Nebraska

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Total Tracks: 10   Total Length: 40:11

eMusic Review

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Glenn Kenny

eMusic Contributor

06.30.09
Bruce Springsteen, Nebraska
Label: Columbia

A genuinely experimental record, with Springsteen playing all the (sparse) instruments, recording on a lo-fi 8-track, and peering deep into the lives of those for whom there's no escape, certainly not any of the sort hoped for in earlier songs such as "Born to Run," "Promised Land," and so many others. Its characters are pursued by demons — both inner and outer — of the kind that can turn the American dream into a nightmare. The stories are bleak, but also complex and compelling — the events described in "Highway Patrolman" in fact inspired the Sean-Penn-directed film The Indian Runner.

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Music with a Message

Shadow13

Frankly, I've always felt that Springsteen was a little tone-deaf - but that's Ok, neither I nor Bob Dylan can sing either. But that hasn't stopped 2 out of 3 of us from putting out some incredible music over the years that makes us feel, ponder and think. And as to the right-wing comments putting down Bruce for his liberal bent, we all voted for Obama precisely because we can feel, ponder and think. You should try it sometime.

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Anti-negative reviews

BooBoo

I don't care if he's full of crap or an ego-maniac or he danced in the dark with that chick from friends. This is some damn fine music. Is bruce springsteen a jerk? Dunno. An ego maniac? Dunno. Over-exposed? Self-obsessed? Insecure? Too successful for his own good? Did he shoot Jack Ruby? Dunno, don't care. The music is good. People will sing 'Atlantic City' for the rest of our lives. If you don't have this album, get it. Frankly, it should be designated a national treasure and passed out free by the library of congress. Until then, download it. You won't be sorry even if you think bruce springsteen should stop thrusting his pelvis at cameras (and he should).

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Springsteen's Best

airconditionedgypsy

This record is Bruce Springsteen's finest work and his defining moment. Before "Nebraska," he was a superstar, but this is the record where he crossed over and became relevant. After years of struggling to "make it" in the music business, he had become a household name. Although "Darkness On The Edge Of Town" provided hints that he had begun to see the dark side of the American Dream, he did not fully communicate it until "Nebraska." No longer were the songs about teenage good times at the Jersey Shore. Now he had to face the harsh reality of a land where one can make a million dollars or get randomly murdered by a psychopath with a semi-automatic pistol at a donut shop. Before "Nebraska," Springsteen was a fledgling rocker living the dream. This is the record where reality set in. "I saw her standing, on her front lawn. Just a twirlin' her baton. Me and her went for a ride, Sir, and ten innocent people died."

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Stuck on Himself

MickMaag

This is another sign of.. "Artist thinks he can make music and my fans will buy this crap." It took me 5 years to agree with the masses that "Born To Run" was a good album. Everyone thought it was great. I dont want to listen to everyone. I waited to not have the "Cover of Time Magazine" influence. When I finally purchased BTR, I agreed wholeheartedly..what a great album. This prompted me to purchase older material. I feel because of this "RockStar" image and the Fan's "Deer in the Headlight" following that no matter what Bruce puts out, there are fans who adore and buy what ever he makes. With That said, I can understand how Sean Penn and him are of the same mindset. When "Born in the USA" gets played at 4th of July Firework events and the crowd sings the chorus, not realizing that Bruce is Slamming his own country, it makes me sick. Bruce had a good run early on but lost me by adding Patty and thinking he could become Political.. thanks for voting for Obama Bruce.. you goat head.

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Nothing But Bruce

roberto305

You gotta love nothing but Bruce.

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The Boss - Unpolished

cmadine

This album is proof that Bruce's songs stand strong without any slick production...or a band.

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Atlantic City Is The Key

ctgguy35

This collection was a spectacularly brooding effort compared to the bubbly, poppy Born In the USA, but this group stays with you longer, Compare it to a beautiful Porterhouse versus a Waygu beef burger...both are the best of their genre but the steak is infinitely more satisfying. Atlantic City is in my top 3 Bruce songs ever produces, with Johnny 99 and Open All Nightfollowing a short way behind.

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Haunting Roots

EMUSIC-00CE923B

Listen to this and you can hear the sound of Bruce's future solo albums. Story-telling at it's finest

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Cash in Jersey

darryc

If ever there was an instance where an artist unintentionally channeled another, Springsteen's Nebraska is that album. Springsteen's bleak, raw and poignant songs do for New Jersey what Johnny Cash did for the Ozarks. This is Springsteen's best album hands down. You must own this recording if you are serious about American music.

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Chicken Man

charlie4feet

They blew you up. I say a prayer every time.

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eMusic Features

0fdb823c3e0f9fc973880113c2e6b106

Icon: Bruce Springsteen

By Glenn Kenny

If ever there was a rock 'n 'roll icon who needed no introduction, Bruce Springsteen - who got his nickname "The Boss" because, from very early on, he was the guy who made sure the band got paid - is surely that guy. As for that band, the current lineup of his longtime crew the E Street Band is Nils Lofgren on guitar, Miami Steve Van Zandt on guitar and sundries, Clarence "the Big Man"… more »

They Say All Media Guide

There is an adage in the record business that a recording artist’s demos of new songs often come off better than the more polished versions later worked up in a studio. But Bruce Springsteen was the first person to act on that theory, when he opted to release the demo versions of his latest songs, recorded with only acoustic or electric guitar, harmonica, and vocals, as his sixth album, Nebraska. It was really the content that dictated the approach, however. Nebraska’s ten songs marked a departure for Springsteen, even as they took him farther down a road he had been traveling previously. Gradually, his songs had become darker and more pessimistic, and those on Nebraska marked a new low. They also found him branching out into better developed stories. The title track was a first-person account of the killing spree of mass murderer Charlie Starkweather. (It can’t have been coincidental that the same story was told in director Terrence Malick’s 1973 film Badlands, also used as a Springsteen song title.) That song set the tone for a series of portraits of small-time criminals, desperate people, and those who loved them. Just as the recordings were unpolished, the songs themselves didn’t seem quite finished; sometimes the same line turned up in two songs. But that only served to unify the album. Within the difficult times, however, there was hope, especially as the album went on. “Open All Night” was a Chuck Berry-style rocker, and the album closed with “Reason to Believe,” a song whose hard-luck verses were belied by the chorus — even if the singer couldn’t understand what it was, “people find some reason to believe.” Still, Nebraska was one of the most challenging albums ever released by a major star on a major record label. – William Ruhlmann

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  • 02.09.12 Bruce Springsteen Announces Additional Musicians for 2012 ‘Wrecking Ball’ World Tour. http://t.co/ilUaMtRl
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  • 02.02.12 Just announced: Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band will perform at @thegrammys on 2/12 at 8 pm ET/PT on @CBS.
  • 02.01.12 Bruce & E Street Band to perform at NYC's Apollo Theater 3/9. @siriusxm subscribers can enter to win tickets at http://t.co/HZ7PNVtW
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  • 01.24.12 Bruce Springsteen And The E Street Band Announce First U.S. Leg of 2012 'Wrecking Ball' World Tour http://t.co/7aT7BSJE
  • 01.24.12 Bruce Springsteen in Helsinki on 31 July. Tickets on sale tomorrow! http://t.co/7aT7BSJE
  • 01.21.12 In case you've been under a rock this week, hear the new track "We Take Care of Our Own" and read Bruce's lyrics at http://t.co/jKAYb0EC
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