10 Greatest Unplugged Albums In Rock History

In the hierarchy of rock and roll, the backing band is just as important as the main man out front. Tom Petty wouldn't have gotten nearly as far without the Heartbreakers, and you know that Bob Marley couldn't have made it to half the legend he is today without the Wailers. And in the case of Bruce Springsteen, we got to see what the Boss sounds like with no employees on Nebraska.

From the first few notes of this record, you know that this is a much more intimate affair, with Bruce sounding almost like a Jersey substitute for Bob Dylan with just an acoustic guitar and a harmonica. And, for better or worse, that's exactly why this sounds like it does. Rather than the big budget production you got back on Born to Run, this entire thing was made as a demo tape by Springsteen in his bedroom before he decided to just release the tapes in their rawest form.

For these songs though, that production style works wonders, because these characters are people who are at their wit's end, down on their luck, and looking for some sort of relief from the lives that they're living every day. So when you listen to something like Highway Patrolman or the title track and wonder why it sounds so lonesome, it's not for lack of trying. This is all that these characters have to stand on, and they're going to make the most of it.