Nebraska (album)

Nebraska is the sixth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen, released on September 30, 1982, through Columbia Records. Springsteen recorded the songs unaccompanied on a four-track recorder in the bedroom of his home in Colts Neck, New Jersey. He had intended to rerecord the tracks with the E Street Band but decided to release them as they were after the full-band renditions were deemed unsatisfactory. The tape contained seventeen songs, of which ten were used for Nebraska; the others appeared in full-band renditions on the follow-up album Born in the U.S.A. (1984) or as B-sides.

Living isolated in Colts Neck, Springsteen was influenced by folk music, American literature, and film when writing the lyrics. The short stories of Flannery O'Connor particularly inspired him to write about his childhood memories. The album contains a stark, lo-fi sound, as the tracks tell the stories of blue-collar workers who try to succeed in life but fail at every turn, while searching for a deliverance that never comes. Some of the lyrics are in the voice of outlaws and criminals, including the killer Charles Starkweather on the title track. The album's artwork is a 1975 photograph by David Michael Kennedy which depicts a black-top road under a cloudy sky through the windshield of a car.

Nebraska stylistically stood apart from other releases in 1982. Commercially, it charted within the top 10 in Australia, Canada, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The album was accompanied by two European singles—"Atlantic City" and "Open All Night"; the former supported by Springsteen's first music video. He did not do promotional work for the record, believing listeners should experience it for themselves. Critics praised the album as brave and artistically daring, considering it Springsteen's most personal record up to that point. Negative reviews felt that the songs stylistically merged, and their dark themes would appeal only to fans. The album appeared on several year-end lists.

Retrospectively, critics regard Nebraska as a timeless record and one of Springsteen's finest works. The album has appeared on numerous lists of the greatest albums of all time. It is recognized as one of the first do it yourself (DIY) home recordings by a major artist and has had a significant influence on the indie rock and underground music scenes. Numerous artists have paid tribute to the album and have cited its impact on their music. A biographical film based on the album's creation, titled Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere, is planned for release in October 2025. An expanded edition, featuring Electric Nebraska, is set for release the same month.

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