#Heart of darkness album serial
#Heart of darkness album series

The last thirty pages are made up of brief contributions from a variety of musicians about the influence nebraska has had on their own creative lives, and their thoughts on whether the album's popularity will endure. burke spends many pages characterizing nebraska as a product of reaganomic despair, yet strangely sees fit to include his own snarky political asides.

while at times quite interesting, there is not a whole lot of information that will come as a surprise to the devoted springsteen listener. as burke was not granted access to springsteen himself, much of the book is culled from other source materials and finds the author offering his own critique on the album's production and themes. early parts of the book set the scene with a brief lesson in folk history, including the well-trod subjects of woody guthrie, bob dylan, and the like. while the main focus of the book is, of course, the nebraska album, the subtitle is a bit of a misnomer, as heart of darkness also considers springsteen's sixteen other studio albums in chronological order. the album was quite the departure from the boss' earlier recordings and is often credited for ushering in the lo-fi, diy movement that came to shape so much of rock music.ĭavid burke, a british music magazine editor, recounts the trajectory of springsteen's career in heart of darkness: bruce springsteen's nebraska. nebraska is composed of ten songs best described as bleak, desolate, haunting, cinematic, and sparse.

#Heart of darkness album series

after rerecording many of these songs with his famed e street band, it was decided that the original demos would themselves be released as an album instead a solo acoustic affair that came to be one of the decade's finest and most influential albums (as well as one of the thirty years ago this month, bruce springsteen recorded a series of demos on a 4-track tape recorder in his colts neck, new jersey bedroom. Thirty years ago this month, bruce springsteen recorded a series of demos on a 4-track tape recorder in his colts neck, new jersey bedroom. In Heart of Darkness, David Burke evaluates the album's American folk roots, places it in the context of Springsteen's entire body of work and hears from a generation of artists who cite it as a major influence.more

#Heart of darkness album serial

Instead, ten of the songs, in their home recorded form, became Nebraska, a stark soundtrack to an economic downturn in America on a scale not seen since the Great Depression, a noir album evoking the southern Gothic literature of Flannery O'Connor and the ghost of Fifties' serial killer Charles Starkweather, among others. Instead, ten of the songs, in their home recorded form, became Nebraska, a stark soundtrack to an economic downturn in America on a scale not seen since the Great Depression, a no In January 1982, Bruce Springsteen recorded a bunch of demos on a four-track Portastudio in his New Jersey home, intended as templates for the follow-up to his blockbusting double set, The River. In January 1982, Bruce Springsteen recorded a bunch of demos on a four-track Portastudio in his New Jersey home, intended as templates for the follow-up to his blockbusting double set, The River.