To tie in with his biopic, Deliver Me from Nowhere, a new box set from Bruce Springsteen, Nebraska '82: Expanded Edition, is out.
On the surface, it looks like another cheap cash grab from a legacy artist. However, the main selling point is Springsteen included the long-fabled Electric Nebraska sessions with the E Street Band, which were shelved in favor of the acoustic solo album that has become a landmark of The Boss' career.
Some Springsteen fans have waited over four decades for this (Springsteen himself didn't acknowledge its existence until earlier this year). Was it worth the wait?
Bruce Springsteen's Electric Nebraska review
The Electric Nebraska in the box set consists of eight songs. Six made it to Nebraska, and the other two were later re-recorded for Born in the U.S.A.
It's certainly an interesting exercise to release something fans have clamored for for decades. To be honest, Electric Nebraska was always going to have an uphill battle to satisfy fans.
The Electric Nebraska songs begin with the title track. The lyrics and key remain largely unchanged from the original. Springsteen is finger-picking an electric guitar (it's in the name) instead of an acoustic guitar.
As it showed in his biopic, it's understandable why Springsteen wouldn't want this on the final album. Max Weinberg is a legend, and his fills make any ordinary beat extraordinary. However, he doesn't have a lot to do on slowed-down songs like “Nebraska.”
He keeps time, but it's so subdued that it almost sounds like an IEM recording from a soundcheck before a show. Roy Bittan, who is a standout on other tracks, can only be heard faintly in the background playing piano.
How The Boss' voice is different in these sessions
One constant theme throughout the Electric Nebraska sessions is Springsteen's singing. While he's mostly singing the same words heard on the Nebraska album that would later be released, he's often singing too pretty for this subject material.
For as pain-filled as Nebraska is, the vulnerability is missing in the Electric Nebraska tracks. Rockabilies like “Johnny 99” and “Open All Night” suddenly lose their borderline neurotic sound. “Downbound Train” and “Born in the U.S.A.” pack a punch, but Springsteen's aggression almost sounds like he's rebelling against the entire sound of Electric Nebraska.
“Atlantic City” is still played by Springsteen and the E Street Band live to this day. It usually opens with Weinberg drumming a slow beat as Springsteen comes in with his electric guitar. Here, the whole band comes in immediately, and while “Atlantic City” is one of the rare Nebraska tracks that works as a solo or full-band performance, it does not reach the power of the original solo recording.
The same goes for “Mansion on the Hill,” which has a melody very derivative of “Nebraska's.” While once again, “Mansion on the Hill” isn't as good as the original, Bittan adds a church-like organ to the backdrop that really works. It almost makes the song feel fantastical, and it'll bring your mind to the scenes in Deliver Me from Nowhere where Springsteen and his sister are sent to run through the fields by the mansion on the hill.
Turning songs into rockabilly
Electric Nebraska's first side concludes with a faster and rowdier rendition of “Johnny 99.” The song was already a rockabilly, but adding the whole band makes it a new experience.
Now, given the song's subject matter about someone down on their luck (Nebraska's most prominent plot device), making the song a rock and roller doesn't necessarily work in that sense. Springsteen quickly fingering his fretboard and singing it himself adds a sense of hysteria that represents its story.
Side two starts with a bang. This version of “Downbound Train” is fierce, and it's vastly different from the version that would later appear on Born in the U.S.A. It's probably the weakest of the eight songs on Electric Nebraska, and it's a good thing Springsteen shelved it for his next album.
“Johnny 99” becoming a full-band rockabilly hoedown didn't work. However, “Open All Night” is the standout of Electric Nebraska with a similar change. It begins with Springsteen and his electric guitar, but the full band comes in after the first verse.
The album version of the song already features an electric guitar. So, it's not too much of a stretch to incorporate the full E Street Band in the Electric Nebraska arrangement.
“Open All Night” is one of the most underrated songs from Nebraska. Nothing proves that more than how well it translates to a solo or full-band song. Elsewhere in the Nebraska '82: Expanded Edition box set is a live album that Springsteen recently recorded.
That version, which was recorded over four decades after the album's original release, is just as powerful and fun as the original featured on Nebraska. The Electric Nebraska version may just be the best of them all.
The main event
Most of the hype for Electric Nebraska came from the full-band version of “Born in the U.S.A.” Fans of Springsteen have likely heard the acoustic demo Springsteen featured on Tracks. That demo is featured on the disc of outtakes and demos in the new Nebraska box set.
While Springsteen's acoustic “Born in the U.S.A.” is interesting, it's not better than the original. The Electric Nebraska version, though, gives the iconic anthem—which was later released in 1984, full of synths and Weinberg's iconic drum beat—a run for its money.
Many seemingly misunderstand “Born in the U.S.A.” as a patriotic anthem. That may be due to the arrangement of the original, which encapsulates the '80s so well and sounds like a positive song. Beneath the surface is Springsteen—who takes on the perspective of a war veteran—calling out the way they are treated after coming home.
There's no room for such mistakes in the Electric Nebraska rendition. It's angsty, and while the 1984 version will forever be iconic, this version brings a whole new meaning to the song.
Speaking to Deliver Me from Nowhere author Warren Zanes, it sounds like there's another version of Electric Nebraska that fans have yet to hear.
More than likely, these will never see the light of day. If it took over four decades to get this version of Electric Nebraska, it'd be naive to expect The Boss to go into the vault again.
Should you listen to Electric Nebraska?
For the most part, the Electric Nebraska songs released in the box set do not top the originals. It's really interesting to hear some of the sessions, now that Deliver Me from Nowhere is coming out in theaters.
However, it remains clear why the sessions were shelved. As Deliver Me from Nowhere is very eager to point out, Springsteen didn't like these sessions. He believed they took away from the emotion of the Colts Neck tape.
And he was right. It's understandable that Columbia wanted the band on the album. The River was Springsteen's first No.1 album, and that's partially due to them capturing their live act in the studio. Following that up with a solo record is almost nonsensical.
But it worked, and only Springsteen is capable of delivering something like Nebraska and it being successful. Electric Nebraska is better than most bands' outtakes (e.g., the Beatles' endless demos from recent remasters), but that's all they are: alternatives to the originals.
We are fortunate that Springsteen stuck to his guns. If not for Nebraska, his career may look different. Would we get Born in the U.S.A. or even later acoustic albums like Devils & Dust?
It's somewhat funny that Springsteen was convinced Electric Nebraska didn't exist, despite his bandmates talking about it for years.
We'll never know why Springsteen was hesitant to release it. Instead, fans should be grateful we have this. Again, Electric Nebraska doesn't top what was already done. But it does enhance the experience of going back and listening to the original album.
Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska '82: Expanded Edition is out now.
