Nebraska ’82: Expanded Edition

Nebraska, Springsteen’s first intentional non-commercial album, was a brilliant mistake.

Nebraska is the sixth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen, released on September 30, 1982, through Columbia Records. Springsteen recorded the songs unaccompanied on a four-track recorder in the bedroom of his home in Colts Neck, New Jersey. He had intended to rerecord the tracks with the E Street Band but decided to release them as they were after the full-band renditions were deemed unsatisfactory. The tape contained seventeen songs, of which ten were used for Nebraska; the others appeared in full-band renditions on the follow-up album Born in the U.S.A. (1984) or as B-sides.

My original copy was purchased on release day.

When Nebraska came out, I was a pretty big Springsteen fan, and I appreciated that he chose to take a career detour. Over time, Nebraska’s backstory became a vital chapter in Springsteen’s biography. Big enough to warrant books* and, recently, a biopic (Deliver Me from Nowhere). The quick story is that Bruce was seriously questioning whether he wanted to take his career to the next level. He was confident that he had new songs that could push him to the stratosphere (e.g., the song “Born In The U.S.A.”). He paused to try on the role of a simple folk musician for size. He got that out of his system and decided to go for the brass ring with the Born In The U.S.A. album and subsequent tour. In the process, with Nebraska, he invented the concept of the bedroom singer-songwriter.

Nebraska ’82: Expanded Edition is a nice collection, but, as music critic Steven Hyden has pointed out, it should have been a Nebraska/Born In The U.S.A. box set. Nebraska ’82 includes the legendary “Electric Nebraska,” which turns out to be a kind of dud – turns out Bruce knew exactly what he was doing by releasing what has become a lo-fi bedroom classic with the original Nebraska. Nebraska and Born In The U.S.A. are inseparable. The collection is augmented by outtakes and rarities from the period, as well as a recent live performance of the album. The collection is essential for Springsteen obsessives but not for casual fans. I found the Deliver Me from Nowhere and the expanded Nebraska album to be welcome additions to the Springsteen legend.

The collection is well presented on streaming (24-bit/192 kHz FLAC), but listening to the vinyl feels more real. The vinyl is well-mastered, and the pressing is pristine.

*Books about the Nebraska/Born In The U.S.A. period:

• Deliver Me from Nowhere by Warren Zanes
• Born To Run (the Springsteen autobiography, not the album of the same name)
• There Was Nothing You Could Do by Steven Hyden