With the October 24 premiere of the Bruce Springsteen biopic Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere approaches, the Boss has just announced plans for a very special box set focused on his acclaimed 1982 acoustic album, Nebraska.
Videos by American Songwriter
Nebraska ’82: Expanded Edition will be released on October 17, and will include a long-rumored electric version of the album. The five-disc collection also will feature a remastered version of the original Nebraska album, unheard outtakes and previously unreleased tracks from the sessions, and a newly recorded and filmed live performance of the entire album.
Nebraska ’82: Expanded Edition can be pre-ordered now. It will be available as a four-CD/Blu-ray set, a four-LP/Blu-ray vinyl package, and digitally. The Blu-ray features Springsteen performing the entire Nebraska album live in sequence for the first time. The video, which was directed by frequent Springsteen collaborator Thom Zimny, was shot recently at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, New Jersey.
In advance of the box set’s arrival, a previously unreleased version of “Born in the U.S.A” recorded during the making of Nebraska has been made available via digital formats. Bruce recorded the track with E Street Band drummer Max Weinberg and bassist Garry Tallent in April 1982. The unheard take boasts a different sound and melody than Springsteen’s hit studio version.
“We threw out the keyboards and played basically as a three-piece,” Bruce reflected in a statement. “It was kinda like punk rockabilly. We were trying to bring Nebraska into the electric world.”
More About the Nebraska ’82 Box Set
The Nebraska ’82 box set features an eight-track disc titled Electric Nebraska. It includes the aforementioned version of “Born in the U.S.A.,” as well as electric renditions of six songs that appear on Nebraska. Electric Nebraska also boasts an alternate version of “Downbound Train,” another tune that was featured on the 1984 Born in the U.S.A. album.
Springsteen was accompanied on the tracks by E Street Band members Tallent, Weinberg, Danny Federici, Roy Bittan, and Steven Van Zandt.
Another disc in the box set is titled Nebraska Outtakes. It features rare home recordings made by Springsteen while working on what became the Nebraska album, including “Losin’ Kind,” “Child Bride,” and “Downbound Train.” The disc also includes a couple of tracks from a one-off 1982 solo studio session—“Gun in Every Home” and “On the Prowl.”
The audio of the aforementioned live performance of Nebraska also appears on a separate disc.
Springsteen said of Nebraska performance, “I think in playing these songs again to be filmed, their weight impressed upon me. I’ve written a lot of other narrative records, but there’s just something about that batch of songs on Nebraska that holds some sort of magic.”
Trailer for the Nebraska ’82 Box Set
A trailer for the Nebraska ’82: Expanded Edition collection has debuted on Springsteen’s official YouTube channel. The clip features Bruce and music writer Erik Flannigan discussing different aspects of the box set, including the Electric Nebraska tracks.
“Over the years, I’d been asked about Electric Nebraska, and I always thought the question was ridiculous,” Springsteen comments in the beginning of the video. “Finally, I went back into the vault … Lo and behold, there it was.”
Flannigan then notes, “This is what fans have been waiting for, Electric Nebraska. We get the Holy Grail. These are the band recordings that had been rumored, whispered about, wondered about for decades.”
Bruce appears again and says, “It shocked me because of how incredibly different it sounded from most of the other electric things I’d ever done.”
Flannigan then pipes in, “These are not the songs you think they’re gonna be. They’re a hundred miles an hour. It’s pedal to the metal. On top of that, we get Nebraska outtakes. Nine solo acoustic songs that are not featured on the original Nebraska album. The outtakes and Electric Nebraska are joined by a 2025 remaster of the original album, and then a new live recording with Bruce playing all 10 songs from Nebraska.
Springsteen adds, “When the idea for the box set came up, I said that’s the one thing that I need to do—record the album from start to finish and … let Thom Zimny shoot it as a film.
Summing up the project, Flannigan says, “Nebraska ’82: Expanded Edition effectively gives us a window into the entire arc of the recording of Nebraska.
The Boss then concludes, “This box set is gonna be a lot of fun, and I’m super excited about [it] coming out now for the fans.”
About Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
As previously reported, Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere looks at the making of the stripped-down Nebraska album. The biopic, which features The Bear star Jeremy Allen White as Bruce, is based on musician-turned-author Warren Zanes’ 2023 non-fiction novel Deliver Me from Nowhere.
The film was directed by Scott Cooper, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Zanes.
Besides White, the movie features Jeremy Strong as the Boss’ longtime manager Jon Landau; Stephen Graham as Springsteen’s father, Doug; Odessa Young as Bruce’s love interest, Faye; Gaby Hoffman as Springsteen’s mom, Adele; and Marc Maron as producer Chuck Plotkin.
Springsteen and Landau were both involved in the production of the movie.
Nebraska ’82: Expanded Edition Track List:
Disc 1: Nebraska Outtakes
- “Born in the U.S.A.”
- “Losin’ Kind”
- “Downbound Train”
- “Child Bride”
- “Pink Cadillac”
- “The Big Payback”
- “Working on the Highway”
- “On the Prowl”
- “Gun in Every Home”
Disc 2: Electric Nebraska
- “Nebraska”
- “Atlantic City”
- “Mansion on the Hill”
- “Johnny 99”
- “Downbound Train”
- “Open All Night”
- “Born in the U.S.A.”
- “Reason to Believe”
Disc 3: Nebraska (Count Basie Theatre, Red Bank, NJ)
- “Nebraska”
- “Atlantic City”
- “Mansion on the Hill”
- “Johnny 99”
- “Highway Patrolman”
- “State Trooper”
- “Used Cars”
- “Open All Night”
- “My Father’s House”
- “Reason to Believe”
Disc 4: Nebraska (2025 Remaster)
Same as Disc 3
Disc 5 (Blu-Ray): Nebraska (Count Basie Theatre, Red Bank, NJ)
-Same as Disc 3
(Photo by David Michael Kennedy)
Leave a Reply
Only members can comment. Become a member. Already a member? Log in.