Just in case you missed the first chance to listen to Bruce Springsteen's upcoming album before it was officially released, your second chance is now happening. CBS began featuring a stream of High Hopes on Sunday night as part of Springsteen's tie-in to television show The Good Wife.
The album features a collection of tracks that that were either left off of previous Springsteen records, covers that have been performed live, or new versions of previous Boss classics. Three songs made their "debuts" Sunday Night, including a retake on "The Ghost of Tom Joad," and "Hunter of Invisible Game," a track that based on our first listen, is among the highlights on High Hopes. Producer Ron Aniello is one to agree.
"This is the story of what he's not willing to put on albums because they don't fit," he said while summing up the album for Rolling Stone. "They just didn't fit the particular story he was telling for each album. The first time I heard 'Hunter of Invisible Game' I thought, 'My God, this is one of your greats.' He went, 'Yeah, it just never quite fit.' That's the story of the record. So I'm not sure how fans are going to react, but it's a great Bruce record. It's a great rock & roll record. The fact they're older songs doesn't detract from the brilliance of the record."
Springsteen got the aforementioned first chance to hear the album early when Amazon briefly, and supposedly "accidentally," leaked the the mp3 version for sale last week. The site removed the product after a few hours, but not before it could be uploaded online by those who managed to purchase it early. Now however you can listen to it free, and legally.
