Earlier this year Bruce Springsteen released seven previously unreleased albums from the vaults, but didn’t include the one fans have clamored for since the ’80s – the full-band version of “Nebraska,” the one he recorded with the E Street Band, then scrapped in favor of the acoustic demos he made at home on a four-track recorder.
Those fans will finally get what they’ve pleaded for at the end of next month, when Electric Nebraska will get its release as part of a five-CD box set called “Nebraska ’82: Expanded Edition.” Lots of other unreleased tracks will be included, including this early version of “Born in the U.S.A.,” recorded at the same time as the full-band tracks from “Nebraska” and released last week to tease the box set’s arrival.
This is far from the major-key version that Ronald Reagan’s campaign foolishly mistook for patriotic braggadocio. The minor-key arrangement makes it impossible to miss the scathing critique of Reaganism that the lyrics spell out.
