special introductory paragraph!
Neil Young
Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
Neil Young Archives Performance Series: Crazy Horse Live At The Fillmore East 1970
After The Gold Rush
Live On Sugar Mountain February 1, 1971
Live At Massey Hall 1971
Crazy Horse
Journey Through The Past
Harvest
Time Fades Away
On The Beach
Tonight's The Night
Zuma
Long May You Run (with Stephen Stills)
American Stars 'N Bars
Decade
Comes A Time
Rust Never Sleeps
Live Rust
Hawks & Doves
Re-ac-tor
Trans
Everybody's Rockin'
Old Ways
Landing On Water
Life
Lucky Thirteen: Excursions Into Alien Territory
This Note's For You
Freedom
Ragged Glory
Arc
Weld
Harvest Moon
Unplugged
Sleeps With Angels
Mirror Ball
Dead Man
Broken Arrow
Year Of The Horse
Silver And Gold
Road Rock V1: Friends & Relatives
Are You Passionate?
Greendale
Prairie Wind
Living With War
Chrome Dreams II
It took me years and years upon OH! You know? Like the longest time
in the world to become a Neil Young fan but I finally did, for kind of a
stupid reason. I became a Neil Young fan when I read about how much he loved
and cared for his son, who suffers from
Okay I'm blanking on it right now but something really bad. Cerebral
palsy or muscular dystrophy or something. And Neil has been the sweetest,
most loving rock and roll father I've ever read about. Designing a toy
train that his disabled son can use, starting a school for the disabled,
leading charity concerts, taking his son on tour with him -- the guy just KICKS
AXE.
Plus, as it turns out, he's made a ton of great msucial albums!
His first msucial album was entielted NEIL YOUNG and it was good and his second
msucial album was entielted EVERYBODY KNOWS I HAVE BAD TEETH and it was
good and his third msucial album was called CROSBY STLLS AND FLAPS.
Mr. Neil "Carl" Young started off his public life with Buffalo Springfield (a
band he was too good for) but quickly moved on to a very nice and friendly solo
career that shot volleys back and forth between a right guard of
country, a backboard of distorted guitar rock, a travelling of synth pop, a
referee sticking his whistle up his ass in the middle of the court of folk, a
bunch of Mexicans doing crazy rain dances up in the bleachers of whiteboy
blues and a cheerleader not wearing any panties of X-rated fuck-rock. He
puts out studio and live albums, both solo and with his loud band Crazy Horse,
at a sickening rate, and always stays true to his principles: Be honest,
always help a friend in need, and treat David Crosby as if he were an actual
human being instead of a fat mustachioed piece of human shit.
And he's Canadian! Like The Guess Who! Don't give me no hand me
down shoes!
At the beginning of his car-ear, Mr. Young played the hell out of his
guitar, doing riffs like "Jailbreak" and "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap"
until one d
This isn't the best album Neil Young ever made. There's a heavy
reliance on what I like to call "hippy chords" or "James Taylor strum-strums" or
"wussy pussy fag riffs," which you'd really have to hear while standing just a
few feet away from me for you to really understand what it is I'm
describing, so forget it. Just drop it.
However, even though the majority of the
tunes are slow and listless, they aren't ALWAYS hippy-happy nature -- the
best tunes are, in fact, eerie and depressing as hell little acoustic-guitar
driven ruminations on being alone. The two in specific I'm thinking of
are "The Last Trip To Tulsa" and "The Loner," both of which stamp an
indelible imprint of spookiness on top of your listening ear. However, most of
the others have their pretty bits and sad mongrels to keep you listening.
Nice variety too, between Byrdsy jangle, distorto guitar fuzz, and acoustic
strummin' -- ALL OF WHICH WOULD BE STOLEN BY J. MASCIS JUST TWO SHORT
DECADES LATER!
On a different topic, one of the more intriguing
bizarrities that strikes me about this debut Mr. Neil Young television
is that a lot of the songs just seem to end all of a sudden, like Neil ran
out of things to do after the guitar solo so he just faded them out because
he didn't know what else to do with them. Howe'er, even with my miner
complaints (and don't they just bitch quite the lot? Hoo! Emphysema
this, tar lung that) about fruity chords and pre-mortem fade-outs, it's a
solid enough (if slow) solo debut.
Oh! Did I mention you'll hate his whiny Canadian voice?
In my home, it gets a lot more listens than Everyone knows this is nowhere
(that never gets listened to at all). A six is way below the mark, Mark.
First album had no succes! It had no hits, no significant contribution to r'n'r, no direction of any kind. No one knew what could be expected from this Canadian guy that doesnt even have licence to work in the USA...Damn, he could be no.1 in Canada! Why he came to USA to be one in the million?! Is it too cold up there?! Well it isnt for Celine Dion!!! Another marijuana influenced decision I guess...
Nevermind. I'm sure that neither mr. Young knew what to do with this 'musical talent thing' that he had ... It was the 60's - so who cares any way?! Them lousy hippies.
'The Last Trip To Tulsa' - shows you just how he didnt know is he coming or going, 'The Loner - good song that kinda stood to these days (not in THIS version though! Heh heh!), 'What did you do to my life' is a personal Favourite (Super backing vocals!!! And nice fuzzy guitars!) But: 'The old laughing lady'?! ''The emperor of Wyoming'?! OK I'm from Serbia. I dont know about this sort of songs. Easy listenning?! Ah, its beyond me...
And I'm pretty sure that Neil scratches his hair trying to remmember "... what was I trying to say with 'The Old laughing lady'?! Uh, I must have been stoned... Look - I made all of the songs begin with The...huh, those were the days...I wonder what happened to that San Francisco crew...And that Baez girl...Or Janis...is she still boozin'?...And Joni, ah! That Joni...I hope she cut that hair already..."
i love Neil Young on other stuff before and after this shitty song, but The Loner is the song that definitely abhor the most.
nothing about lyrics but the annoying guitar noise from someone.
I think whiney Canadian voices might be the fork in the road where the views of Kelly and Prindle diverge however...someday I will write in and comment on Rush, heheheh.....
Reflective, Passionate, Bittersweet, Gentle, Autumnal, Organic, Earthy,
Intimate, Stylish
These are all words I copied and pasted off
of the All Music Guide to help describe what this album sounds like. Yeah,
well they forgot REDNECKY. I know that a lot of these Canadian and British
dudes in the late 60s got a kick out of romanticizing the old American South
as if it were some sort of laid-back goodtime paradise, but I GREW UP THERE.
The rural south is a shithole of racism, ignorance, smelly cows, lightbulbs
that you have to pull a string to turn on, those filthy oldtimey bathtubs
with the curves and cars with big Band-Aids on them.
In other words, I'm completely prejudiced against hicky stuff like The Band and the title
track to this album and ESPECIALLY those butt-ugly vocal "harmonies" in
"Round & Round." The south holds nothing but nightmares for me, so your
city-raised tolerance for that kind of thing might be greater than mine. Lucky
for my own sense of self-respect, however, this album has sufficient charms to
wipe that ugly stain of southern hospitality out of my brain. For example,
the wicked guitar distortion in "Cinnamon Girl" -- featuring one of the
wickedest codas you'll ever hear!!!! (until you hear Mudhoney ruin it
on their second album - oops!). And "Down By The River"! Killing babies!
Guitar solos! "Running Dry"! Minor chords and vibrato! Creepy viola
or whatever the hell it is! Fear and Veging in Las Loathless! Plus, I
don't know if it's the addition of that crazy Horse Band or what, but Neil
sounds a tootsweet more confident on this record than on his "tentative" (ooh!
A critic's buzzword!) debut. Decidedly so! And the songs don't just
fade out after 2 minutes and 15 seconds! And frap, when the country jive is as
dumb as "The Losing End," even socially prejudiced Prind can dig it. For
some reason, I can deal with that "wacky hoedown" sound better than I can
handle straight shit-kickin' hick wailin'.
Look - YOU go spend a few nights
in Maysville, GA. See how the fuck you like it.
This nearly gets my ten but for a couple of reasons.
a) I don't have all his albums yet and,
b) Of his albums I do have, I like some others better.
Nothing new can be said about the fan-bloody-tastic trio of "Cinnamon
Girl", "Down By the River" & "Cowgirl in the Sand" - they all rock,
however I gotta say that I love the title track just as much as these -
maybe more on some days.
