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CLASSIC ROCK
Springsteen’s Lost Album
The Boss’s lost album has been locked away for 43 years
I’m in a minority. Springsteen fans everywhere consider his bare acoustic folk-rock album Nebraska one of his greatest. It’s said to be another classic in Springsteen’s run of six consecutive albums that were among the greatest in rock history, from Born To Run through to Tunnel Of Love.
I disagree; I think Nebraska broke the run.
It’s not that the songs or the album are bad, far from it, and the album sequencing is excellent; the tracks flow and fit together superbly. The song lyrics are as good as any in his canon which means they are better than those of nearly every other songwriter.
The problem for my ears is that it was recorded at his home on a standard cassette tape and, despite the efforts to improve the sound in the studio including adding far too much reverb to try to cover the tinny vocals, it sounds like a demo tape. Which is exactly what it was.
My feelings that Nebraska hides a lost rock classic are not helped by knowing that Springsteen recorded eight of the ten tracks on the album in the studio with the full E-Street Band. Those recordings still exist in the vaults but Springsteen and producer Jon Landau have said that is where they’ll stay.
