The enraged debate surrounding the high price of the deluxe three-CD version of this release — which, for all that it contains an extra disc of rarities and a book, is both scandalous (£90-£120) and might encourage fans to download the tracks illegally — is in danger of overshadowing the riches on offer among the 27 songs on the lower-priced version (and small wonder).

Only two discs were sent out to reviewers.

The most anticipated and/or revelatory songs are surely the eight-minute Red River Shore, an unreleased gem from the Time out of Mind sessions; a definitive Oh Mercy-era version of Born in Time; two breathtaking cuts of Mississippi, also from the Time out of Mind sessions, the first stripped back to the point of unbearable vulnerability, the second somehow at once careworn and heartfelt. It’s tempting to knock off a star for that outrageous RRP, but there are so many jewels here — ’Cross the Green Mountain, from Gods and Generals, the 2003 television epic about the American civil war; the piano demo of Dignity; Miss the Mississippi, from the star-crossed David Bromberg sessions in 1992; and the bruised and almost structureless Dreamin’ of You, whose lyrics, as so often, were later raided or developed on other songs — that anything less than five would be a scandal too.

Columbia 88697357952 (2 CDs)

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