This gets nine little thingies from me.
Whitten's guitar-playing also complements Neil's, and guides the rest of the band along as Neil goes off on his own with the lead solos. In some parts of Down by the River and Cowgirl, Whitten's rhythm playing actually is more interesting to listen to than Neil's lead. I agree with other Young afficionados that Crazy Horse was never as good after Whitten's demise. Frank Sampredo's guitar is generally overwhelmed by Neil's, whereas Whitten's was integral. Listen to the first long solo of "Down by the River." At one point, Young stops playing for a bit and Whitten takes over with some major power chords. Young repeats these on his guitar an octave higher and then goes off in another direction, but the point is, the rhythm guitar has set the tone. The interplay between the guitarists is about the best I've ever heard. (Listen with headphones for the full effect - Young's lead guitar is on the right and Whitten's rhythm is on the left)
Some criticism of the songs on this site is off the mark, I think. The title song is a hoot, and also is autobiographical (Neil telling his old friends in Canada that the U.S. isn't all it's made out to be). The lyrics on "Losing End" are turgid, no doubt, but I think this is on purpose. Young apparently wanted to parody a typical country song, and he does it well (I especially like his weird vocal outburst right before the solo). The three big winners (Cinnamon Girl, Down by the River, Cowgirl) are deservedly considered some of the best rock ever recorded by anyone. I don't think there's a moment on any record I have that's more exciting than when the main guitar and drums come in after the brief quiet electric guitar passage that leads off Cowgirl.
Neil's singing on this record was his best ever, and, as I said previously, his voice gets just the right harmonizing from Whitten, and from female vocalist Robin Lane on the beautiful "Round and Round (It Won't Be Long)" By the way, anyone who enjoys Whitten's performance on this album should buy the "Crazy Horse" self-titled album from 1971, which showcases Whitten not just as a guitarist and singer, but also as a talented composer. His loss was a tragedy for rock music.
Neil figured his way out of confusion by admitting that he needs somebody to back him up with SELF ESTEEM. And that would be key to understanding N.Y. \ C.H.relationship. Crazy Horse IS the main thing for Neil becouse with that wall of sound, and with their backing vocals - He can come up with enough self esteem that allows him greater freedom, thus greater creativity.
Where to start?! 'Cinnamon Girl' - superb! 'Everybody Knows...' - delight! 'Down By The River' - masterpiece! 'Cowgirl In The Sand' - best song on this album hides behind really really stupidest name.
This was the real beginning of the greatest American RNR career. Also, this album defined the sound and the song structure of every following NY album. Ya heard "Everybody..." Ya heard them all! Well Nearly all...
(Note: Those were my final words. At this moment Neil commands to the platoon in front of me: "Arms! Ready! Fire!")
Now that all the Macks have left the room (See, this is prime evidence
of why I would never make it in the world of literature and would
probably get consigned with Ann Coulter (helLOOOOO, Nurse!!) and that
one Indian-American chick at Harvard that got called out on her
shennanigans. I plagiarize without THINKING. Without TRYING.
Without BINGEING (or purging. Fuck my literary ambitions. They
belong with Saddam Hussein's.), let's talk about the rest of the
album. It's, as Mark said, rednecky as heck. I will speak kindly of
pretty much every part of the album that has actual singing and isn't
boring as snuh. Such things would be the title track, "The Losing
End", and about 35.948756 percent of "Down By the River" and "Cowgirl
in the Sand". T'ain't no such thang as cowgirls in the sand, Jethro.
But that there's a fine melody on the vocals. And the album as a
whole is pretty solid, but not as much as the subsequent one.
Overall, I give it an 8.5. And I advise Neil Young to STOP BITCHING
ABOUT COMPRESSION AND CD TECHNOLOGY. DOES ANYONE OTHER THAN THE
PEOPLE IN OUR WEB COMMUNITY GIVE A DUCKING JIT? NO!!!! But you
made some darn fine music here. I think he's neat.
i Appear to have left my notes at the workplace today, what with being all too busy to write a review. So now who the heck konws what I was supposed to say? Is this 45 songs from Landing On Water? An entire box set of Graham Nash covers? Neil's tard going "DOYEEEEEE" with his dick in a toy train? No no no, I have a memory and it says two things quaintly: (A) People have supposedly been waiting for Neil Young to release all this rare stuff, according to sources, and (B) his first release in this special "rare stuff" series is a stupid piece of clit incomplete concert from 8 million years ago.
Luckily it's really fantastic, though incomplete. This was recorded when whatsisname was still alive (Danny Whitten) so it includes lots of rednecky harmony vocals by Neil Young and whatsisname (Danny Whitten), but the recording is really awesome and you can hear everything terrifically, especially the fantastic, melodic guitar solos by Neil Young and Danny Whatsisname (whitten) in the 15-minute "Cowgirl In The Sand" and 14-minute "Down By The River." Those guys can play improvisational note runs really good! I mean REALLY good! I was expecting to be bored senseless but no such luck. Their solos are integral parts of the song, not Angus Young going "doodly doodly doodly."
The first song, "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere," is still a bit too rednecky for me personally but that's personal opinion -- and personal opinion says that the rest of the disc is great, great rock music. Also, only three of these six songs were familiar to the audience at the time they were recorded!. I just named them! They're all on Everybody Knows This Is Nomeansno by the Hanson Brothers. But the other three remained unreleased until Tonight's The Night (Come On Baby Let's Go Downtown And Buy Heroin To This Really Happy Music), Decade (a cover of the Pixies b-side "Winterlong") and Everybody's Rockin' (the very first Neil Young song I ever heard - "Wonderin'"). "Wonderin'" isn't quite as rockabilly as it would later become in the Dionysian psyche of Aldous Nietzsche America but it's still awfully catchy.
Is it key? Depends on your love for Whatsisname (Danny Whitten). That's hilarious how I keep calling him "Whatsisname (Danny Whitten)." Good god, I'm taking a gigantic dump all over my head because that's so funny. Also, Neil Young should eat a dick for keeping so many rare, supposedly awesome songs unreleased while making us sit through songs we've already heard a million times on a big special live release. I read this book about Neil Young once, and the guy was totally going off about all these unreleased amazing wonderful emotional songs, so why won't the Canadian Man release them? Do I have to beg? I ain't too proud to beg! That was a reference.
Peel Dung Shark-knives Turdforcramps Titties: Lazy Horsecock Pive Gat Dhe Jillmore Yeast Fuckyou970 is really good, but I can't recommend spending a truckload for it unless (again) you're a huge Danny Whitten fan. And if you are -- isn't it hilarious how his name rhymes with "Fanny Shittin'"? That's probably why he killed himself with that gun. Remember that? When he shot himself and Nancy Spungen with that gun? Poor Danny Whitten, with his throat hurting and not being sure how to follow up "Smells Like Teen Spirit." No wonder his wife shot him after he did all those Simpsons voices and starred on Saturday Night Live! It's just so sad about Danny Whitten, the way he was killed in a kitchen by Sirhan Sirhan, who had been hypnotized to assassinate him. Rest in peace, Danny Whitten! We'll never forget how talented you were and how it's so sad that you died while masturbating on a doorknob, you lead singer of INXS!
IMPORTANT CAVEAT: Drinks had by me
PS: The 'tard' bit was intended as "shock," not "clever." Luckily, it's NEITHER!
That actually destroyed my depression. Thanks for the laugh.
Awww now you GOTS to love that in a good Neil Young! The minute I peg
the frig as a redneck, he goes and records "Southern Man," completely
trashing bigoted rednecks just like I did in that last review! What's up with
them, holmes? So Neil hates the people but loves the music? Ah well, either
way - thumbs up to Neil for raising the ire of rednekkks extraordinaire
LEONARD SKINNER'D. But that's best left for a review I will never write.
The first thing I noticed when I opened the CD booklet back in 1970 right
after I purchased this release from the Virgin SuperStore in Times Square the
day it was released was this sentence: "Most of these songs were inspired
by the Dean Stockwell-Herb Berman screenplay 'After the Goldrush.'"
DEAN STOCKWELL???? As in "Quantum Leap"???? The fork is he doing get
thanked on a Neil Young album?
But let's move on. No more dwelling on the
Young/Stockwell/Bakula connection. Have I mentioned yet that Neil
Young is a fantastic melodicist? Both vocally and musically, he gets it. He
combines, country, folk, acid rock, pop and everything else you can
think of and makes it end up definitively NEIL!!!
