Bruce Springsteen - Nebraska

Yesterday, I finally found a vinyl copy of this in a record store that Peter Prescott was hanging out in. I said nothing to Peter, but I got all excited about this and its $7.99 price tag, so with this and a Silkworm EP (for 99 cents), I was on my way.

This catches the Boss inbetween "The River" and "Born In The U.S.A." (a favorite of John Gargiulo and Evan Allen). And it's 10 songs. He's the only musician and it was recorded on a 4-track cassette recorder. And guess what? It's awesome.

Why?

Well read on, I'll tell you more.


So here, we see Bruce in a different state - lyrically, we always knew where he was coming from - running or going or freezing out or whatever. But he was often just drenched in the bombast of Clarence Clemons sax solos and Max Weinberg's pervert drumming and the only emotion we got was when Bruce would go "UGHHHHHHHHAA" inbetween vocals and stuff of that nature. Here, it sounds like Bruce is playing in your corner working on some unfinished hits. And yeah, these songs aren't "finished" - the goal was to have the E Street Band re-record these jams, but after doing it, Broose and management decided against it and THANK GOD.

Most people only know one song off this ("Atlantic City"), because that's the only one on the Greatest Hits, but all of these songs are fantastic. I mean, what'cha got here...well, the title track which is about some folks on a killing spree, then "Atlantic City" (which is awesome), then another one that sounds like the first one, and well, hell, I won't do this for the whole album. There's also a track that sounds like Suicide on here!

Did you know that the Boss was such a NO WAVE (LOLZZZ) fan?

Well, I did. He's even released a Suicide cover or two in his life.

Anyway, great album. Great mood (bleak and not optimistic 'til the last song). Great cover. Great release.

Here's Bruce doin' it right.

OVERALL RATING - Squiddily bop!
KEY TRACKS - "Atlantic City", "Open All Night", "My Father's House"