Springsteen 'Darkness on the Edge of Town' Box Set Confirmed for November

Talked-about since last year, Columbia Records has confirmed the release of Bruce Springsteen's The Promise: The Darkness On The Edge of Town Story as CD/DVD and CD/Blu-Ray Box sets November 16.  
Both versions of the box set include three CDs and three DVDs or Blu-ray discs, containing previously unseen studio and live footage, 21 previously unreleased songs an 80-page notebook and also the Tom Zimny documentary set to debut September 14 at the Toronto Film Festival and on HBO October 7. 

The video discs feature nearly six hours of footage including the entire performance from 1978 in Houston, Texas during the "Darkness Tour." The notebook in the package contains facsimiles from Springsteen's original notebooks from the recording sessions, which include alternate lyrics, song ideas, recording details,  personal notes, a new essay by Springsteen and never-before-seen photos. 
The set will also be available as The Promise - only the unheard complete songs on two CDs or four LPs, along with lyrics and the new essay by Springsteen.

The Deluxe Package includes Darkness on the Edge of Town, digitally remastered for the first time. While the set doesn't come in time for the 30th anniversary of the album - that would've have been 2008 - it's still a treasure trove of riches for Springsteen fans.  It must have been difficult to decide on which complete Darkness tour show to feature in the package. While the radio broadcast recordings from the Roxy in Los Angeles, Winterland in San Francisco, Capitol Theater in Passaic, New Jersey and Agoura in Cleveland have all circulated for years as bootlegs on LP, cassette tape and CD, with parts of the Roxy show turning up on Springsteen's box set of live material in 1986, the Houston show is not quite as well known and should make for quite and extra treat. 
'Darkness was my 'samurai' record," Springsteen writes in his essay, "stripped to the frame and ready to rumble...But the music that got left behind was substantial." While CD 1 features the original album remastered, CD 2 and 3 feature those great lost songs - many fan favorites now, such as a rock version of the ballad "Racing in the Street," the never-before-released original recordings of "Because the Night," "Fire," and "Rendezvous," a cover of The Supremes' "Someday (We'll Be Together)," as well as  "The Brokenhearted,"  "Breakaway," and a fully orchestrated versuib if the box set's title song "The Promise." All 21 songs were mixed by Springsteen's long-time collaborator Bob Clearmountain. 
Springsteen notes those songs "Perhaps could have/should have been released after Born To Run and before the collection of songs that Darkness on the Edge of Town became."
DVD 1 contains the documentary The Promise: The Making of "Darkness On The Edge of Town" directed by Grammy- and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Thom Zimny. The 90-minute film combines never-before-seen footage of Springsteen and the E Street Band shot between 1976 and 1978 -including home rehearsals and studio sessions - and new interviews with Springsteen, E Street Band members, manager Jon Landau, former-manager Mike Appel, and others  involved in the making of the record. 
DVD 2 features footage of Springsteen and the E Street Band's 2009 complete performance of 'Darkness on the Edge of Town' at The Paramount Theater in Asbury Park, New Jersey as they prepared to play the entire album some nights during the final leg of their U.S. tour. It's followed by various numbers shot live in 1976 and 1978 from the Thrill Hill Vault.
DVD 3 spotlights "The Bootleg House Cut"  (footage that appeared on-screen at the concert) from the 1978 Houston show.

Tracklists: 


CD 1: REMASTERED 'DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN'
1. Badlands
2. Adam Raised A Cain
3. Something In The Night
4. Candy's Room
5. Racing In The Street
6. The Promised Land
7. Factory
8. Streets Of Fire
9. Prove It All Night
10. Darkness On The Edge Of Town


CD 2: THE PROMISE (DISC 1)
1. Racing In The Street ('78)
2. Gotta Get That Feeling
3. Outside Looking In
4. Someday (We'll Be Together)
5. One Way Street
6. Because The Night
7. Wrong Side Of The Street
8. The Brokenhearted
9. Rendezvous
10. Candy's Boy


CD 3: THE PROMISE (DISC 2)
1. Save My Love
2. Ain't Good Enough For You
3. Fire
4. Spanish Eyes
5. It's A Shame
6. Come On (Let's Go Tonight)
7. Talk To Me
8. The Little Things (My Baby Does)
9. Breakaway
10. The Promise
11. City Of Night


DVD 1: "THE PROMISE: THE MAKING OF 'DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN'"




DVD 2: 
DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN (PARAMOUNT THEATER, ASBURY PARK, NJ, 2009)
1. Badlands
2. Adam Raised A Cain
3. Something In The Night
4. Candy's Room
5. Racing In The Street
6. The Promised Land
7. Factory
8. Streets Of Fire
9. Prove It All Night
10. Darkness On The Edge Of Town


THRILL HILL VAULT (1976-1978)
1. Save My Love (Holmdel, NJ 76)
2. Candy's Boy (Holmdel, NJ 76)
3. Something In The Night (Red Bank, NJ 76)
4. Don't Look Back (NYC 78)
5. Ain't Good Enough For You (NYC 78)
6. The Promise (NYC 78)
7. Candy's Room Demo (NYC 78)
8. Badlands (Phoenix 78)
9. The Promised Land (Phoenix 78)
10. Prove It All Night (Phoenix 78)
11. Born To Run (Phoenix 78)
12. Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) (Phoenix 78)


DVD 3: HOUSTON '78 BOOTLEG: HOUSE CUT
1. Badlands
2. Streets Of Fire
3. It's Hard To Be A Saint In The City
4. Darkness On The Edge Of Town
5. Spirit In The Night
6. Independence Day
7. The Promised Land
8. Prove It All Night
9. Racing In The Street
10. Thunder Road
11. Jungleland
12. The Ties That Bind
13. Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
14. The Fever
15. Fire
16. Candy's Room
17. Because The Night
18. Point Blank
19. She's The One
20. Backstreets
21. Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
22. Born To Run
23. Detroit Medley
24. Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
25. You Can't Sit Down
26. Quarter To Three



Bruce Springsteen - "The Promise: The Making of 'Darkness on the Edge of Town'" Sneak Peek from Columbia Records on Vimeo.