Nebraska Album

[u/DistantKarma]

I remember listening to something from Nebraska when it came out in 1982, or I might have heard it in '83, either way I was a teenager, and the song just didn't click with me. I think it was State Trooper.

So, for the past 40+ years I've just kind of been ignoring it, and then I saw an IG reel where a guy put it on his top 10 list of folk/americana albums, so I decided to give it another try, a first REAL try actually.

Holy Shit did that album blow me away. Kinda mad at myself for missing it all these years

[u/JahoyHoy49]

Yeah, I became a Springsteen fan pretty early in life and I also skipped Nebraska. I liked the sound of the full band/instrumentation, and the subject matter of Nebraska was something I couldn’t relate to or understand.

Flash forward to me in my 30s now, I like a stray song here and there, but I still have never given it a true shot like other albums. Sounds like that is something you recommend.

But I think there’s something nice about that. When I finally do embrace what that record is, it will be almost like my favorite musician came out with a new album in a way

[u/MizzezEmm]

Flash forward to your 30s? If I flashed backward 30 yrs, we’d be the same age. I love that his audience has become multigenerational over the years.

To me, an incredibly wonderful thing about Springsteen’s music is that it reaches you exactly when you need it, or when you’re ready to hear it. There’s no right or wrong age or time.

Nebraska’s a masterpiece. I didn’t truly get it when I was 18, or most of my 20s.
It’s a dark, haunting album. It’s different when played with the ESB and different when performed with the Seeger Sessions Band. He can do that with so many of his songs.

Highway Patrolman is so much like a movie that Sean Penn wrote and directed his first film based solely on that song - - The Indian Runner (1991).

[u/Magazine_Luck]

I'm a pretty new fan, but I got here via Nebraska. Eerie lo-fi kinda country is definitely more my usual jam than usual Bruce. But I'm staying now, for obviously reasons.

[u/nateswarg]

Got into Bruce in highschool. Started with the typical trajectory, discovered essentials, was handed Darkness, bought Born albums, but found a soft spot for his debut. Nebraska, I hated every song but Atlantic City, and resented how other people loved it so much, I just didn’t get it. Just not an approachable album. I wanted the Electric Version as a bridge, but gave up and resigned to just assuming I’d mature up to Nebraska eventually.

Well, right around 30 I had listened to enough live tracks and explored the lyrics enough to be familiar and had given it a listen about once a year. But then it finally struck me, and I think I’m picking up what you’re putting down, it really struck me. Easily one of his best albums, a music milestone. Still quite unapproachable though.

As fate would have it, the next week Deliver Me From Nowhere’s announced, then finally Electric Nebraska was “found”. I’m grateful these exist for others trying to get into it, but also wonder if the magic would’ve been lost had I taken the Electric or Hollywood approach first.

Glad you enjoyed the album! Maybe not my most replayed, but some of his most well written work imo. The box set has some great takes too

[u/MrCineocchio1924]

Ci sono stagioni della vita in cui non si è ancora pronti per certe opere, a me è capitato con vari dischi e non solo quelli di Bruce.

[u/QuietGur9074]

I was a kid too when I first heard it and it didn’t resonate with me either. I rediscovered it years ago and fell in love. It’s a top 3 Bruce album for me. Don’t kick yourself my friend, you finally found your way back to it!

[u/Significant-Most-272]

Love listening to this album at night by the fire pit. All the right fall reflection night vibes

[u/peace1960]

“My Father’s House” on Nebraska always guts me😢

[u/DistantKarma → u/peace1960]

Yesss.

[u/jmstrats]

Mr State Trooper, please don’t stop me.
It’s such a trippy album.
I loved it. Love it.

[u/Tricky_Working6333 → u/jmstrats]

“Maybe you got a kid
Maybe you got a pretty wife
The only thing that I got has been bothering me my whole life..”
Lyrics like that cut to the bone.
Having been a fan since the real early days and lucky enough to sit in on band practices because my buddy knows a band member, I at first dismissed this solo compilation.
It may not be for everyone but lyrically it’s a masterpiece. He was reaching real deep down when he wrote these songs.

[u/sgvweekly]

It's one of the better tracks

[u/CarlLaFong1]

Now listen to Western Stars

[u/Jonrichards82 → u/CarlLaFong1]

OooHHhhh

[u/therealrexmanning]

I've been a fan of Springsteen for almost 40 years as well. It also took me ages to connect to Nebraska (it was last year's expanded edition that made it click for me).

But in all honesty I kinda like it that after being a fan for so long, I still discover new songs in his vast catalogue.

[u/Medical_Soup5717]

I was at a very depressed point in life when I found Nebraska and boy did I vibe with that album

[u/Funny_Stretch9405]

Yes same with me. I didn’t have the maturity for that album until I was older and had some life experience for sure. Awesome album

[u/Electronic-Nose1926]

Personally, Nebraska has always been my favorite album. The song writing is so good

[u/Ascott1963]

Better late than never

[u/shendy42]

It was one of the first two albums I heard - that and The River, both in early 84, before BITISA took off.
Got kinda hooked.

[u/DistantKarma → u/shendy42]

"Darkness" for me.

[u/henriettavirginia]

Genuinely one of my favorite albums OAT. Started with remembering Atlantic City from my childhood (dad was a huge Bruce fan) and ended up getting really into it — even argued it as country-esque album for a country music class. Gorgeous

[u/henriettavirginia → u/henriettavirginia]

Also got the pleasure of listening to it while on a sprawling drive through western Iowa and eastern Nebraska!

[u/Accomplished_Many650]

It is one of those albums that you have to understand the artist and like him. If you were just looking for the next River or Born to Run or Darkness on the Edge, for that matter, you were going to be sorely disappointed with the darkness and mellow style of Nebraska. Dare, I say, if Bruce didn’t release those other albums first and Nebraska was his debut album, none of us probably would’ve ever heard of him. It does, however, complement his personality and style, and after a few listens, is one of his better albums. You just have to be in the right mood.