The Boss is back: Springsteen’s “Nebraska” story comes full circle

Fresh on the heels of Monmouth University s week-long extravaganza celebrating the th anniversary of Born to Run Bruce Springsteen is making headlines yet again with the authorized biopic Deliver Me from Nowhere and the long-awaited release of the fabled Electric Nebraska album as part of Nebraska Expanded Edition Die-hard fans and music lovers alike will be delighted to discover that for the greater part part neither disappoints Based upon Warren Zanes s Deliver Me from Nowhere The Making of Bruce Springsteen s Nebraska the film stars Jeremy Allen White of episodic TV s Shameless and The Bear fame as the Boss As with Born to Run s make-or-break release six years earlier the early s find Springsteen at a crossroads White turns in a bravura performance bringing Springsteen vividly to life as a moody musician having achieved success beyond his wildest dreams yet uncomfortable with the international fame he realized with Hungry Heart and The River in the early s Related Deliver Me From Nowhere Everything we know about Jeremy Allen White in Springsteen biopic In a risky career move Springsteen turns introspective digesting the short stories of Flannery O Connor and Howard Zinn s People s History of the United States The outcome is s Nebraska the acoustic lo-fi homespun record that established Springsteen as an artist for the ages William Ruhlmann aptly describes the LP as one of the the bulk challenging albums ever issued by a major star on a major label As Deliver Me from Nowhere makes indubitably clear Springsteen s artistic confidence is buoyed by his career-making partnership with Jon Landau Jeremy Strong Succession turns in a muted performance as the Rolling Stone critic cum record producer imbuing Landau with a brooding intensity that misses out on the enthusiasm and zest inherent in his real-world persona But this is a minor quibble for a film that like the Nebraska album itself rightly dares to elevate the making of a solo acoustic record into high art By contrast White s performance is a wonder to behold precisely walking the tightrope between Springsteen s bigger-than-life stardom and the deep thinker who brought the rawness of Nebraska to fruition Start your day with essential news from Salon Sign up for our free morning newsletter Crash Program And speaking of Nebraska this week marks the release of one of rock n roll s Holy Grails the so-called Electric Nebraska sessions that Springsteen undertook with the E Street Band before retiring to Colts Neck New Jersey where he recorded the album as a solo effort on a portable four-track cassette athlete Nebraska the -track collection clears the vaults for fans who have been salivating to hear the fabled electric recordings with the E Street Band As with previous releases that attain mythic status Nebraska won t satisfy everyone It s not a track-for-track full-band blueprint for the eventual album But in plenty of approaches it s something better offering proof positive that Springsteen s stripped-down version of Nebraska was the right artistic choice At the same time Nebraska offers a powerful nod to the future in this circumstance the blockbuster Born in the USA album on the not-so-distant horizon In stark contrast with the album s bombastic top- title track the early version of Born in the USA featured on Nebraska oozes with the pain heartbreak and disillusion inherent in the song s lyrics For this listener Nebraska s Born in the USA is now the standard-bearer Read more about Bruce Springsteen Bruce Springsteen maps the treasures of his own music vault Bruce Springsteen s Tracks II unearths the lost albums of a restless genius There s nothing like seeing Bruce Springsteen perform in his home state The post The Boss is back Springsteen s Nebraska story comes full circle appeared first on Salon com