Bruce Springsteen, photo by David Michael Kennedy

Bruce Springsteen’s legendary 1982 album Nebraska represented a seismic shift in his artistic perspective, fearlessly pursuing true and unguarded creative expression as the pressures of new fame forced the singer-songwriter to look inwards. The immortal record that resulted is an audibly intimate, raw document of his soul-searching, set to tape on a four-track recorder and left unfinished, foregoing plans for re-recording with his E-Street band to preserve the energy of his stripped-back acoustic sessions. Since its unforgettable release, rumors of what could have been have circulated among Springsteen’s passionate fan base. Today, he’s finally answered long-lingering questions with the official unveiling of Electric Nebraska, part of the upcoming Nebraska ’82: Expanded Edition.

Set to release on Oct. 17 via Sony Music, Nebraska ’82: Expanded Edition is a five-disc retrospective on Springsteen’s groundbreaking album featuring unheard artefacts of the mythicized era alongside new recordings. The collection’s coveted centerpiece is Electric Nebraska, recorded with the full band of Springsteen, Garry Tallent, Max Weinberg, Danny Federici, Roy Bittan and Stevie Van Zandt at New York’s Power Station in 1982. The 8-track session features electrified, expansive takes on the bulk of the original tracklist, plus the previously unheard outtake “Downbound Train” and a roaring early version of “Born in the U.S.A.” recorded by a stripped-down trio of Springsteen, Weinberg and Tallent.

“We threw out the keyboards and played basically as a three-piece,” Springsteen reflected on the long-vaulted version of one of his signature songs, released today to preview the collection. “It was kinda like punk rockabilly. We were trying to bring Nebraska into the electric world.”

Electric Nebraska is packaged alongside Nebraska Outtakes, a set of nine solo rarities from his original Nebraska acoustic sessions and a scrapped solo studio booking from 1982, including “Losin’ Kind,” “Gun in Every Home” and another solo demo of “Born in the U.S.A.” Nebraska ’82: Expanded Edition also features a 2025 remaster of Nebraska and a contemporary re-recording of the record, played in its entirety at Red Bank, N.J.’s Count Basie Center and filmed by Thom Zimny. “I think in playing these songs again to be filmed, their weight impressed upon me,” Springsteen reflected on revisiting the album four decades after its release. “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.”

Nebraska ’82: Expanded Edition will arrive one week before the theatrical release of Deliver Me From Nowhere, Scott Cooper’s film adaptation of Warren Zanes’ 2023 biographical book of the same name, starring Jeremy Allen White as The Boss. The highly anticipated film centers the creation of Nebraska, delving into the turmoil and revelation that charged Springsteen’s turning point by situating the music in the throes of his personal and artistic growth. Scenes of inner conflict mirror the intimacy of Nebraska’s striking four-track recordings. “Don’t need to be perfect,” White, as Springsteen, says in the trailer. “I want it to feel like I’m in the room by myself.”

Nebraska ’82: Expanded Edition is available to pre-order and pre-save now. Listen to “Born in the U.S.A. (Electric Nebraska)” below, and read on for the collection’s full tracklist.

In June, Springsteen released Tracks II: The Lost Albums, a collection of seven eclectic full-length albums recorded between 1983 and 2018 and now finally pulled off the shelf, including LA Garage Sessions ’83, the coveted missing link between Nebraska and Born in the U.S.A. that bridged two of Springsteen’s most distinctive and celebrated eras. Read more on that sprawling archival upheaval here.

Nebraska ’82: Expanded Edition Tracklist:

Disc 1: Nebraska Outtakes

1. Born in the U.S.A.

2. Losin’ Kind

3. Downbound Train

4. Child Bride

5. Pink Cadillac

6. The Big Payback

7. Working on the Highway

8. On the Prowl

9. Gun in Every Home

Disc 2: Electric Nebraska

1. Nebraska

2. Atlantic City

3. Mansion on the Hill

4. Johnny 99

5. Downbound Train

6. Open All Night

7. Born in the U.S.A.

8. Reason to Believe

Disc 3: Nebraska (Count Basie Theatre, Red Bank, NJ)

1. Nebraska

2. Atlantic City

3. Mansion on the Hill

4. Johnny 99

5. Highway Patrolman

6. State Trooper

7. Used Cars

8. Open All Night

9. My Father’s House

10. Reason To Believe

Disc 4: 2025 Remaster

1. Nebraska

2. Atlantic City

3. Mansion on the Hill

4. Johnny 99

5. Highway Patrolman

6. State Trooper

7. Used Cars

8. Open All Night

9. My Father’s House

10. Reason To Believe

Disc 5 (Blu-Ray): Nebraska (Count Basie Theatre, Red Bank, NJ)

1. Nebraska

2. Atlantic City

3. Mansion on the Hill

4. Johnny 99

5. Highway Patrolman

6. State Trooper

7. Used Cars

8. Open All Night

9. My Father’s House

10. Reason To Believe