...Diamond.
But then he works a little harder on it and it becomes
NEIL!!!!
...Hamburger. Perfect example: the title track to this
album. BEAUTIFUL. There are no other words other than plenty of synonyms for
the word "beautiful" that can be used to describe that song. Even with the
insane falsetto vox. Mang! Moving on to discuss another song: Have
you read the lyrics to "Only Love Can Break Your Heart"? It's about how
being alone is okay when you're young, but the SECOND you fall in love, you
can't bear the thought of being alone anymore. I, for one, have been down
that road before and am still on it.
You know, I've never really liked "Southern Man." I love the sentiments, of course, but I've always
found the music itself too ugly to sit through. I realize that's probably the
point, but that doesn't make the song any more enjoyable for me. But hell,
it's a classic. Somebody shut me up!
Was I talking about the album as a
whole? Oh yes! More piano, more pop melody, less hickiness and long guitar
soloing, and some of the most phenomenally moving songs you will ever
hear in your life ("Don't Let It Bring You Down"???? "When You Dance I Can
Really Love"??? HOLY CHRIST!!!). But if you hate Neil's voice,
there's nothing I can do to convince you that this album is great.
Especially
since it ends with "Cripple Creek Ferry" - both a shitty little song
and a reminder of the existence of Robbie Robertson!!!
Good ol' Rolling Stone huh? You see they put out a magazine a couple of
years ago with the 200 Essential Recordings that one must own and our
good friend Neil Young had three entries in there. This album,
Tonight's the Night and Rust Never Sleeps. I'll ge to the other two
later but I don't know how this can be included over his far superior
Everybody Knows This is Nowhere album, this is just aarghh! Inferior
is probably the word I'm looking for.
I don't really have a complaint about any of the songs, it's just that
the album is a bit too cute for me. Although having said that, the title
track, 'Only Love Can Break Your Heart' and 'Southern Man' are great.
It's still probably better than all the other albums that came out that
year, with the exception of course of Led Zeppelin III and Sunflower
by The Beach Boys.
The rest of this album is also beautiful, therefore
eight or nine out of ten.
I don't know how much credit to this guy......... hunh, it's hard to say.
This album is pretty hippie-ish, that's gonna bring down the score a bit, it always will.
Still, you can't deny that it's pretty good, what we have here is an excellent album......
I think I'd give it a 9 1/2 out of 10.
1.Imperial Bedroom - Elvis Costello & The Attractions
2.Rain Dogs - Tom Waits
3.Sign 'O' The Times - Prince
4.Graceland - Paul Simon
5.Born In The U.S.A. - Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band
and somewhere down the list is the excellent Freedom by Neil Young.
..............the best album of the 80's.
Those were the exact words that Neil said to the staff. He kneeled in the centre of the circle like some kind of basketball coach or something...
I wasnt there, but that came to my mind so I made up the first sentence becouse I'm dull frequently...
'Oh lonesome me' . Not me. Neil! In the song! On the Album! Ah...
My favourites are "When You Dance...", "Dont Let It Bring You Down" (This is grunge! So dont you come up with Nirvanahs and Pearl Jams when someone sez "Say, wasnt there some kind of music that was like rock, but was also folk, but it was also harder like - alternative, ... What was it called...um...grunge was it?!") and "After The Goldrush". But all of the songs are good. And that horn was really an idea that only someone who has history with second hand marijuana smoke could come up.
The album itself is really consistent and has integrity. Neil (this time) knew what he wants to make of it. And he did indeed. (Except for horn. That was bad idea)
1.) Abbey Road--BEATLES
I am a joob.
But Neil isn't. Here we have a classic example of how to make great
music with almost no melody at all and an extremely annoying voice.
One of the best examples of ball-less wimpy folk un-catchy noodlings
in my limited experience. And "Birds" is so frickin' lovely. Now if
he hadn't ended the album with a ninety-second sequence of himself
farting, this would be a masterpiece.
Remember: In eight days, vote the cut-and-run ticket. PLEASE vote the
cut-and-run ticket.
Sent: 10/30/2006
On this hard-to-find bootleg, Mar. ajkle plays all by his lonesome on
acoustic guitar and piano, debuting 4 AWESOME songs that would end up
in much more overproduced form on Harvest, as well as telling some
hilarious little jokes that are inaudible to the record listener, doing
the crowd pleaser anti-policeman "Ohio" and ruining the overall experience
with a 10-minute version of "Sugar Mountain," which gets my vote for
Absolute Worst Song Ever Written And Recorded By Neil Young (even HE admits that
the fourth verse is among the worst material he's ever written - and he
admits this to the audience WHILE HE'S PLAYING THE SONG! - which, come to
think of it, makes the 10-minute version farily entertaining, at least during
the 2-minute section when he's trashing himself for having written such a
bad verse). I just hate fuckin' "Sugar Mountain." No, hate is a very
strong word. We shouldn't daddle with that which we doth not understand. And
that includes the inside of my colon. Where are "Love In Mind" and "See The
Girl Dance" from? They suck, but I'm curious to know whether they're
Buffalo Springfield songs or what. Inform me! My name is Mark David Chapman
and I will shoot you!
"The Needle And The Damage Done" is one of the most harrowing anti-drug songs I've ever heard in my life. So why do I keep singing the words to "Drive My Car" to it?
"I asked a girl what she wanted to be... She said 'Baby, can't you see.... Whoa-oh, come drive my car...'"
I guess I just like how it makes the jovial Beatles song sound so much more foreboding - like the girl is a mysterious apparition who keeps pleading from the afterlife for you to drive her car, then you finally agree and she does something scary and makes you go RUNNING OFF THE ROAD INTO A TREE!!!! I call it "The Needling Bitch And The Damaged Car."
This lengthy CD features a solo Neil Young performing 12 songs on acoustic guitar, 6 on piano, and 18 on vocals. When the songs are this sparse and spare, you spar in a spa, sp s.
When the songs are this raw and unadorned, it becomes evident that Neil Young had already written more great songs at age 25 than most people do in 14,000,000 lifetimes. These melodies are so beautiful, smart, melancholy, pissed-off, romantic, hopeful and pastoral! Incredible songs like "Ohio," "Tell Me Why," "Old Man," "Journey Through The Past," "Heart Of Gold," "A Man Needs A Maid," "Don't Let It Bring You Down," "There's A World," "Down By The River," "The Needle And The Damage Done," "See The Sky About To Rain" -- and he'd already written ALL of these by 1971!!! Dude, he's put out like five billion albums since then, and most of them don't suck hardly at all, much!
Another neet thing is that his audience at this January Canada show would have only known, at most, 8 of these 18 tracks. (Btw, the set list only has 17 titles because "A Man Needs A Maid" and "Heart Of Gold" are presented as a medley. I'm counting them as two different songs though.) They would know the two CSNY songs (btw, did you know that the "Ohio" single was released ONE WEEK after the Kent State shootings? Literally eat your heart out, Tom "Peace In L.A." Petty!), the two Buffalo Springfielders, and the two each from Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere and After The Gold Rush. But this was their very first contact with the as-yet-unreleased five Harvest, two Time Fades Away and one On The Beach tracks. And don't even get me STARTED about the shitty redneck "Dance Dance Dance" song he gave to Crazy Horse instead of recording himself, or the country-bouncy throwaway "Red Fog Of Loneliness" that he wrote especially for an appearance on The Johnny Cash Show (that was cancelled). I implore you - don't you get me started about those at all! Not here, not ANYWHERE!
