With nothing other than a few guitars, a harmonica and a four-track recorder. He simply wanted to demo some songs he would later record with the E Street Band. When it came time to record the song, something wasn't clicking and with the advice of his manager Jon Landau and partner-in-crime Steve Van Zandt advised him that maybe the 4-track demo couldn't be improved upon.
When it was released later that fall as Nebraska it was a success with little promotion. When Born in the USA was released less than two years Nebraska was largely forgotten. However in the ensuring decades this stark and bare album about murderers, losers and lost souls has taken a place in the Springsteen pantheon where it stands alone and is often regarded as his best record.
It has now been thirty years since that fateful day. For me Born To Run and Nebraska are the two Springsteen records I never tire listening to. One is so full of hope and the other so full of bitter reality. Throughout Springsteen’s entire catalog, hope and despair go hand in hand, but on Nebraska the dreams of these characters have failed. What they are left with are callous realities that are pure nightmares.
I wrote about the record extensively a few years back. Read my entire full album review and reflection HERE
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