Bruce Springsteen - Nebraska (1982) {Columbia} 24-bit/96kHz Vinyl Rip plus Redbook CD Version

is the sixth studio album by Bruce Springsteen, released in 1982 on Columbia Records. Sparsely-recorded on a cassette-tape Portastudio, the tracks on were originally intended as demos of songs to be recorded with the E Street Band. However, Springsteen ultimately decided to release the demos themselves. remains one of the most highly-regarded albums in his catalogue. The songs on deal with ordinary, blue collar characters who face a challenge or a turning point in their lives. Unlike his previous albums, very little salvation and grace is present within the songs. Initially, Springsteen recorded demos for the album at his home with a 4-track cassette recorder. The demos were sparse, using only acoustic guitar, electric guitar (on "Open All Night"), harmonica, mandolin, glockenspiel, tambourine, organ 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 , will ever surface. In a 2006 interview, manager Jon Landau said it was unlikely and that "the right version of Nebraska came out". But in a 2010 interview with Rolling Stone, E Street Band drummer Max Weinberg praised the full band recording of the album as "killing." Somewhat different band arrangements of most of these songs were heard on the 1984-1985 Tour and have been played in various guises ever since. Other songs demoed during the sessions include "Born in the U.S.A.," "Downbound Train," "Child Bride" (later retitled "Working on the Highway"), "Pink Cadillac" and more. Some have leaked on bootlegs. The album begins with "Nebraska", a first-person narrative based on the true story of 19-year-old spree killer Charles Starkweather and his 14-year-old girlfriend, Caril Ann Fugate, and ends with "Reason to Believe", a complex narrative that renders its title phrase into contemptuous sarcasm. The remaining songs are largely of the same bleak tone, including the dark "State Trooper," influenced by Suicide's "Frankie Teardrop". Criminal behavior continues as a theme in the song "Highway Patrolman": even though the protagonist works for the law, he lets his brother escape after he has shot someone (this became the basis for the Sean Penn-directed film The Indian Runner). "Open All Night", a Chuck Berry-style lone guitar rave-up, does manage a dose of defiant, humming-towards-the-gallows exuberance. Springsteen stated that the stories in this album were partly inspired by historian Howard Zinn's book . A music video was produced for the song "Atlantic City"; it features stark, black-and-white images of the city, which had not yet undergone its later economic transformation. "Atlantic City" was released as a single in the UK, but not the U.S. In 1989, was ranked #43 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 100 greatest albums of the 1980s. In 2003, the album was ranked number 224 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Pitchfork Media listed it the 60th greatest album of the 1980s. In 2006, Q magazine placed the album at #13 in its list of "40 Best Albums of the '80s". allmusic 5/5 stars Rolling Stone 4.5/5 stars Robert Christgau A-

LP track listing
All songs written by Bruce Springsteen

Side One

1. "Nebraska" – 4:27
2. "Atlantic City" – 3:54
3. "Mansion on the Hill" – 4:03
4. "Johnny 99" – 3:38
5. "Highway Patrolman" – 5:39
6. "State Trooper" – 3:15

Side Two

7. "Used Cars" – 3:06
8. "Open All Night" – 2:53
9. "My Father's House" – 5:03
10. "Reason to Believe" – 4:11


Released: September 30, 1982
Recorded: mostly January 3, 1982 at Springsteen's Colts Neck, New Jersey bedroom
Genre: Rock
Length: 40:09
Label: Columbia
Producer: Bruce Springsteen

Personnel

* Bruce Springsteen - guitar, harmonica, mandolin, glockenspiel, tambourine, organ, vocals