And by the way, do you realize how amazing it is to hear a quiet, live version of "Old Man" that isn't interrupted by a bunch of assholes clapping in the middle of the first line? This crowd had never heard the song before! Also, near the end of the disc, take note of how about 5 different people shout out "Down By The River!" and against all odds Neil actually plays "Down By The River" for them. Who else does that? Nobody! People in crowds who shout song titles are usually just a-fartin' in the breeze, but not tonight! Not while Neil "Populist" Young is in town! (charging $120 for a concert)
A third neet thing is that Neil speaks a lot between songs - in a surprisingly quiet, soft-spoken, shy little voice you have to pump up the volume (copyright Christian Slater Industries And Limited 1990) to hear. These between-song delicacies include (a) Neil asking camerapeople to stop taking photos because their camera snaps aren't in time with the songs, (b) the revelation that "Old Man" was inspired by an actual old man who serves as a foreman on Neil Young's newly-acquired ranch, (c) his announcement of "A Man Needs A Maid" as 'a Broadway musical' and 'like a show tune from my movie,' (d) the statement "I've written so many new songs that I can't think of anything else to do with them but sing them," and (e) the vomitous fact that he is preparing for a Johnny Cash Show appearance with the truly rotten James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt -- and the audience CLAPS upon hearing this!!! Was Neil Young seriously considered part of the same soft rock shit music depressing kill yourself asshole wimpy scene as THOSE two flaccid penises? If so, it's because he foolishly hung around with Crosby, Stills & The Other Soft Rock Pussy. Because Neil Young is, was, and always will be a ROCKKKER!!!! (Except Old Ways) YOU HEAR ME??? A ROCKKKER!!!!! (aside from Harvest Moon) THAT'S RIGHT, I SAID A R(and Comes A Time) THAT'S RIGHT I SAID A R
Official MarkPrindle.com interview transcriber Jim Laakso loathes Neil Young with every core of his being (I believe his actual quote was "If I were Neil Young's son, I'd be a tard too, the prick. The motherfucking prick.") (Okay, he didn't really say that.), but even HE couldn't resist the gentle, melodic temptation of this music as it wafted through the air of our local Other Music record shoppe that fine April day back in '07. He bought it, took it home, fell in love, married it, and had four retarded half-digital children with it. Godspeed to you, James Laakso, wherever you are!
In summation, once again you can count on Neil Young to deliver the goods for Santa Claus on Christmas Eve when his sleigh breaks down. Yes, no matter whether he's breaking Prairie Wind or Living With Warts, Neil Young is the oldest Canadian in America!
I may be a pathological liar, but I'm not going to lie to you. Neil Young doesn't appear on this CD. However, an enterprising young Dow Jones reporter told me he'd buy me a free real-life copy of this CD from Amazon if I would only agree to review it on my Neil Young page. I call that a bargain! The best I've ever (*craps self*). I come from the southern United States of Damnerica, and hold a pretty strong bias against "rednecks," "redneckism," "hicks," "people with Southern accents," "peckerwoods" and "crackers." As such, it took a few listens for me to warm up to Neil Young's Crazy Horse Without Neil Young. See, they're hicky. Their music sounds like The Band or The Eagles or The Southern Prairie Yeehaw Band. But because I love and respect Dow Jones News Service as a news-gathering organization, I tried to listen past those cotton field country road whiskey and iced tea TRAPIPNGS to the melody hidden underneath. And there it was! Melodies bound for justice on the holy water trail of Gumption! Lovely pop/rock melodies as performed by Crazy Horse as you knew them ("Shittin'" Danny Whitten, "Suckmypeena" Ralph Molina and "" Billy Talbot), along with their bigname friends Jack Nitzsche (a true "Superman" of Rock) and Nils Lofgren of Grin fame. Most of them wrote and sang, and the musical accompaniment ranges from fiddle hoedown to sleazy west coast death rock to downhome old-timey piano playing to sad acoustic balladry for hippy longstockings. What I personally found most surprising on first listen was the discovery that three songs I know well by other artists in fact appeared RIGHT HERE years earlier! You know Rod Stewart's "I Don't Want To Talk About It," right? Sure you do. Who doesn't love Atlantic Crossing? Whoever it is, I have no desire to meet that man. And you know "Beggars Day" by Nazareth? The ass-kickingest song on Hair Of The Dog? NILS LOFGREN wrote the pecker!!!! And here it is - played "Life In The Fast Lane"-style! Nazareth's version is superior, but that's no surprise if you've heard their amazing versions of "Love Hurts" and "This Flight Tonight." It may be a bit more of a surprise if you've heard their horrifyingly penis-up-the-ass version of "Ruby Tuesday." And lastly (third), have you ever heard that song "Downtown" by Neil Young? That he included on Tonight's The Night, an album about the death of Crazy Horse's Danny Whitten? Well, you're never gonna believe this, but - Actually, you might want to sit down, because this is pretty surprising.
Many of the album's other songs are also memorable and enjoyable, and the guitars sound wonderful. I give the album nine stars rather than 10 because a couple tracks aren't quite as good as the rest, but these don't detract much from the overall package. Best tracks, besides Carolay, are Look at All the Things, Downtown, Nobody (written by rock legend Nils Lofgren and sung by Danny Whitten with great backing vocals from Lofgren) and I Don't Want to Talk About It. The version of Nobody on this album is better than Nils' version of it with Grin, his own band. However, the version of Downtown here, while very good, doesn't quite match the really rocking sound it gets on Neil Young's Tonight's the Night album (titled Come On Baby Let's Go Downtown). That version was recorded in concert in early 1970, and has great backing vocals from Young with a lead vocal by Whitten.
It's a shame that lead singer and guitarist Whitten destroyed himself with heroin (he died at age 29 about a year after the album was released). Whitten, a former singing and guitar partner of Young's (listen to Young's Everybody Knows This is Nowhere album from 1969 to hear how well the two sang and played together), had a fine voice, played a fantastic guitar and most significantly, possessed tremendous song-writing ability (I Don't Want To Talk About It, Downtown, Look At All the Things, etc.) that's really on display here. Had he lived, he might have become a big name in music. Young's Tonight's The Night album, released in 1975, was inspired by the life and tragic death of Whitten.
Supposedly this was the soundtrack to a movie that Neil made, but I've
never seen the movie. Is it anything like Caddyshack? I love it when the
guy goes, "Hey, how's about a Fresca? Ahh? Ahh??" Taht's daore shit!
Hey, I just checked half.com again and that greedy fuckhead still hasn't
lowered the price of Paul Revere and the Raiders' Something's Happening CD,
so don't waste your time looking.
This is a double album featuring live and behind-the-scenes snippets of Buffalo Springfield,
Neil and people who aren't related to the band at all (symphony music?
church music? The Beach Boys? Larry Hagman's wrist-snappin' rubber band?).
For some reason "Words" works better on here as a 16-minute studio workout
than it does as a 6-minute album closer on Harvest. But don't let me
get ahead of myself! Stop me! Hit me in the eye! No no! The OTHER eye!
No no! My BROWN eye! Hit me right there! Yeah! Really hard! With your
ass dildo! PERFECT!
This is an interesting release - varied, bizarre,
scraggly - I'm not positive what the point of it is, but it makes for
some fun listening!
(if you like SHIT)
It is outrageous that this album was ever released. It is frankly exploitive of a faithful audience that deserves better from one of its favored performers. There have been many moments in his career when Young has produced some fine rock. Journey Through the Past contains virtually none of those moments. It is the nadir of Neil Young's recording activity.
Are you ready for the country?????
WELL, ARE YA....
PUNK?
Actually, if you ARE a punk, you're probably NOT ready for the
country-ish tone of this album and should be spending your time listening to the
Vandals, especially that hilarious "(I Don't Wanna) Change My Pants"
song. LOVE IT!!!
I may take some heat out of the kitchen as a result of
this review. I know this album is a classic and all - but I just don't
think it's incredibly consistent. I mean, yeah, of course I love "The Needle
And The Damage Done," "Heart of Gold" and "Old Man" (aside from those
screaming backup vocals in the chorus - whose idea was that? Give that man a
paddling ass!). But what's with all the strings and stuff? "There's A World"
is a TERRIBLE song! Is it supposed to be dramatic? It sounds like the
Smashing Pumpkins (synonym: bad) or something. Same with "A Man Needs A Maid,"
except of course, for the fact that that song is harrowingly gorgeous,
both vocally and melody-wise (in spite of the ludicrous bombast at the end,
unless it was intended as a joke, in which case it's toot-slappinly
funny).
Maybe it's the whole "country" vibe that lowers the
listening experience a notch for me. It's not SLOPPY, please. If anything, Neil
and friends sound like the house band for a fancy white pre-Civil War
Southern mansion. Clean and twangy. But, because country as a genre is
somewhat limited to blues-style stickage to form (huh?), a few of these melodies
just aren't as creative or memorable as Neil usually makes them. "Out On
The Weekend" for example. Excellent execution of a go-nowhere melody. And
the near-seven-minute "Words" just doesn't have JACK going for it, as far
as I'm concerned. So that's just a few weak tracks (in my mind), but it's
enough to kinda make me go ehh.... mmm... and go throw on that Vandals song I
was mentioning earlier.
