18 Tracks

1	Growin' Up 2:38
2	Seaside Bar Song 3:33
3	Rendezvous 2:48
4	Hearts of Stone 4:29
5	Where the Bands Are 3:43
6	Loose Ends 4:00
7	I Wanna Be With You 3:21
8	Born In The U.S.A. Demo Version 3:10
9	My Love Will Not Let You Down 4:24
10	Lion's Den 2:18
11	Pink Cadillac 3:33
12	Janey, Don't You Lose Heart 3:24
13	Sad Eyes 3:47
14	Part Man, Part Monkey 4:28
15	Trouble River previously unreleased / Bonus Track 4:18
16	Brothers Under The Bridge 4:55
17	The Fever previously unreleased / Bonus Track 7:35
18	The Promise previously unreleased / Bonus Track 4:48

Barnes & Noble

As masterful at marketing his mystique as he is at testifying to the transformative powers of rock, Bruce Springsteen has unveiled 18 TRACKS, a low-budget alternative to TRACKS, the 1998 four-CD set of previously unreleased material whose running time was clearly set by a star who performs until even the audience is tired. The single-disc incarnation collects such key tunes as an unplugged "Born in the U.S.A." and the should-have-been-a-hit "Where the Bands Are." But what makes 18 TRACKS essential are the three "new" songs: the reggae-flavored "Part Man, Part Monkey," the soulful "Fever," and, most of all, "The Promise," a holy grail for bootleg-collecting die-hards who cried foul when it wasn't included in the box. It's as good as they say: a haunting, plaintive song about faith, hope, and the way the music business can crush the soul of a bright-eyed boy from Jersey. The fact that it will sell copies of this album to Springsteen true believers who already shelled out the cash for the box set barely diminishes its power at all. Robert Levine

All Music Guide

18 Tracks is a single-disc distillation of 1998's four-CD box set Tracks, the superb retrospective assembling unreleased material spanning the breadth of Bruce Springsteen's storied career; also featuring three previously unissued songs, this new, streamlined release is a frustration from both a critical and consumer standpoint. The issue of record company greed aside, the greatest disservice is actually to those listeners who buy the disc as a substitute for the full Tracks box; each of its 66 cuts is an invaluable addition to the Springsteen songbook, so even casual fans need the complete package to discover lost classics like "Thundercrack," "Give the Girl a Kiss," "Wages of Sin," and "The Wish" -- just 18 of these gems are simply not enough. Which means, then, that 18 Tracks is ultimately most essential for those hardcore fans who already shelled out for most of the material in question anyway; and though it's appalling to force the devoted to buy a full-length album for just three new songs, at least each is excellent, in particular longtime fan favorites "The Fever" and "The Promise" (the latter newly recorded for inclusion here). Jason Ankeny