Music reviews: Bruce Springsteen and Benson Boone

'Tracks II: The Lost Albums' by Bruce Springsteen

★★★★

Bruce Springsteen's Tracks II delivers a "huge, almost entirely unknown" collection of songs that reveal the "pensive, occasionally rowdy" musical explorations that the Boss set aside, said Jon Pareles in The New York Times. Recorded between 1983 and 2018, six of these "lost" albums delve into distinct styles: low-fi, country, Mexican ranchera, retro pop. The seventh, Perfect World, is "a ringer," compiling tunes Springsteen wrote to give "longtime fans the meaty rock" they expected of him. "Rain in the River," a stomping murder ballad, offers "some of the most primal vocals of his entire catalog."

There's never been an archival project to match the "crazed ambition" of Tracks II, said Rob Sheffield in Rolling Stone. Each of the seven albums "is a moment in time, a story on its own," and the "whole damn thing is a treasure trove." The standout is Inyo, a portrait of California's badlands, written as Springsteen drove through the Yosemite and Death Valley regions in the late 1990s. "Set in border towns, desert roads, and aqueducts," they frequently owe a heavy debt to Mexican norteño music. In fact, Springsteen hits his highest points "when he goes full mariachi" on songs like "Adelita" and "The Lost Charro."

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I would never want to tell Springsteen that he was wrong, but the music on the Streets of Philadelphia Sessions is of "such high caliber" that he should have released it, said Keith Cameron in Mojo. Fan lore refers to it as his "hip-hop album," "loops album," or "electronica album." Recorded at the same time as Springsteen's Oscar-winning single, the unreleased tracks gained "mythical status simply from the fact that no one had heard" them. Springsteen worried that he had gone too far afield for his core fans, but with the hindsight of three decades, it's clear that "this is not the sound of commercial suicide but an artist reconnecting with the pure motives that always drove his greatest work."

'American Heart' by Benson Boone

★★

With his sophomore album American Heart, Benson Boone is out to prove "he's more than a singing mustache who does backflips," said Chris Richards in The Washington Post. Not only must he live up to the mega-hit "Beautiful Things," which notched more than 70 weeks near the top of the charts, he also has to live down his wacky style and mid-song gymnastics. While he possesses a "voice made of elastic and caramel," he largely uses it to channel the "acrobatics of Bruno Mars, the roguishness of Olivia Rodrigo, and the sogginess of Hozier." Mix in some Freddie Mercury and "a spritz of perspiration from an '80s aerobics class" and that's pretty much it. There's clearly a "sharp mind behind that moisturized mustache," but it doesn't have much to say. "Like an episode of American Idol, every damn thing here reminds you of someone who made a splash beforehand," said Craig Jenkins in Vulture. Whenever Boone is willing to ask more than "What if a Pat Benatar song were also an Imagine Dragons song?" he'll be a formidable force in pop.