Never gonna CHANGE MY PANTS! Don't CHANGE YOUR PANTS!
Maybe you'd have to hear it.
The tracks with the Symphony Orchestra are a bit too much for me, but
you can't really complain about an album that has 'Harvest', 'Words' and
'Alabama' on it now can you?
Also the first Neil album I owned.
Anyway, the important thing isn't the individual
tracks, it's the FEEL and the MOOD the record creates,
namely that of the laid-back goodtime paradise that
the deep south is and was, suh. A-men.
8/10
"Heart Of Gold" thats one song that really, really stood up all these years. I love this song! My favourite from here.
"Needle And The Damage Done" is great song. That Cobain guy quoted the wrong song when he shoot himself.
"A man Needs a maid" is a weird song. Nice. Subtle. But kinda sexist. ("But you love sexism!" say people that know me. "Thats why you dont have girlfrend!" say my relatives). Not that there is something direct said in the song. I dont know! Should all women be maids?! I guess no...
I dont care what do you think Mark, but 'Words ...' Is a great song! I love that one! "Alabama" is a great song but what about those lyrics?! I'm intrigued by them! Its real brainer that song! Other songs are OK but I really didnt get that orchestration thing. Another marijuana related idea huh?!
Overall. Best album in the trilogy. And best album untill some time...
Recorded totally live, but with all new songs (!), this album
vacillates and anterlates between don't-give-a-shit-kicker rockers ("Yonder Stands The
Sinner") and wonderfully well-constructed, hypnotizing pop gems
("Journey Through The Past"), even sometimes occasionally in the same song ("Last
Dance")! The lyrics seem really automobilagraphical, about Winnipeg
and Canada and other fictional locales like that. And the band plays rough
but pretty. Like, they all sound really drunk and tired, but they're so
talented that the inherent goodness of the songs shine through (and are
even AMPLIFIED by) the muck and murk of the harried on-stage
performance.
I'm all for this record. It is not by and large the most creative batch of
melodies or lyrics he has ever written but the band just jives and jams
so well together with Neil and his thoughts, I can't help but rate this up
there with his best work. Not a "pop" masterpiece, but a rolling,
tolling "pus-filled boils and all" presentation of a real-live touring rock
band in the early 70s, playing songs you probably hadn't heard before! Like
"Transformer Man"!
Oh okay they didn't really play "Transformer Man."
That was a little inside joke for all you Neil Young fans out
there.
You know who you are!!!!!!!
Oh yeah, and remember a few minutes ago when
I asked you where "Love In Mind" came from? I'm starting to figure it
out. Give me another few days and hopefully I can get back to you with an
answer.
Or a request for additional time to continue my intense brain
concentrations.
Hard as hell to find, but slow, moody, somber and depressing as hell.
Except for two crappy songs ("Walk On" - hicky southern rock! and "For
The Turnstiles" - are you ready for the shitty banjo and way-too-loud
vocals?), this is a blues album by a tired, angry, saddened young man. Side two
just oozes by like a Dylan/Lennon hybrid that's about to start crying and
throw the world in a garbage can. What the hell is he so sad about??? Don't
know for sure - they tell me his friends kept dying of drug overdoses - I
have no clue whether that's the reason or not. Maybe he just got really upset
psychically because I was born the previous year and he realized that
he could never, ever be as talented as me ever. Fuckin' Neil Young.
Dick.
While we're on the subject, what in God's name is going on
during the solo of "Vampire Blues"? Is Neil just swatting at a broken string
or something? LAZY!!!! (but great, of course)
Damn you prindle, it's all your fault, this album should be on cd, but
no!
So, not being able to find a vinyl copy of it anywhere, I had to get
some nice man to burn me a copy onto cd (he even threw in bonus tracks
as well - ooh, lucky me).
This album is great. In my opinion it's better than the much more
praised 'Tonight's the Night'.
I can listen to 'Ambulance Blues' on and on and on and on and on and on
and on and on and on until my fingers hurt from pushing the button to
get to the start of the track again.
Don't really care for 'For the Turnstiles' much, but I'll forgive Percy
for that.
A Nine from me.
Supposedly Neil actually did this one BEFORe On The Beach, but
the record company turned it down, preferring to release the joyfest
happytime yayville of that album. This one sounds like a bunch of first takes,
Neil not even bothering to sing the right notes, band speeding up and
slowing down, production nearly non-existent. Revolves around the story of two
of Neil's friends dying of drug overdoses (one of the tracks, in fact, was
written and sung by one of them ----- and it's about buying heroin -
yooiks!). Supposedly Neil was in a deep depression like me and
couldn't bring himself to do much more. But the weird thing is that the songs
themselves AREN'T depressing. If you didn't know the story behind it,
it just sounds like a loose old good time about smoking pot and such.
It's a good record but so loose and off-the-cuff that at times you're really
crawling inside your skin for him to give you a really solid developed
melody. Heck, one of the songs is a complete ripoff of the Stones'
"Lady Jane" - and he admits it in the lyrics!
It's certainly a good record.
Some nice jazzy chord changes in there with the messy floopdiddlyoop.
No reason for Warner Bros. to have nixed it. I just don't agree with all
them critics that say it's his best album.
By the way, I'm currently
depressed as fuck. So don't expect the next few reviews to be very interesting.
I'm sick of being me and I'm thinking about which building would be the
best to jump off of.
This is sooooo depressing to listen to. Now I know about all the inner
demons, the deaths of Danny and Bruce - all that stuff, but that doesn't
mean I have to like the album does it? I've never really been in a bad
enough mood to listen to it as hard as I would like to. Critics seem to
love it though, but then again - most critics are dicks.
In the end - only the title song lived to be remembered. And fairly becouse it has that LIVE potential...
In between - mellow but mediocre selfindulgence. All songs are decent. They're all easy goilng, easy floating, ... Its Neilish, but also Youngish y'now.
And then they say this is dark record! "Come On Baby Lets Go Downtown!"?! ... dark my arse! But it has THAT overtone (In that "Please take my advice..." way).
But then "Tired Eyes", "Mellow My Mind" and "Roll Another Number..." are nice little songs that kinda stood up.
Also, "Albuquerque" is traveloguish song that I liked for a day or so..."Lookout Joe" starts good but fails to amuse.
Lyrics are important on this record. Fuck yeah! They all have this message! Meaning. ... them hippies, they have agendas y'now... flowers and all...
Come to think of it. This is a good record. Fuck yeah!
"Tonight's the Night" and "Tired Eyes" are top tier, but you can for sure hear a far superior version of "Go Downtown" on Crazy Horse's first. The rest is worth it for the pedal steel.
I always see this showing up various Top 100 lists. For which the reason is: "Lookee thar Bubba, Neil just done drove his new truck into a tree." People love to gawk at a wreck, which is what this was when it was released.
The morning sun is yet to climb my hood ornament...
But I agree with the prick on one thing. Tonight's the Night, sloppy?
Vocal high notes, rough? Tempos and rhythm, ragged?? Mallard
Fillmore, humorous??!? I JUST LISTENED TO LET IT BE SCUM TENDER PREY
DOUBLE NICKELS ON THE DIME AND BEAT HAPPENING'S YOU TURN ME ON ALL IN
A ROW LAST WEEKEND DON'T TALK TO ME ABOUT SLOPPINESS RAGGEDNESS AND
OFFKEY FUCKBAD SINGING YOU PRICKS. COMPARED TO MOST OF EIGHTIES INDIE
ROCK, THIS BASTARD IS FUCKING GEOFF TATE. BY COMPARISON OF CLARITY
HE'S LIKE CELINE DION. BY STANDARD OF ROUGHNESS, HE'S YO YO MA.
AAAAAAAAAAAH. DO PEOPLE JUST HAVE DOUBLE STANDARDS FOR GUYS WHO SELL
MORE THAN FIFTY THOUSAND COPIES WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE HUMAN RACE HAS
THE WHOLE WORLD GONE BATTY?!!?????!?!? AAAAAAAAH! FUCK IT! WE'LL DO
IT LIVE!! WE'LL DO IT DSAFHGDFSgooey.
Not that I have any strong feelings on the matter, of course.
