Singles

Nebraska - The Great Divide

Thomas 11/03/2008

Rating: 5/5

Nebraska, being articulate sorts, describe themselves and their sound as “Perceptive, lyrical pop… The kind of spectacular, epic rock that no-one seems to make anymore”.
The point at which you realise how right that statement is comes at just forty-nine seconds into 'The Great Divide'. As Michael J Hall's voice soars skyward for the first time and the song bursts into life, it develops a quite striking, somehow familiar beauty, like a kiss from an old friend, a much-loved feeling that comes back to you in an instant.

The song then does a wonderful thing and completely forgets to dip for the next three minutes, powering through a rousing chorus and sparkling, glockenspiel-assisted bridge along the way. By the time it ends with a passionate rallying cry to stand up and be counted, 'The Great Divide' proves itself to be an intelligent melodic rock song of the highest order, held together by Hall's powerful voice and Benjamin Todd's delicious weave of guitars.

The lyrical message of destroying apathy and bucking the current status quo is also reflected in the song's very nature. Surrounded as we are by “indie” music so breathtakingly shallow, this is a song that both aims high AND hits its mark, with a melody to die for, a social conscience and above all, a heart close to the size of Jupiter. You could say they don't make songs like this anymore, but we'd prefer to say this: Before the Ting Tings take your money and steal your soul, we implore you, nay, positively beg you to listen to Nebraska, and find something new that you'd forgotten you loved.