Bruce Springsteen Considers This Stripped-Down '80s Album His Best

When a songwriter sits down to work on their next album, ideas rarely come fully formed. Instead, potential songs take the shape of bare bones sketches – a melody without words, a series of chord changes, or perhaps lyrics that are still in need of a tune.

Musical notation can be a tricky business. It's easy to write down a song that's been worked up on a guitar, but capturing the little details is a challenge.

Thankfully, for some time now it's been relatively easy to record at home, and the resultant drafts can be taken into the studio to flesh out with a full band. In the wide history of rock albums, however, there is one album that stands out as a classic which skipped this crucial second phase entirely.

RETURNING TO HIS ROOTS

By 1981, Bruce Springsteen was an established act and a household name. Six albums into his career, the singer songwriter, backed by his E Street Band, was no longer the aspiring artist dreaming of aping the success of his heroes, The Beatles. Then in his early thirties, Springsteen found himself at a strange time in his life.

As he explained in an interview for CBS: "I think in your 20s, a lotta things work for you. Your 30s is where you start to become an adult. Suddenly I looked around and said, 'Where is everything? Where is my home? Where is my partner? Where are the sons or daughters that I thought I might have someday?' So, I said, 'OK, the first thing I've gotta do as soon as I get home is remind myself of who I am and where I came from."

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN'S 'BEST' ALBUM

That's exactly what Springsteen did, renting a run-down farmhouse in his home state of New Jersey. The exact location was the small township of Colts Neck, and it was here that the singer sat down in his bedroom to commence work on a new album that would be titled Nebraska. It marked a return to his roots in a literal manner.

Isolated out in the country, Springsteen absorbed folk music, American literature, tales of outlaws and criminals, and the everyday stories of ordinary men and women struggling to survive. He experienced a remarkable period of creativity, capturing his raw ideas on a four-track tape recorder.

Then came an incredible decision. Instead of taking these sketches into the studio to work on with his band, Springsteen decided that the only way to preserve their essential spirit was to release them exactly as they were. It was a brave move, and although contemporary reviews were mixed, over the years Nebraska has come to be viewed as one of Springsteen's best and a fantastic entry into the canon of American popular music.

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