Regardless of the quality of recording, this is an excellent LP,
filled with excellent songs, sung by an excellent, toe-tappingly
emotional man. I've never been a fan of the guy's voice, because
let's face it: he always sounds like he's whining, he stays in
falsetto, and his songs, more even than Dylan's, would be VASTLY
improved if someone else sang them. But here--what does he do? He
talk-sings! He moans! He belts it out like John Lennon! Good for
him, I say! Still not much of a singer, but at least he mixes it up.
We all more mixes in this world. Except for Prodigy mixes--that's
just ew.
The songwriting may be a slight notch down from After the Gold Rush,
but the diversity is up, and bully for that. And the tunes that
rock--my GOD. Everybody Knows This is Nowhere was grungy and all, but
this--Eat it, Tom Scholz. Eat it with your FACE. (Just kidding, I
quite like their debut. The rest, though--BLEARGH!, as it were.)
Emotive singin', diverse songwritin', good sequencin', and rootsy
stylin'? We gots ourselves a winner! It's just not as melodic as,
say, Pronounced LehNerd SkinNerd. You gotta think to yourself: "Man!
The Summer of Love fizzled, I'm drunk, and I lost half my friends to
Horse. FUCK!" and all of a sudden, BAM!! Good times. Either a
classic or damn close to it.
Wow! A fully produced record! He must've cheered up finally. This is
a Crazy Horse record featuring strong, full production, tight playing and
that awesome Neil Young guitar tone (distorted, on the verge of clipping,
buzzy but full, beautiful!). Not every song is an absolute killer, but a lot
of them are -- in particular, "Barstool Blues" is gorgeously melodic pop
music, "Pardon My Heart" is a melancholic sad song up there wit anything on
After The Goldrush and "Cortez The Killer" is one of his
all-time classic guitar epics!!! There's also some fun hoedown stuff on here
(tight hoedown, no drunken hick bleah of the type I dislike) and some hard
rock and whatnot. Essentially, this was his return to "normal" radio-ready
music after those last three that made critics and fans wonder what in peyote
he was all up at.
A very solid album, definately an improvement over Tonight's the Night
in my mind, although they are two very different records recorded two
years apart, they were just released in the same year.
Best Songs? Well I'm kind of partial to 'Don't Cry No Tears' and 'Cortez
the Killer' myself.
What about you?
And you must know "Cortez The Killer" and "Barstool Blues" and "Stupid Girl" for sure ("Yeah we saw that Jarmush flick earlier on..."). But lemme point out the "Danger Bird" with its glorious backing vocals and choruses. Then "Drive Back" with its mighty guitar riffs. "Dont Cry No Tears" with this great positive surrounding she owns...And "Through My Sails" one of the best closing songs outthere! If I bothered to rate it I'd give it straight 8 !!!
In the end - "Zuma" is unawoiding record if youre into being a hippie ...living in commune ...fingerpainting... flowers all around... no soap... no scissors... no privacy...
two fun facts about this album:
There was an additional verse for "Cortez The Killer," and it would have gotten on tape - they played it, which made the seven minute song about ten minutes or so, I believe - but the tape machine suffered an error while recording the master take, and that last verse was lost to history. When Neil was told that his last verse had been lost, he said, "I never liked that verse anyway," and that was that. No one remembers what the last verse was anymore.
Neil was so shitfaced while singing the master take of "Barstool Blues" that he sang it an octave higher than he would have normally.
At one time, Neil Young and Stephen Stills' songwriting styles fit together like a horse and feather; basically, they were both into stinging acid rock and bluesy country-folk-rock. This was why Buffalo Springfield sold so many hundred of albums! What - you thought it was because the chicks dug Richie Furay? Yeah, TRY AGAIN. One look at the latest SoundScan numbers for Pickin' Up The Pieces will send that thought running straight out your head and up the back alleyway. Nope, it was because of the significant songwriting talents of Neil Young and Ol' Flabby. Unfortunately, this was also many, many years ago. Unfortunately, this was many, many years a... oh. I guess I... one sec. By 1975, Neil Young was the redneckiest hick in Alabama and Stephen Stills was a coke-snorting L.A. lounge jazz adulterer. What good did they think would arise from this collaboration? While Neil was in a pasture literally writing all of his lyrics on piles of hardened cow dung, Stephen was hanging out with Steely Dan, balling strippers in a rooftop jacuzzi and lighting joints with hundred dollar bills. The resultant album is so schizophrenic, you'll sure it was sexually brutalized dozens of times as a young 7". This isn't helped by the fact that it goes Neil song/Steve song/Neil song/Steve song like the producer was making them sit boy-girl in the studio or something (though I'm not denying there were likely hundreds of daisy chains taking place during the sessions). Getting down to the business of quality, both of my little boys came up with a couple of great tracks in their respective genres -- Neil's title track in particular is a very pretty (and well-loved) ode to an old car, and "Let It Shine" sounds more like Meat Puppets II than Nirvana's Unplugged sounds like Fiona Apple's recurring gastro-intestinal dificulties -- INCLUDING the "sploosh-sploosh-sploosh" of solvent meeting solute. Stephen's are mainly enjoyable because they're so gross; that whole slick '70s jazz-rock sound was just so sunglass-wearing and repellant, manifested most hilariously in the chest-hair assholisms of "Make Love To You" ("Girl when you looked my way, I knew this night was ours/It doesn't matter, I'll be gone with the dawn/So will you/We choose who we choose when we choose)." The four-piece backup band does its best to treat each singer's compositions with respect, but how much respect can you show to lyrics like "Sure feels good to me, midnight on the bay, sure feels good to me/Midnight, midnight, midnight, midnight, midnight on the bay" and "The sea, unforgiving and she's hard/But she'll make love to you"? Goddamned LITTLE, I'd say! Especially when the compositions themselves almost seem like parodies of more "serious" (in Stills' case) and "traditional" (in Neil's) musical forms. I've said all there is to say about this album. Anyone who tries to say more might as well change their name to Large Intestine because they're just makin' shit up.
....And this was his return to loosely thrown-together off-the-ass
dicking around country jive screaming bad production that made critics and fans
wonder what the pot he was smokin'. Featuring tracks recorded from
1974 to 1977, with one side devoted to country/western tunes smothered in
hideously loud and ugly backup vocals by Linda Ronstadt and some other women of
her bilk steinbrenner, this album should REALLY have been a lot worse than
it is. But it's not bad at all! First of all, it features two more
wondrously gorgeous, sad epics in "Will To Love" and "Like A Hurricane."
Secondly, most (though not all) of the country stuff is really fun and even
(gasp) a bit on the creative side! Some of it is just gross though (especially
"Homegrown," which makes me embarrassed to call myself a Neil Young
afficionado of sorts).
And what the??? MORE Dean Stockwell?
Surely this is a different Dean Stockwell (?).
Of course I know "Star of Bethlehem" and "Like A Hurricane" from "Decade,"
and both, especially "Hurricane," are excellent. I'd prefer a better
recording of the epic "Will To Love." With all the background noise, it
sounds more like an outtake than something that should be on a finished
album. But perhaps that's part of its attraction - it sounds as drugged out
as Neil no doubt was when he wrote and sang it.
This is a funny album. It's quite apparent on side one that backup singers
Nicolette Larson and Linda Ronstadt have little idea where these songs are
going or how to sing them. Indeed, according to what I've read, the two
singers thought the one-day session in which these tracks were recorded in
April 1977 was just a rehearsal, and didn't have time to really learn the
songs. They were quite surprised when Neil released an album several weeks
later with their crude vocals included. That's what I love about Neil - his
lack of regard for sticking to standard procedure!
Revealing lyric: "Sometimes I ramble on and on..."
I agree with your 7-star rating.
"Bite the Bullet" and even more - "Will to Love" reversed things and drove us all to secure waters that reached deepest depths on Neils best known and maybe best alltogether song - "You Are Like A Hurricane". This is Neil! Yeah! Groovy! Peace brothers and sisters! This is IT!
But then came "Homegrown"
Damn!
