What if.....?

He could have released Electric Nebraska and BITUA, couldn't he have? Of course we would be waiting to get our hands on the acoustic demos...

I don't know, think about it, most of the outtakes from Nebraska ended up being BIUSA songs and I doubt the BIUSA project would have existed. Fact is, Nebraska was suppose to be a band album, and he wasn't going to release another double album after the River, so I really believe you would have either Electric Nebraska or BIUSA, not both.

Personally, I prefer Bruce's work as the 70s emerging rock and roll savior over his 80s rock icon material. Except for a few songs, I wouldn't have missed BITUSA that much.

How many times does it need to be said that some of Electric Nebraska IS Born in the USA (and nearly The River, for that matter)?

Namely:
Born in the USA
Working on the Highway
Pink Cadillac (all but on the album)
Downbound Train
Glory Days (was an acoustic demo pre-Nebraska)
Living On the Edge of the World (River outtake)

I really don't think there are startling electric versions of anything else other than...maybe...Atlantic City. If there were a few electric outtakes lying around, they probably would have hit Tracks. At least one.

I mean, really, do you guys stay up at night yanking in hope to the idea that an electric Used Cars exists?

Uhh...uhh...uhh...uhh...UUHHHH!!!

I'm sorry, what was the question?

Is that correct English?
Just curious...

I believe that might be a double positive.

Similiar to when those Scallywags from Pink Floyd said

We don't need no education.

And now I think you've gone and compounded your error with a true double-bill: an erroneously-named, and innacurate, analogy.

If he had released electric nebraska in Sept 82 he then went on to record somewhere in the region of another 80 songs over the next 2 years, I think he would have released his next album in the Summer of 84, probably called Murder incorporated, with Dancing in the dark on it, as it was the last song he wrote for the BITUSA album and the end result would probably been the same, Courtney Cox et al. I certainly don't think it would have led to a completely different career path, at least I'm glad it didn't, as his next studio album was his very best, I love TOL.

If I had a time machine I'd go back to 1975 and show him pictures of 1985 Bruce and tell him, "It doesn't have to be that way dude."

To be fair, bring along a 1985 bank statement too, just so he knows both sides of the ledger.

Bring along a 1993 photo too, to scare away Patti.

In 1975? Suki maybe.

Can anyone name a Rock Star that has managed to remain Cool & Relevant 30 yrs down the road?

Can anyone name a Rock Star that has managed to remain Cool & Relevant 30 yrs down the road?

Dylan, Neil Young, Tom Waits.

That was easy.

Bruce is neither cool, nor relevant. He's beloved by about the same size audience that loved him in his prime, 1978-1981. He's an artist's artist, and he's sure to get God-like treatment at award ceremonies by the wannabees. But his relevance in today's music is pretty non-existant. He's written about 6 songs in the last 15 years worth a damn.

But you have to also realize that if Bruce put out Nebraska as an electric album in 1982, he probably would've taken the next year and a half to tour for it.

So his next album would've come out around 1985 or 6. And who knows what type of songs he would've written after that for his next album. Many of the BITUSA songs might not have been written at all. Hell, he might not even have met Julian Phillps and gotten married, which eliminates TOL completely. So if u think about it, it could've changed things quite a bit.

Julian Phillips

He may not have a huge "fan" revelance but any aspiring musician studies his songwriting and his on stage persona....that is of course if they actually care if they can make a living in the business

[quote=smokeyjoe]Dylan, Neil Young, Tom Waits.

I wouldn't disagree, Springsteen would also be mentioned by most critics, the only difference would be that Bruce is more popular than all three combined, if you were to add up the sales of the last ten years.

Relevance is irrelevant. Cool is overrated. Resistance is futile.

Not cool or relevant to almost anyone under the age of 40.

As for the original question, I think an electric Nebraska would have slightly reduced the Born InThe USA icon emergence. Nebraska awed the critics because he turned away from mass stardom after The River, and this created an almost perfect storm for him to take over in 1984-85. An electric Nebraska would have seemed more commercial and less audatious.

PS- I always wondered if he had replaced I'm Goin Down, Working, Bobby Jean and Dancing with Frankie, This Hardland, Murder Inc and None But The Brave what would have happened? I think it would have made the album far stronger, but would have cut sales by 50% or more.

You would've got something like Unsatisfied Heart


Yes, definately and yes, probably

I think everything would be different.

There would have been another hit record there somewhere.

It was supposed to happen the way it.