Recorded a in 1989 , post “Born In The USA” and “Born To Run” and “The River”, Springsteen didn’t have to take any risks with this album. However it was recorded alone, accompanying himself on acoustic guitar with occasional harmonica on a portable ... Read review
Nebraskais a cruel landscape of serial killers, shady deals, jobless workers pushed to the ... more
edge, brothers who finally just look the other way. Accompanying himself on acoustic guitar and little else, Bruce Springsteen mixes together his own Jersey myth...
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Nebraskais a cruel landscape of serial killers, shady deals, jobless workers pushed to the ... more
edge, brothers who finally just look the other way. Accompanying himself on acoustic guitar and little else, Bruce Springsteen mixes together his own Jersey myth...
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Nebraska is a cruel landscape of serial killers, shady deals, jobless workers pushed to ... more
the edge, brothers who finally just look the other way. Accompanying himself on acoustic guitar and little else, Bruce Springsteen mixes together his own Jersey myt...
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Advantages: One of the most intense collections of songs ever Disadvantages: May too intense and raw for some
Recorded a in 1989 , post “Born In The USA” and “Born To Run” and “The River”, Springsteen didn’t have to take any risks with this album. However it was recorded alone, accompanying himself on acoustic guitar with occasional harmonica on a portable four track recorder. Although the United States of America is the richest and most populous nation in the world, it has some of the worst poverty, ... ...from a blue collar background and address subjects of poverty and desperation and varying ways throughout this album.
In my opinion it is one of his finest triumphs and the critics of the time were approving of the album, but it is anything but easy listening , a million miles away from the swagger of say “Born in the USA”, and an obvious major commercial risk.
The cover of the album is black and white, and ... more
Recorded a in 1989 , post “Born In The USA” and “Born To Run” and “The River”, Springsteen didn’t have to take any risks with this album. However it was recorded alone, accompanying himself on acoustic guitar with occasional harmonica on a portable four track recorder. Although the United States of America is the richest and most populous nation in the world, it has some of the worst poverty, human rights abuses , and illiteracy there is. Springsteen is from a blue collar background and address subjects of poverty and desperation and varying ways throughout this album.
In my opinion it is one of his finest triumphs and the critics of the time were approving of the album, but it is anything but easy listening , a million miles away from the swagger of say “Born in the USA”, and an obvious major commercial risk.
The cover of the album is black and white, and the album does nothing to lift the spirits , but the intensity of the stories that Bruce tells make for probably his most riveting listening, not one for the car, but one to listen to at home where you can devote your full attention. It provides no answers but presents the listener with some of the bleakest aural paintings that you will ever hear.
We have the story of “Johnny 99” about a man going wild with a gun who “has debts no honest man can pay”. Lets face in the credit hungry world of consumerism that can happen very easily when your laid off from your job for “economic reasons”.
“Used Cars” dreams of the only way to actually own a new car is to win the state lottery. Remind you of anywhere? The beautiful , plaintive despair of “Atlantic City” results in one of Springsteen’s most enduring songs.
The album in undoubtedly Springsteen , but he recalls the spirit of Woody Guthrie and creates one of the most intense albums ever recorded. You cannot fail to be moved by this collection of songs.
Recorded in the days of vinyl limitations, so you only get ten songs, but they are worth their weight in gold, very black gold.
The album is available on mid price and should have a place in everyone’s music collection. As I’ve stated it is not easy listening , but a rewarding experience nonetheless.
Advantages: Great songs, lyrics included, cheap price Disadvantages: Too short!! (I jest)
...back catalogue in chronological order. Nebraska was his 6th release and came after his most successful album to date in The River. Every review promised it to be a stark, dak, deeply depressing take on American life. This did not fill be with great anticipation, as Hungry Heart was still doing the rounds in my head, however, i was in for a great surprise. Basically the album is great. It's definitley not one to play when a party's in full swing, ... ...in the music and it's message then without a doubt you'll be surprised at the depth and range of Springsteen's songwriting capabilities. It's particularly relevant in the current economic situation. I'll bet anyone and everyone that they'll at least know somebody, if not actually be the guy, in Atlantic City who "has debts no honest man can pay". Johnny 99 is ahighlight and one that has been resurrected by Springsteen on his current tour. State Trooper, ...
mincey101 02.08.2009
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Advantages: Good tunes, a nice listen, varied, interesting Disadvantages: Hard to think of one
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Advantages: Soulful songs written with style and depth Disadvantages: maybe a bit too melancholy for some peoples tastes
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Songs like Trouble and Forever My Friend have an immediacy that will have you hooked in no time, but there's also an undercurrent of songs that although not exactly radio-friendly, have a depth and character all of their own. The album shares similarities with BruceSpringsteens "Nebraska" on some of it's more melancholy tracks which goes someway to describing it's rootsy feel.
