Album of the Day

Intersections [1985-2005], by Bruce Hornsby: With several studio albums, scads of live work, and lots of collaborations under his belt, it was only natural for Bruce to cobble together a pretty neat boxed set. Disc 1, jokingly titled "Top 90 Time," covers the "hits," but often in versions very different from what ended up on the radio. The 15-minute solo piano version of "The Way It Is" that starts things off sets the tone. Disc 2 focuses on solo work, collaborations (with, among others, Branford Marsalis, The Grateful Dead, and The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band), and film songs. It's also got a live version of "Crown of Jewels," recorded at a concert I attended. Discs 3 & 4 are titled "By Request," cataloging fan and artist favs. A decent amount of those discs are live versions, but not as many as I'd hoped for. Still, it's a cool way to round things out and makes a nice compliment to Here Come the Noisemakers. There's also a DVD full of music videos and assorted live performances. If you're in any way a fan of Bruce's latter-day work, you want this set.