10 Rock Music Acts That Went Dark (AND NAILED IT)

As far as Bruce Springsteen is concerned, the E Street Band is as integral to the sound of his music as his lyrics. The Boss had always been an amazing songwriter, but it was the story that the band told with him that gave his characters a sonic space to live, either on the cold streets of Jersey or dreaming of something better lying just on the other side of the freeway. Once you strip all of those big sounds away though, Bruce's songs were stark naked, with characters that were more tortured than ever.

While Nebraska may not have been meant to be a true solo outing for Bruce, these songs have a much different space than what was going on on something like Born to Run. When going through every song that Bruce has to tell, these characters are not in the best way, from the title track talking about a serial killer finally getting what's coming to him or My Father's House detailing a man never fully getting closure after trying to make amends with his old man.

For all of the heartache that Bruce pours into these songs though, there's still that romanticism about it too, from Atlantic City being a means to get away from the darkness of life to bringing it back home by always finding a Reason to Believe at the end of the day. The best moments in Bruce's songbook is where he's looking for something greater on the other side of the tracks, but you can't appreciate that dream you're chasing if you don't take account of all the meanness in the world.