The Collection 1973-84

This eight-disc box set includes the first seven albums by Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, from 1973's Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. through 1984's Born in the U.S.A. (The River, having been a double album, is on two of the discs here). The individual CDs are packaged in LP mini sleeves. While The River, Greetings from Asbury Park, and Born to Run were originally released on LP with gatefold sleeves, only The River gets that treatment here. Also troubling is that there are no individual booklets, just one that comes inside the set that details credits and photographs of the front covers. It is unclear whether or not these are indeed remastered versions or simply the existing masters repackaged, and there is no bonus material. The price tag is the most attractive thing about the box, which usually retails for between $40 and $45. While Born to Run and Darkness on the Edge of Town have been given deluxe packaging with loads of extras, the rest of these titles were only released in Japan as remasters.