....Never let it be said that Neil "Hamburger" Young doesn't know how to put together an oddball compilation. I don't care how you do it, but I'm willing to pay large bucks to ensure that such a statement is never spoken in the continental U.S. and English-speaking portions of Canada without swift and decisive retribution. I have a set of knives you might consider using, and supposedly the guy in my closet is great at Parcheesi (a martial art), so perhaps you might consider enlisting his aid. But before we work out all the details, let me explain why I feel so strongly about what at first appears to be simple fascism or at very least violent repression of freedom of speech. Check out this sumbitch double album Dacnade that he put out in 1977 (or as I like to call it when I'm hanging upside down from the ceiling for auto-erotic purposes, "LLGI"). First of all, if his last name started with a D instead of a Y, he'd have to resign himself to constantly being written up as "Neil Dung" or "Neil Dong," neither of which are terribly preferable. Secondly, check out the song listing on this wild woolly mammal! First of all, nine of these songs aren't even by Neil Young -- they're by Wesley Willis! "Souuuuthern Maaaan! Souuuuthern Maaaaan! (repeat for full comedic effect and hilarity). No but to be fair, I was lying. They ARE by Neil Young per se, but not pus sy: SIX are by Buffalo Springsteen (three from Buffalo Springfield Again and one each from their other two albums), TWO are by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Powell (one each from Deja Vu and Four-Way Street) and ONE is even by The Stills-Young Band! I know I didn't review it here, but in case you were wondering, that Stills-Young album kinda blows. Then there's more nutso happenings when you check out the song list. Actually, now that I check it again, it's not that nutso. I may have been remembering it wrong. No, wait - there! That's what it was! The fact that six of these songs are previously unreleased! I totally gotta tell you about those six too, so that the completists among you can make an informed decision about whether to pay one dollar for this in one of the five hundred billion dollar bins that it rests in across the nation right now. First is the lost Buffalo Springchicken track "Down To The Wire" (shortened to "Down To The Wir" when Robert Gotobed left the song), which has great echoey guitar breaks and vocals that are much less high and grating than most radio listeners might expect from ol' Neil. That song's a Diamond, Neil! Next up on Unreleased Gems is "Sugar Mountain," which I HATE. Then you flip the CD over and there's a very pretty song later covered by the Pixies ("Winterlong"), a couple of inoffensive but also uninteresting folky acoustic numbers ("Deep Forbidden Lake" and "Love Is A Rose") and a killer acoustic thriller called "Campaigner" that features one of Neil's funnier repeated lines: "Even Richard Nixon has got soul!" So if the rest of the double-album was thrown in a baggie full of dump, I'd give remaining 6-song EP a 7 out of 10. Worth your dollar? Heck yeth! I definitely don't think that this does anywhere near presenting an accurate portrait of Neil, especially considering that it conveniently passes over every album he's recorded in the last 26 years. But if you see it on bargain sale and you're not sure whether you might ever become a Young fan or not, go ahead and get it. It's got the early radio classics "Old Man," "Ohio," "Heart of Gold," "Cinnamon Girl" and "Southern Man," plus a great scoopful of Neil's long epic style that works so well ("Cowgirl In The Sand," "Down By The River," "Cortez The Killer" and "Like A Hurricane." And then if you decide to buy more of his albums, well there's still the excitement of owning the six unreleased tracks and non-solo material! One thing to note though: for some reason, he chose not to include a single song from Time Fades Away. What kind of message does THAT send to the youth of today? CAN'T CLOSE MY EYES!
Actually, I would have liked to give it a 10, but Mark already gave it to
Weld and I don't have Weld, so there's not much I can do about
that. Anyway, Decade is an absolutely brilliant compilation, especially
considering that Neil's hits were so spread out across the albums and that
the individual albums were [ahem] a bit mixed for the most part. It has
lots of his creaky old stuff like "Burned" and "Expecting to Fly," songs
that, when you get past the creakiness, are really quite lovely. Then on
Side 2 we've got "Down By the Sand" and "Cowgirl in the River," the two
utterly interchangeable (but indescribably wonderful) jamfests, as well as
some of his bigger hits from the early '70s. The third side has a few weak
moments, like "Star of Bethlehem" and "Tired Eyes," but it also features
all of Neil's acoustic niceties from Harvest ("Old Man," "Heart of Gold,"
"The Needle and the Damage Done" and of course "Harvest"). The fourth and
final sub-partition of this masterwork is perhaps the best--sure it's got
some fluff like "For the Turnstiles" and "Campaigner," but it's also got
two of my favorite long-dong Yong songs ever: "Cortez the Killer" and "Like
a Hurricane"! Decade also has a few previously unreleased tracks (a
pioneer in this respect?); I can't remember all of their names, but one of
them is really good: it's called "Winterlong" and it's on side 4.
It's not quite perfect, because they do leave out a few great tracks for no
apparent reason. For example, I would have loved to see "When You Dance I
Can Really Love" and "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" from After the
Goldrush, and "Alabama" from Harvest included on the album. But kudos to
Mr. Neil Jung for making sure to put his classic Buffalo Springfield ("Mr.
Soul") and CSNY ("Helpless," "Ohio") tunes on here. Anyway, in reference
to Mark's comment that Decade "may well be good as [Live Rust]"--I have
both albums, and Decade is by far the superior foray, I say. Pray don't
delay--buy it today, hombre.
Some of the tunes here are absolute must-haves that aren't available anywhere else (Winterlong, Campaigner, Soldier, Down To The Wire). Others, like Ohio and Long May You Run, are available elsewhere, but hard to find. And still others (Like a Hurricane, Mr. Soul, Down by The River) are among the artist's best and of course have to be here even though you probably already have them on other albums. This collection also picks the best tracks off of some of Neil's weaker albums (Harvest and the self-titled debut) and puts them in one place, meaning you never have to bother putting on the albums they come from. If I'm in the mood for "Old Man," I seldom take out my dust-covered Harvest CD. Instead, I put on Decade to hear it. And if I want to listen to The Loner, a fantastic rocker which originally appeared on Neil's so-so debut, I always listen to it on Decade so I can enjoy it amid better company. Some nit-picks: The tune selection from On the Beach isn't too hot. Why did Neil choose "For the Turnstiles' instead of something with more verve, like Revolution Blues, or something prettier, like See the Sky About To Rain? Also, it's a shame Ambulance Blues isn't on Decade, as it's one of Neil's best cuts ever. In addition, there's nothing here from the great Time Fades Away album, which remains unreleased on CD. Don't Be Denied or Journey Through the Past (the song, not the album) would both fit in well on Decade, as would have Barstool Blues from Zuma and Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (the title song from Neil's second record). And of course, the album stops in 1977. It's been 26 years, which makes me wonder when Neil will decide to grace us with another hits collection. He'd probably need a three-disc set to follow up. A 10, easily
This was his most country/western album to date, and for that reason
alone I have to lower the grade. I personally am just not that big a fan of
straightforward midtempo country/western music. Does my name appear to
be Tex? Shit no, my name's not Tex. Try again, mister.
The problem with straightforward C/W is that, like the blues, the
melodic invention quotient is just so darn limited. You, the listener or, in
this case, myself, the revered musician and part-time rock and roll critic
extraordinaire Dave Marsh, can always predict the changes and the
melody they'll use in the chorus. It's certainly "pleasant" - I mean, if you like
C/W, this certainly won't give you a headache or anything. The playing
and production are smooth, and Neil has a lovely little country drawl going
anyway. But for me, the real fun comes in the first four songs, when
he doesn't stick to generic country riffage. "Lotta Love"! "Look Out For
My Love"! Classics! Classics, my friend!
And I was bullshitting you
when I said my name was Dave Marsh. If that was the case, my head would be
all smelly and brown from having it lodged so far up Bruce Springsteen's
ass all these years.
This gets a Six from me as well...
Well you play this record. Just put it in your cassette player... (Nyeah! Dont feel bad that you still listen to them damn tapes that must be million years old by now... but remember at those morons that still have turntables!!! Ha ha ha... wacko's!) and just listen! Sit down and just relax and munch on "Going Back" ... Think of some lazy sunday afternoon and relax like there's nothing to bother you...Yeah! Now goes "Comes A Time" and you sit there drink your ice tea and relax...This old world keeps turning around...If you dont fall a sleep by now you'll hear beautyfull "Lookout for my Love", "Lotta Love", "Piece of mind" ... Then you might be waken by "Motorcicle mamma" but you dont care becouse then comes "Four Strong Winds" and you go to Alberta...
Great record!!!
