Nebraska 82 Expanded – Bruce Springsteen

What does it sound like?:

The story of the Nebraska album is pretty well known. Springsteen had reached a new level of popularity with The River album and it’s subsequent tour including a first visit to Europe since 1975. After the tour wound up he began work early 1982 on his next project recording demos at home in New Jersey. He was going through a period of depression which was not generally known at the time. Looking back this can clearly be heard in the music he was working on. He took the resulting demos to the E Street band and an attempt was made to record them as potentially the next band album. Bruce was not satisfied with the results and together with manager Jon Landau a decision was made to release most of the solo recordings as the follow up album instead.

The album that came out was something of a commercial success but sales were not at the level of the previous album. There were no hit singles, no tour and songs about serial killers and his childhood clearly held less commercial appeal than Humgry Heart. Astute Bruce watchers would however have noticed the seeds of such material earlier on the Darkness on the Edge of Town album and parts of The River (Stolen Car, Wreck on the Highway etc). Nevertheless it was a resounding artistic success and certainly one of the best albums he ever made.

So just months after 7 previously unreleased albums came out on Tracks 2, we have a 5 disc Nebraska box set. I have had limited time to listen to it, but here are some initial impressions.

Disc 1 Solo outtakes

Contains 9 songs from the solo sessions that didn’t appear on the original album. Some of these songs appeared in different versions on the Born in the USA album or as B sides. The version of Born in the USA that opens this disc also appeared on Tracks 1. It is magnificent. Losin’ Kind shares some lyrical imagery and musical themes with Highway Patrolman, Downbound Train is a frenzied attempt, works better in the released version for me, very interesting to hear though. Child Bride is well known to bootleg collectors, it eventually became Working on the Highway, which is a fun upbeat song about a very dark subject. This, arguably superior, version contains some different lyrics that matches the subject material more appropriately. Pink Cadillac (B side of Dancing in the Dark) comes next. This desperate, slowed down version makes it very clear that the song isn’t about a car! The Big Payback was the B side to Open All Night and also appeared on the Essential Springsteen compilation album on the rarities disc. A more familiar version of Working on the Highway follows, then 2 songs I was unfamilar with. On the Prowl shares some similarities with Open All Night and then finally, Gun In Every Home, a paranoid masterpiece that contains a number of the Nebraska themes. Overall, this is a very satisfying disc, but makes it pretty clear that being inside Springsteen’s head in 1982 was not necessarily a great place to be.

Disc 2 Electric Nebraska

Perhaps the most legendary unreleased Springsteen recording, despite previous comments from Bruce that it didn’t really exist. What we have here are 8 tracks recorded with a stripped down E St Band (no Clarence), 6 are from Nebraska plus 2 songs that ultimately ended up on the Born in the USA album (title track and Downbound Train). It is a riveting listen, some of the songs sound pretty much the same with a few embellishments where as others are quite different. I love the electric version of Atlantic City (one of his greatest songs), but probably the subsequent live versions of this track surpass this first attempt. It is still probably the highlight of this disc with a superb impassioned vocal. Born in the USA is less likely to be mistaken for a patriotic anthem here, Johnny 99 is an extremely enjoyable rave-up and Downbound Train is radically different from the previously released version, being a kind of punk rockabilly run through. Reason to Believe is a tight, enjoyable closer. The album does sound somewhat unfinished because it was. The original album is in my bones so it’s hard to imagine how this would have been received if it had been released instead. But probably the right decision was made at the time and then he and the band moved on to one of the biggest selling albums of all time. It is great to have this version finally even if it isn’t really a complete “Electric Nebraska”.

Disc 3 Nebraska Live (recorded in 2025)

Something of a curio, he did the same for The Promise box set with a full run through of the Darkness album utilizing the E St band, possibly because he was unhappy with some of the originally released versions. This version (live without an audience) does not contain any original E St Band members, instead he is supported by Larry Campbell and (current member) Charlie Giordano. I gave this a fairly cursory listen given time constraints, excellent Bruce performance, but the arrangements are very similar to the original album and the additional musicians are barely audible, so not too sure if it adds too much to the whole package. Perhaps a live compilation of Nebraska tracks recorded over the decades with the E St Band would be more interesting, but maybe the visual content will be worth it.

Disc 4 contains the original album (“remastered”) and disc 5 is a Blu-ray containing a video representation of Nebraska live. I haven’t seen this.

Overall, an excellent set for Springsteen afficionados. A fascinating look at arguably the most crucial period in his recording career. Some may feel slightly short changed with discs 1 and 2 both being just over 30 minutes, but the CD set can be obtained for a very reasonable price, especially compared to Tracks II. This has been an incredible year for Springsteen fans, essentially 9 unreleased studio albums and a new live one. Possibly we will also get Tracks 3 in 2026.

And I plan to see the Deliver Me from Nowhere film this weekend …

What does it all *mean*?

Artists can make the correct artistic decisions even if they seemed incredibly risky at the time

Goes well with…

Deliver Me From Nowhere

Release Date:

Today

Might suit people who like…

Great music

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