Hi all,

I have always been a Springsteen fan, not a die hard fan, but a fan. I have a few of his essential albums (Born in the USA, Born to Run) I was at the record store a few months back and came across Nebraska. I had almost forgotten about this album. It featured really no major Boss hits, and the artwork is very dark. Needless to say I picked it up. Went home cleaned it up and put it on the TT. Wow was I impressed. The darkness of this album is almost scary (in a good way!) I've had Atlantic City in my head all day.

Could this be the Boss's most unappreciated album?

I appreciate more than any of his other albums. More deserving of credit than it gets.

I love it. Proves that even a low-fi cassette multi-track can sound excellent. In fact, it sounds way better than most Bruce albums.

I love it. Proves that even a low-fi cassette multi-track can sound excellent. In fact, it sounds way better than most Bruce albums.

i agree.

one of my best sounding Lp's

The only one of his I'd own.

Nebraska is a Springsteen cult icon...

That's very, very high on my list of vinyl to find.

The only one of his I'd own.

I agree, it's the only Boss album I own....

Nebraska is among several good albums Bruce has put out.

my favorite bruce album, second is "darkness...". he does some killer versions from "nebraska" on the 1975-85 live album as well.

I think it is his best LP.

What's interesting too note is that his most commercially successful album- 1984's Born In The USA (which sold millions of copies )-is at its heart a follow up to his most uncommerical album the aforementioned Nebraska. Take away all of the 1980s style organs, guitars and synths found on BITU and you have all of the dark themes of the stripped down acoustic songs he did on Nebraska. I think there is a stripped down version of Born in the USA on the box set Tracks that demonstrates this.

Atlantic City may be his greatest song....

I think it's pretty highly appreciated, at least in the critics' circles. It's filled with very powerful songs, and the little-to-no production values only reinforce the overall thematic bleakness. Having said that, I have to admit that I've never been able to listen to it all the way through in one sitting more than a few times- I normally don't shy away from dark songs, but the accumulated effect of one after another, with no hint of light anywhere, rapidly makes me want to go all Charlie Starkweather and shit.

Less appreciated than much of his oeuvre - definitely. Nebraska is my favorite Springsteen LP (Darkness... is a close second).



...I've had Atlantic City in my head all day.


That sounds familiar.

Charlie Starkweather

A very "dark" part of Nebraska history.

I may have to give this one another listen. I've had it in my stack since it was released. I listened to it once or twice back then (~'82) and found it so different from the Bruce I was familar with that I stuffed it back in the stack, never to be heard from again. To this day, the only Bruce albums I will occasionally listen to are "... Asbury Park" and "Wild, Innocent ..." despite owning quite a few more.

With this positive feedback from some of you trusted AK music cognoscenti, I'll have to give this one a fresh spin.:thmbsp:

With this positive feedback from some of you trusted AK music cognoscenti, I'll have to give this one a fresh spin.:thmbsp:

You may want to lock up the knives first.

When I listen to this album, I feel like I'm watching a movie. I think "Highway Patrolman" is one of the best songs he ever wrote. It's also one of the few songs that Johnny Cash covered where I like the original better than Cash's dark take on it. It was dark to begin with...even Cash couldn't add much more.

What's interesting too note is that his most commercially successful album- 1984's Born In The USA (which sold millions of copies )-is at its heart a follow up to his most uncommerical album the aforementioned Nebraska. Take away all of the 1980s style organs, guitars and synths found on BITU and you have all of the dark themes of the stripped down acoustic songs he did on Nebraska. I think there is a stripped down version of Born in the USA on the box set Tracks that demonstrates this.

Atlantic City may be his greatest song....

The stripped-down demo of "Born in the USA" is also available in the three-CD "Essential" set, on Disc 3.

It's also interesting to note that "Nebraska" is basically the 4-track demos for the album. A "properly" produced studio version was created, but never released.

Initially, Springsteen recorded demos for the album at his home with 4-track cassette recorder. The demos were sparse, using only acoustic guitar, electric guitar (on "Open All Night"), harmonica, and Springsteen's voice.

Springsteen then recorded the album in a studio with the E Street Band. However, he and the producers and engineers working with him felt that a raw, haunted folk essence present on the home tapes was lacking in the band treatments, and so they ultimately decided to release the demo version as the final album. Complications with mastering of the tapes ensued because of low recording volume. But the problem was overcome with sophisticated noise reduction techniques.

Springsteen fans have long speculated whether Springsteen's full-band recording of the album, nicknamed Electric Nebraska, will ever surface (in a 2006 interview, manager Jon Landau said it was unlikely and that "the right version of Nebraska came out").

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebraska_(album)

"nebraska" is the ultimate love song but only if you can deal with a certain degree of ambivalence in life. if you can truly indentify with starkweather then you probably shouldn't listen to that song.
mike

he does some killer versions from "nebraska" on the 1975-85 live album as well.

I have seen Bruce in concert several times and when ever he plays a song from Neb the true fans really applaud. It is a well loved album. I actually like any of Springsteen's slow songs. Secret Garden, Streets of Phil, etc. I have to be in the right mood to listen to his rock but if you ever see him live, even if you don't like him, you have to admit he does work for a living!

things come and go, but i've had this tape for 18 years.
mike

Speaking of Charlie Starkweather, when I was a teenager growing up in Lincoln, we would sneak into Wyuka Cemetery late at night and dance on his grave.

:smoke::smoke::smoke:

That's very, very high on my list of vinyl to find.

You can get it at Amazon.com for about $7.

I've noticed that over the past few years, I could hardly stand to listen to anything by Springsteen any more (and, believe me, I have 'em all)!

The only album this DIDN'T apply to was "Nebraska."

It's good to know the album has so many fans out there as I hardly ever hear anyone even mention it.

You can get it at Amazon.com for about $7.

Eh, that's boring. More fun to do it my way. :D