plus: Journey [ tickets ], Guided by Voices [ tickets ], “Now Vol. 6” and more.

Bruce Springsteen [ tickets ] and the E Street Band--whose 1999-2000 tour was the group’s first in more than a decade--will release “Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band: Live in New York City” (Columbia) this week. The 2-CD set features 20 songs recorded during the band’s 10-night stand at Madison Square Garden last summer.

“Live in New York City” is the audio companion to an upcoming Springsteen concert special that is scheduled to air on HBO on April 7. The disc contains 14 songs that will appear in the broadcast, as well as six additional tracks.

When news of the live album first surfaced in February, the track listing featured a total of 19 songs, including the new tracks “Land of Hope and Dreams” and “American Skin (41 Shots).” Since that time, a live rendition of the group’s classic “Born to Run” has been added to both the album and the HBO concert special.

A downloadable version of “Born to Run”--as well as streaming-audio samples of five additional tracks from “Live in New York City”--are currently available on Springsteen’s official website. The download is being offered until April 7.

Old school rappers Run-DMC return to the scene this week with “Crown Royal” (Profile/Arista). The album is the rap outfit’s first release since 1993’s “Down with the King.”

Ten of “Crown Royal”’s 12 tracks feature guest appearances; among the contributors are Kid Rock, Everlast, Fred Durst (Limp Bizkit), Nas and Prodigy (Mobb Deep), and Method Man. The album’s track "Rock Show"--which features Third Eye Blind singer Stephen Jenkins--is currently available as a streaming audio track via Run D.M.C.’s official website.

Run-DMC--whose self-titled debut was released in 1983--is widely regarded as one of the pioneering acts of the rap genre. The trio--featuring rappers Joseph “Run” Simmons and Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, and DJ Jason “Jam Master Jay” Mizell--was the first rap outfit to win a Grammy Award, and was also the first rap act to score a gold (1983’s “Run D.M.C.”), platinum (1985’s “King of Rock”) and multi-platinum (1986’s “Raising Hell”) album, according to Arista.

The group’s most commercially successful disc--the triple-platinum certified “Raising Hell”--featured a remake of the classic Aerosmith tune “Walk This Way,” a collaboration between the rappers and Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and Joe Perry that became a Top 10 hit. The song is viewed by many critics as a formative event in the prominent rap-rock genre.

Journey [ tickets ], best known for its work in the early-‘80s, is making a go at it in the new millennium with this week’s “Arrival” (Columbia). The disc features original members Neil Schon (guitar) and Ross Valory (bass), longtime member Jonathan Cain and new singer Steve Augieri.

Augieri replaced Journey’s best-known vocalist, Steve Perry, following the release of the group’s 1996 album “Trial by Fire.” His voice was featured on “Remember Me,” a single that the group contributed to the 1998 soundtrack for the film “Armageddon.”

According to an label press release, the original version of “Arrival” was leaked to Napster shortly after it was completed. Schon explained in a press release that the fan reaction led to some changes.

"The thousands of Journey fans who downloaded the album on Napster were giving it great reviews,” said Schon, “but they were all clamoring for more rock songs on the record. [We] went back to Columbia and told them we were going to add on more rock tracks to the record--and we did!"

Streaming-audio samples of the “Arrival” tracks “Higher Place” and “All the Way” are currently available on Journey’s official website.

An extensive summer tour behind “Arrival” is scheduled to kick off in early June.

Ohio-based rock act Guided by Voices [ tickets ] offers up “Isolation Drills” (TVT) this week, the follow-up to 1999’s “Do the Collapse.” Windows Media downloads of the new tracks “Chasing Heather Crazy” and “Glad Girls” are currently available on the group’s official website.

Fronted by group founder Robert Pollard, Guided by Voices is in the midst of a tour.

The latest incarnation of the successful “Now That’s What I Call Music” series of compilation albums--this one being “Vol. 6” (Epic)--surfaces this week, featuring the expected amalgam of proven hits from artists such as Shaggy, J. Lo, ‘NSync, Lenny Kravitz, Backstreet Boys and U2.