High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Essential Bruce Springsteen is a compilation album by Bruce Springsteen, released on 11 November 2003. The collection is part of a series of Essential sets released by Sony BMG (previously Sony Music Entertainment). Per liner notes comments by Springsteen, the collection was intended as an introduction to his music for new fans who attended shows on The Rising Tour; hence, it includes songs from every Springsteen album since his debut. The album was available as a 2-disc set and, later, as a limited edition 3-disc set; for the latter, the third disc contained a selection of rarities and previously unreleased recordings.