Bruce Springsteens-Nebraska and Nebraska Demos

Nebraska

 Bruce did a complete 180 and released the dark, brooding Nebraska. Bruce at the time was listening to Woody Guthrie and other depression era folk & blues artists and this album reflects those sounds. The album consists basically of just an acoustic guitar and harmonica and explores subjects such as murder, crime, loss and loneliness. The songs are all sung in the first person and that gives them an intimacy that is rarely felt from an album. Bruce would explore dark subjects on later albums ("Born In The USA" was original recorded for this album), but he never recorded them in such a bare and stark nature. On this album, Bruce asks alot of questions and dares you to search for answers. The search is well worth the time and effort. This album is for true fans only...It was recorded basically in a farm house with an acoustic guitar and a 4-track cassette recorder but the quality of lyrics are SO Springsteen; so stark and simple yet the complexity of the story-telling is truly Springsteen. From the title song "Nebraska" to the beautiful "Mansion on a Hill" each song tells a story in only Springsteen's style. "Johnny 99" is haunting tale of desperation and every man's thoughts and fears. "My Father's House" is a lonely tale weaved between thorns and lonliness. "State Trooper" and "Highway Patrolman" obviously bring thoughts of Springsteen's anguish in his past to song. But in the end, Springsteen does bring a ray of hope through "Reason to Believe."
I love this album - it forces you to be introspective in a high quality, Springsteen kind of way.

Alone at Colts Neck-The Nebraska Demos (Bootleg)

ALONE AT COLTS NECK
While determining the canon of rock n' roll involves a lot more push and shove, Nebraska belongs on that list of great works. Nebraska was a fatal blow to the critical theory that bands must develop by adopting an ever-more-bloated sound (a.k.a. The Sgt Pepper Imperative), it's middle-finger to the music industry's ideal of each album selling more than the last plus it's one of the bleakest critiques of American exceptionalism ever put to tape. In short, it's a sorta like a punk rock album disguised as a set of folk songs. If you've played the damn thing as many time as I have, you'll revel in this bootleg of tracks recorded in and around the same time and place. Some tracks are fragments, other were re-recorded for later albums but all have the spooky intensity that makes Nebraska both a push and a shove.