don’t know these songwriters, here are some huge songs in thier catalogs:

• Jimmy Webb is one of America’s most acclaimed songwriters – here are a few of his hits:
  • “Up, Up and Away” The 5th Dimension
  • “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” Johnny Rivers and Glen Campbell
  • “MacArthur Park” Richard Harris
  • “Wichita Lineman” Glen Campbell
  • “Worst That Could Happen” 5th Dimension
  • “Galveston” Glen Campbell
  • “All I Know” Art Garfunkel
  • “The Highwayman” The Highwaymen
• Burt Bacharach wrote fifty-two US Top 40 hits, including:
  • “This Guy’s in Love with You” Herb Alpert, 1968
  • “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head” BJ Thomas, 1969
  • “(They Long to Be) Close to You” Carpenters
  • “Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do)” Christopher Cross
  • “That’s What Friends Are For” (Dionne Warwick, 1986),

I re-listened to my vinyl copy of Western Stars, and it’s great, but Bruce is still Bruce. On Twilight Hours, he becomes a new character. Bruce takes this assignment seriously, evident in his songwriting, lush arrangements, and his crooning vocal performance. He leans over the precipice of Shmaltz but never falls off that cliff. Bruce, as a crooner, works better than I would have ever expected. This version of Bruce, despite my familiarity with Western Stars, is a pleasant surprise. This is not a typical rock star playing around with the American songbook. This is clearly an obsession. This album is the most pleasant surprise in the collection.

ALBUM #7: Perfect World is the one non-album track in the collection; it is a compilation of odds and ends from the E Street Band recordings from 1994 to 2011. I am not sure why Bruce didn’t save this for Tracks III, but after all the experimentation on the previous six albums of Tracks II, it’s nice to have some comfort food for dessert.

Conclusion: Typically, recording artist focus their archival releases on a specific era, but Bruce has taken a different approach: filling in the blanks from over three decades. Springsteen has stated that he did not release these albums at the time he recorded them because he did not feel they were essential. There must have been some dissatisfaction with them, causing him to leave them on the shelf. One of the benefits of the COVID pandemic was that several artists were motivated by thier boredom to create new work or excavate their archives. I am grateful for Bruce’s COVID boredom, as we have Tracks II to show for it. When Bruce came on the scene in the early 70s, he was touted as a new Dylan (many artists were struck with this curse, and Bruce is one of the few who was not smothered by it). I am a big Dylan fan and never recognized the comparison. But Tracks II is outright Dylanesque: the shape-shifting, the use of Dylan tropes (both acoustic and electric), the fascination with “old music” and the habit of leaving some of his best work in the can. Tracks II is my favorite release of 2025 so far.

Formats: The album was released in four formats: CD ($300), Vinyl ($360), lo-fi streaming (e.g., Spotify), and hi-fi streaming (most of the material is 24-bit/96 kHz FLAC, and the rest are 24-bit/44.1 kHz FLAC). The physical versions are nicely packaged (gatefold jackets, original art, etc.) with a 100-page coffee table book with liner notes and photos. I have been consuming it via hi-fi streaming (Tidal) and vinyl. There is also a single CD/double vinyl LP sampler (Lost And Found: Selections From The Lost Albums).

I tried my best to resist purchasing the vinyl, but I finally gave in, as this is my favorite release of 2025 so far, and so I couldn’t stop myself. The first LP I played was Twilight Hours, and it sounds fantastic – its retro sound is even better in analog. All the vinyl pressings sound great.

The price point on this package is steep. I judge a box set’s pricing by the number of discs it contains. In today’s market, a new single vinyl LP typically costs between $25 and $40, while a single CD is usually priced under $20. Tracks II is $40 per LP and $43 per CD, so it’s on the high end, particularly with the CD edition, which seems overpriced. That being said, I have no regrets procuring this collection on vinyl.