Bruce Springsteen during the Nebraska era (Photo: David Michael Kennedy; used with permission)
Hot on the heels of Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere, the movie about the making of 1982’s Nebraska, comes a greatly expanded edition of that LP. Called Nebraska ’82, this Oct. 24, 2025, release includes four CDs and a Blu-ray disc. Much of it constitutes must-hear material for any Springsteen fan.
One disc in this set features nine outtakes from the Nebraska sessions, including three that Springsteen later rerecorded for 1984’s Born in the U.S.A. A stripped-down rendition of that album’s title track is particularly effective and seems much less likely than the famous version to be misconstrued as a patriotic proclamation. Here, too, are acoustic versions of “Downbound Train” and “Working on the Highway” that are less rock-oriented than the Born in the U.S.A. performances. The former is more frenetic than the familiar recording and arguably more suited to the lyric; the latter is likable, though not as strong as the 1984 reading.
The CD also offers the excellent, previously unreleased “Losin’ Kind,” “Child Bride” and “Gun in Every Home,” all of which sound like products of the dark mindset that produced Nebraska. Other tracks on the disc include the forgettable “On the Prowl”; “The Big Payback,” a single B-side that also featured on an edition of The Essential Bruce Springsteen; and an acoustic version of “Pink Cadillac,” a song that surfaced in a rock rendition on 1998’s Tracks.
The long-rumored electric Nebraska, which Springsteen recently unearthed in his vaults, fills another CD in this set. Featuring six of the songs that wound up on the released album, plus early versions of Born in the U.S.A.’s title track and “Downbound Train,” it is interesting but not as big a deal as you might expect. Electric instruments and contributions from E Streeters notwithstanding, a couple of its performances aren’t all that different from the ones on Nebraska. The rest just confirms the wisdom behind Springsteen’s decision to release his acoustic solo recordings rather than a full-band CD.
A third disc delivers a remaster of the 1982 album—great material, but not enough of an upgrade to justify buying this set if you already own the original LP. What might well offer sufficient reason to fork over your money, however, are the collection’s live performances of Nebraska’s songs, which are presented in the same order as on the original album and offered both on CD and as a film on Blu-ray.
Springsteen recorded this material last April without an audience at Hackensack Meridian Health Theatre (formerly the Count Basie Theatre) in Red Bank, N.J. As on the 1982 LP, he accompanies himself on acoustic guitar and harmonica. Though this sounds almost like another solo performance, however, he gets a bit of understated backup on all the songs except “State Trooper.” Larry Campbell, whose many credits include stints with Bob Dylan, contributes guitar, tambourine or mandolin to the other nine numbers, and the E Street Band’s Charlie Giordano adds keyboards or glockenspiel to three of them.
Related: Our review of Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
Springsteen’s performance is stunning, with the septuagenarian singer seeming just as immersed in his material as he was when he composed it more than 40 years ago. Thom Zimny’s black-and-white film of the event is particularly gripping. This reviewer has already watched it multiple times and, chances are, you’ll want to do the same.
The new collection on 4-CDs plus Blu-ray or 4-LPs plus Blu-ray, is available in the U.S./worldwide here, in Canada here and in the U.K. here.
Burger wrote one of the first interview-based profiles of Bruce Springsteen to be published in a national magazine. He has interviewed many other music-world luminaries as well, including Steve Van Zandt, Roger McGuinn, John Sebastian, Wolfman Jack, Tom Waits, Foreigner’s Mick Jones, Billy Joel, Steve Forbert, Tommy James, the Righteous Brothers, Gordon Lightfoot, Deep Purple’s Tommy Bolin, and members of Steely Dan and the Marshall Tucker Band. He has also interviewed many other public figures, such as Suze Orman, Daymond John, James Carville, Donald Trump, Sir Richard Branson, F. Lee Bailey, and Cliff Robertson.
His books include Dylan on Dylan: Interviews and Encounters, Lennon on Lennon: Conversations with John Lennon, Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen: Interviews and Encounters, and Springsteen on Springsteen: Interviews, Speeches, and Encounters, all of which are published in the U.S. and Canada by Chicago Review Press. The books have been republished in numerous other countries.
Burger has been the editor of several periodicals, including Business Jet Traveler, from which he retired in 2024. During his 20 years at that
publication, it received more than 120 major editorial awards, including multiple wins for the world’s Best Consumer Travel Magazine in the annual Folio:Eddie competition.
Burger lives in Ridgewood, New Jersey. His wife, Madeleine Beresford, is a puppeteer and former preschool director and teacher. The couple have two grown children.
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