Saturday, October 25, 2025

Saturday Sounds - Nebraska '82: Expanded Edition

Like many Bruce Springsteen fans, I've been waiting a long time for Springsteen to release an expanded edition of Nebraska with outtakes and the rumoured electric version. It's finally out and that's this week's musical treat.

Was it worth the wait? After a first listen, I'd have to say, not really. There's some good stuff here. The first disc has a couple of unreleased tracks and demo versions of some of the songs that eventually ended up on Born to Run, including the title track. But the electric version on the second disk is a bit disappointing and doesn't come close to some of the live tracks I've heard, even including the recent tour. (The version of "Reason to Believe" that he did when I saw him in Toronto last year was absolutely stunning.) The solo perfornance on the third disk is just meh and modern tech can't add much to the remastered version of the original album.

For a review from a more knowledgeable critic, see this from Pitchfork

So here it is anyway. It's not a revelation but diehard fans will probably find more nuances in it than I did.


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