Paperback

In this intimate retelling of how Bruce Springsteens most introspective album came to be, musician Zanes (Petty) unpacks the psyche, pathos, and music industry machinery that made it so surprising and stirring. Before Springsteens hit-packed 1984 albumBorn in the U.S.A., there wasNebraskaan album Zanes lovingly compares to a cave painting in the age of photography. Despite the fact that it was laid down on a cassette recorder in a room with wall-to-wall shag carpet at a New Jersey rental house, Zanes callsNebraskathe Bosss most important work, an album that was cutting deals with no one and stripped away so much of what seemed required for commercial success (clean and clear fidelity, perfect performances) that all that was left was the grunt of art. In interviews with Springsteen, Zanes details how the artist recordedNebraskaduring one of his loner periodsa time of deep soul-searching during which he probed his childhood in songs such as Mansion on the Hill and My Fathers House. Early chapters fill in backstory to the records creation and later ones break down the album song by song. Zanes traces how the albums punk rock spirit pushed back against the industrys preferred polished sound to become a chart-topping success, and delivers the narrative in energetic prose that makes his enthusiasm for his subject palpable. Rock n roll fans will want to crank this up to 11.(May)