Bruce Springsteen’s harrowing acoustic album Nebraska (1982) is considered as one of his (and rock music’s) best, and now all the recordings made at the time are going to be a part of a new five-disc box set.
Sony Music will release the set on October 17, 2025 under the title of Nebraska ’82: Expanded Edition. The set will include, among the fans often talked about “Electric Nebraska,” solo outtakes from the era, including such songs as “Born in the U.S.A.,” “Pink Cadillac,” “Working on the Highway,” a newly shot performance film of the album in its entirety, plus a 2025 remaster of the original album.
The release is set to coincide with the new Springsteen biopic Deliver Me From Nowhere, which concentrates on that period in Springsteen’s life. The new collection on 4-CDs plus Blu-ray or 4-LPs plus Blu-ray, is available to pre-order in the U.S. here, in Canada here and in the U.K. here.
The collection is previewed with a previously unreleased version of “Born in the U.S.A” (which was originally written alongside Nebraska), featuring Springsteen backed by Max Weinberg and Garry Tallent, in a trio rendition from late April 1982. “We threw out the keyboards and played basically as a three-piece,” Springsteen reflected. “It was kinda like punk rockabilly. We were trying to bring Nebraska into the electric world.”
In addition to “Electric Nebraska” — which features Tallent, Weinberg, Danny Federici, Roy Bittan and Stevie Van Zandt — the set’s collection of session outtakes unearths Springsteen solo rarities including more songs from the original Nebraska home recordings (“Losin’ Kind,” “Child Bride,” “Downbound Train”) and tracks from a one-off 1982 solo studio session (“Gun In Every Home,” “On the Prowl”). Also included is a present-day performance film of the Nebraska album – played in sequence for the first time ever and captured at New Jersey’s Count Basie Theatre by Thom Zimny. Having never toured behind Nebraska, Springsteen revisits the material, described by many of his fans as the “holy grail,” more than 40 years later. “I think in playing these songs again to be filmed, their weight impressed upon me,” said Springsteen. “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.”
