In perfect timing with the film based on his life, Bruce Springsteen has released an expanded edition of his 1982 album “Nebraska” in a box set, which includes a 2025 remaster of the original, an electric edition featuring the E Street Band and never before heard recordings from the initial “Nebraska” sessions.
Considered by critics to be one of Springsteen’s best-ever works, the grim folk record was a strong departure from The Boss’s optimistic rock – showcasing a different side of the blue collar life he sang about. The album is spoken from the perspective of criminals desperate to succeed in life, but find nothing but failure.
Inspired by the works of writers like John Steinbeck and Flannery O’Connor, Springsteen never lets his subjects receive the deliverance they are searching for. “Nebraska ‘82: Expanded Edition” features the 17 recordings from the album’s initial conception, personally taped by Springsteen. Seven of the recordings, like “Born in the U.S.A.” went on to appear in later albums. Now, with the entirety of the original being made public for the first time, listeners can revel in the bone-chilling masterpieces in a whole new light.
Naturally, a highlight of the album is the title song “Nebraska.” The song is sung from the perspective of Charles Starkweather, who, along with his teenage girlfriend Caril Ann Fugate, went on a killing spree in 1958 over the course of a week, taking the lives of 11 people. The remastered edition only enhances the eerie feeling Springsteen gave to the piece with the slow acoustic guitar and jarring harmonica.
This is also true for the song “My Father’s House,” which showcases Springsteen’s voice in a manner almost Elvis-esque. The track has an almost religious feel to it, with Springsteen exploring his and his father’s shared depression and the deterioration of their relationship over the years. He sings: “My father’s house shines hard and bright / It stands like a beacon, calling me in the night / Calling and calling, so cold and alone/ Shining ‘cross this dark highway, where our sins lie unatoned.” In that final verse, listeners are left feeling the same level of isolation and desolation as Springsteen in a way that is deeply touching.
The personal and raw nature of the album as a whole is given a new light, but feels put off by the expanded edition’s inclusion of the electric renditions with the E Street Band. While perfect for “Born in the U.S.A.,” it falters to make the same impact for the rest of the recordings. What makes “Nebraska” so impressive is its folk element. Although all of Springsteen’s music is raw and honest, regardless of style, the “Nebraska” album stands out because of the slow and eerily personal execution that sounds nothing like his other work until that time.
Springsteen’s new biopic, “Bruce Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere,” starring Jeremy Allen White as The Boss himself, explores this period of recording “Nebraska,” the new edition of the album complementing the film well. It adds an extra layer of perspective to the record and features Springsteen discussing the album’s creation in a short film.
“Nebraska ‘82: Expanded Edition” has had an impeccable release time. With the new film and fresh take on the original recordings, remasters of the album and deep insight, it has the ability to gain Springsteen a gaggle of new fans (especially with White portraying the famed crooner!) and revive some of his more underrated works as a whole.
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