Bruce Springsteen to Drop Never-Before-Heard Electric Version of ‘Nebraska’ Album

Springsteen fans will get their first taste of Nebraska '82: Expanded Edition on October 24. The set includes electric versions of Springsteen's 1982 work, plus a fresh mix of the classic album. 

"I was taken aback when I found out Electric Nebraska was something real, that we'd gone as far as we had," said Springsteen to Mojo Magazine. "But we went back and found the tapes, and it was a bit of a shock. It was a surprise to me. And I think it'll be a surprise to fans."

The electric cuts were recorded at New York's Power Station studios. "For most of the electric versions, we cut the band down to three pieces. And they were just howling. It's this very primitive sort of rock 'n' roll," Springsteen shared with Mojo.

The initial Nebraska album started in a small room. Armed with just a TEAC 144 4-track, Springsteen laid down rough cuts in his Colts Neck rental. Though he later brought these songs to his band, the initial home versions ended up on the album.

"There's no way to fully and completely understand why one recording seems to be speaking in the right tongue and another isn't," Springsteen mused. 

Back in '82, putting out bedroom recordings after "The River's" success was a surprising move. This bold switch caught Hollywood's eye, with Jeremy Allen White now starring in Deliver Me From Nowhere, a film about those fateful sessions.

The new set packs include a mix of the original album, raw cuts from those bedroom sessions, and fresh takes recorded at Red Bank's Count Basie Theatre last spring. Fans can find more info on the album and its release date on the artist's official website.