great stuff lono. this is indeed one sparse record. i love it, but i havent listened to it in about two years. i loved the rising too, so you wont be getting threatened with stakes, crosses etc from me, although i dont know if its his best work or not. im not a terribly big bruce fan.
but yeah, this is adamn fine record.

Great review, Lono. I've been a Springsteen fan since before the dawn of time, and I couldn't agree with you more about this album. I'm not all that taken with The Rising, though -- it has a few good moments on it, and a couple of those songs are great if you can see them performed live, but when I'm reaching for the albums that speak directly to me, the ones I always end up with are Born to Run and Darkness on the Edge of Town. Springsteen's taken a lot of heat for his political positions lately, even from his long-time fans. It always makes me wonder what the hell they've been listening to all these years.

Springsteen was also listening to
Suicide's FRANKIE TEARDROP masterpiece when he recorded NEBRASKA.

Nebraska is the last great album Springsteen made, in my opinion -- and it's probably the last record in the world I would compare with Closing Time, which isn't anywhere near as stark. Both good for late at night, but that's about it; the Waits' record sounds like a romping, stomping polka by comparison. I think the theme of Nebraska is summed up by "Reason to Believe," where Springsteen asks just what it is that makes people press on despite all they have to endure. A bleak and beautiful record -- he tried to follow it up a few years ago with The Ghost of Tom Joad, which is not as successful; the songs sound like retreads.

very nice.

also good of you to stick up for The Rising, since it has become so fashionable to dump on it lately (i think for political sour grapes more than anthing else).

Thanks for the review and reminder..."Nebraska" is very much a product of 1982 as well...the year the unemployment rate hit 9.7% (1 out of 10 people out of work)

My dad lost his manufacturing foreman job at the age of 39 that year and was without a full-time job for nearly a year. It was a dark time for many and "Atlantic City" remains one of the most heartbreaking of songs for me.

"Now I been lookin' for a job but it's hard to find
down here it's just winners and losers and
don't get caught on the wrong side of that line
Well I'm tired of comin' out on the losin' end
So honey last night I met this guy and I'm
gonna do a little favor for him

Well I guess everything dies baby that's a fact
But maybe everything that dies someday
comes back
Put your makeup on fix your hair up pretty and
meet me tonight in Atlantic City"