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Advantages: Return to 1970s Bruce Disadvantages: Two weaker tracks
Radio Nowwhere, for example. The only tracks that I did not particularly like were Magic and the untitled final track, probably because they were the ones with minimal backing from the E Street Band and the most like Nebraska and Tom Joad Springsteen. The rest, though, reminded me a lot of Darkness on the Edge of Town and The River in terms of songs with strong melodies and an excellent balance between Bruce's singing and the wall of sound of the E Street Band. Obviously, the songs are now (even) more introspective in content and Bruce's voice is deeper and more growly, but if you liked late-70s Springsteen, you will like this. ...
Product Information for "Nebraska - Bruce Springsteen" »
Product details
Title
Nebraska
Performer
Bruce Springsteen
Genre
Rock & Pop
Release Date
05/05/2003
Recomended Retail Price
8.99 GBP
Original Release Year
1982
Label / Distributor
Columbia / Sony Music/Arvato Services
Engineer
Mike Batlin
Producer
Bruce Springsteen
Pieces in Set
1
Studio / Live
Studio
Stereo
Stereo
Format
Performer
EAN
5099751130321
Catalogue Number
5113032
SPAR code
AAD
Additional notes
Album Notes
Solo performer: Bruce Springsteen (vocals, guitar, harmonica). Recorded in Springsteen's New Jersey bedroom on a 4-track cassette recorder. As a followup to THE RIVER, a double-album blast of old-time rock and roll, this amazing solo-acoustic folk album came out of nowhere in the fall of 1982. More precisely, it came out of Bruce Springsteen's back pocket. He recorded what would become NEBRASKA at home on a 4-track recorder, intending it as a demo tape for a full-band album. The band versions were recorded, but Springsteen sensed something missing; eventually, he became convinced that his demo tape, which he had carried around in a back pocket of his jeans for several days, had a spiritual wallop that he and the band couldn't recreate. He had the cassette cleaned up and turned into his sixth album. There's little doubt that he made the right choice. The songs on NEBRASKA form a bleak cycle about men on the run, from the law, from their fathers or from themselves, usually for reasons even they don't understand. And Springsteen's dry, howling voice, which sometimes dips to a desperate whisper and sometimes rises to a haunted scream, seems to carry all their fears and all their hidden knowledge. The title song, about Charlie Starkweather, the serial killer chronicled in the movie BADLANDS, is one of two on the album about men who see the electric chair as their natural, God-given fate, if not their salvation. A couple of others could be the very drivers of the cars Paul Simon once counted on the New Jersey turnpike, except that where Simon saw America, all these characters see are dirty refinery towers. This was songwriting that channeled both Woody Guthrie and Hank Williams, and the stark sound of NEBRASKA was not merely a homage to them, but a perfect casing for these tales. Whether strumming through "Atlantic City," picking out arpeggios on "Nebraska" or banging out a shuffle on "Open All Night" (a rare upbeat moment), Springsteen's lone acoustic guitar was all the accompaniment they needed, echoing their loneliness and isolation.
Album Reviews
Rolling Stone (11/89) - Voted #43 in Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Albums Of The Eighties" survey. Alternative Press (11/00, p.144) - Included in AP's "10 Essential Political-Revolution Albums" - "...The USA never sounded as desolate as it does on this living-room recording....Springsteen gives working-class alienation an unmistakable voice." NME (9/25/93, p.19) - Ranked #29 among The 50 Greatest Albums Of The '80s.
Titles on disc 1
1.
Nebraska
2.
Atlantic City
3.
Mansion On The Hill
4.
Johnny 99
5.
Highway Patrolman
6.
State Trooper
7.
Used Cars
8.
Open All Night
9.
My Father's House
10.
Reason To Believe
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22/07/2001
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