An excellent example of all that Neil Young is capable of - the first
half is acoustic, folky and gorgeous, with the classics "Pocohontas" and "My
My, Hey Hey" surrounded by three other deeee-good songs with
jingledy-jangle BOOROP!. Then there's four full band rock and roll songs for part B of
your daily escapade into life and potatoes!!! PTOETOJESS!!!!!!, presenting
you with the ungodly scene-setting of "Powderfinger" (read the lyrics -
it's like you're RIGHT THERE; those gorgeous back-up "oooo"s don't hurt
either!) - definitely one of my favorite Debbie Gibson songs ever, the redneck
joke stupidity (but loud!) of "Welfare Mothers," the damn-near punky energy
of "Sedan Delivery" and finally the sickening distorto-blast "Hey Hey My
My," which I would like a lot better if they'd left out the unnecessary
"scary" "tension" chord which is neither scary nor tense.
Though not perfect
from start to finish, this is definitely one of the most consistent and
popular studio albums he's ever made. Not all of his best songs are here, of
course, and it's pretty darn short, being from the 70s and all, but if
you're not familiar with what exactly it is that Neil does, this is a
great place to start your collection - you got country, folk, pop, sludge
rock, redneck slop, and most importantly when you stick it up your ass, a can
of Dr. Pepper pops out. That's actually included in the package. If
you're at the CD store and you can't remember the name of this CD, just pull all
the CDs out of the bin and start shoving 'em up your ass. The guy behind
the counter will understand that you're just trying to find the one where a
can of Dr. Pepper pops out when you stick it up your ass.
There are those
who will say that I'm obsessed with the idea of shoving things up my ass.
Those are the very same people that need to see you in the CD store shoving a
bunch of Neil Young CDs up your ass. So be sure to make a loud
announcement letting everybody know that you are about to start sticking them up
your ass, so that if any of my detractors are in the store, they will see
you and finally understand that it's the WORLD that is obsessed with sticking
things up my ass - NOT ME! I'll tell you that RIGHT now!!!! Quit looking at
me.
This is actually one of the finest albums I own. I really mean it - how
awesome is 'Powderfinger'? Didya know there's an Aussie group here
called Powderfinger - yep they named the band after the song - and
they're pretty good too, although they'd better make sure they were good
because we can't have a crappy band named after a kick-ass song could
we?
Oh, and I love 'Sail Away' as well - hell I love the whole album, even
'Ride My Llama' - how's that for stupidity?
But "Thrasher" shows reversing into acoustic folk stuff "How I Lost My friends I still dont understand" moaning that later inspired a guy to make mr. Young's fansite...
"Ride my Llama"?! "Pocachontas"?! "Sail Away"?!
I imagine Neil writing these songs 5 minutes before some radio show where he's obliged to play a new song to the growing wheelin' AM audience all acros the American mid-west...Damn fillers! I hate fillers! If you dont have 45 minutes of songs for a LP - have a EP!
"Powderfinger" is Neil Young at his best! This song inspired some Australian guis to make NY\CH tribute band becouse the guy comes down there once in decade or so... Rest of the songs are to this day unavoidable on Neils live setlist. Why?! Becouse they are THAT good!
GOD I FUCKING HATE FUCKING "SUGAR MOUNTAIN." That's track one though.
Skip track one and you have Neil and Crazy Morse runnink through great live
versions of most of the best songs of his career (and skipping the
obvious stuff like "Old Man" and "Southern Man" and "Heart of Gold Man" that
everybody had grown tired of anyway). 15 great tunas! And "Sugar
Mountain," just in case you forget what a shitty song sounds like!
Oh. And I
would have appreciated him not making a stupid joke out of "Cortez The
Killer" at the end, but who am I? Jerry Falwell?
Yes! Yes I am. I'm filling
in for Mark Prindle on this particular Neil Young review. Peace, my brothers!
And What a better way to learn about this guy - than this mervelous memorabilia of that artist, band, music, decade!
First part - Neil, alone and acoustic plays best hits from last records: "Sugar Moutain", "Comes a Time", "I am a child", "My My...(OOTB)" and "After the god Rush"
Second part - Crazy Horse!!! They play best RNR cuts from last decade - from "Cinnamon Girl" to "Powderfinger" and what an encore ("Tonight's the Night"!).
Glorious!
Glorious, but a swansong!
End of an era!
See, I saw the Rust Never Sleeps concert, happened a few days after I
graduated. Went with my best bud and a dude from Chicago and ate some
high octane shrooms on the way. We had to drive more than a hundred
miles and anybody that ever drove from Laramie, Wyoming to Denver will
tell you that's the only way to do it. Otherwise the boredom will just
suck the living soul right out through your pores. So we get there and
there's a long line of cars at the entrance ramp. So what happens while
we're sittin there--right when the shroomage starts kickin in, we get
rear-ended by some other jokers. We're all so twisted we just look long
enough and see there's no damage and say fuck it, no big deal. So we go
inside and decide our nose bleed section seats ain't gonna cut it so we
walk right past the rent-a-chump security guard and jump the rail and
walk around on the floor of the arena for a minute and see three seats
open in the third row on the floor. So we sit down like we got tickets
for em, and WHOEVER HAD THE TICKETS FOR THE SEATS NEVER SHOW UP. Now how
cool is that? One fuck towel (where did I see that expression before?)
of a concert. When Neil played Cortex The Killer he pointed out to the
back of the arena and said "here he comes," we had to turn around and
look for the mother fucker cause Neil was pulling all kinds of cool
stuff right out of his ass all night. If Neil said Cortez was comin, we
were gonna be ready for it goddammit! We were so high we didn't care
that he was lying. Made us look! I almost shit in some other guy's
pants, it was so fuckin cool. What a great concert! One of the best I
ever saw.
But I never did hear the album except for a couple things that were on
the radio
Well, I just wanna be the first to say welcome back! More stupid jokes
about 15 inch wangdangs please!
Great to have you back, Mark! Nice that you're taking on my fav'rit,
too. These reviews are a great return to form: funny, of course, but your
critical insight is awesome on this page. I disagree with some stuff, but I'm
glad you've become a big fan of Neil. Looking forward (ha ha) to more new
reviews!
I prefer the first album over Everyone knows this is nowhere anytime. I
know everybody considers Everyone knows this is nowhere as the real start
of Young's solo career because it's the first one on which he really kicks
off his famous guitar style. You know what I mean, the slightly askew,
slightly disharmonic grungy guitar work that endears Young to us all -
still, I prefer this début album. I don't believe this album is at all
marred by hippiness. Ok, so it's more hippy-like than the albums that follow
but it's still a personal piece of work, not just a product of an era but
achieving that universal, timeless quality...
Well I might hate my life but still - Here we have a nice LP that could (if there was some lack of faith in mr. Young) destroy something that's now so monumental - that it has more history then some countries back here...
I disagree with the rating of a 6 for this album.
Although some of the songs do sound unfinished the
album has an etheral feeling that sounds pretty damn
good. 8/10
i never heard the album, but i do hate the song "The Loner" which i've listened from Decade. this is a song that sucks a life out of this wonderful compilation. i can't stand the fuzzy guitar noises. it reminds me of ROTTEN EGGS!
Funny you should bring up Mascis here, when my friend Stephen first played me Dinosaur Jr. when I was 15 and did not yet like Neil Young independently (that came with life experience...when I was....19) and just knew him because my Dad is a fan, I said, "what is this? sounds exactly like Neil young". The offending song in particular was "Flying Cloud" - seriously, J. has the voice and all on it.
A totally kick-ass record.
"Cinnamon Girl" will always have a place on my Neil Young mix tapes, of
course, and I also quite enjoy "Running Dry", "Down By The River", and the
thoroughly hick-ish title track. "Cowgirl In The Sand" is a tad overrated
in my mind, though. The guitar interplay pretty and all, but I don't think
it needed to be ten and a half minutes long. Still, an excellent record.
One in a long string of nines for Mr. Neil Young.
"Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere" is the definitive Neil Young/Crazy Horse album. Though the band had only been playing with Neil for a week or two when they recorded this, they never did anything better in the following 30 years. The reason it's so good? Well, the songwriting, of course. But secondly, there's the guitar and voice interplay between Neil and Crazy Horse rhythm guitarist/singer Danny Whitten. Each of the three key songs on the album (Cinnamon Girl, Down by the River, Cowgirl in the Sand) features Whitten at his all-time best, before he destroyed himself with heroin and died three years later. His distinctive, country-twinged voice is a natural complement to Neil's, and on some songs, like Cinnamon Girl, it's the dominant vocal (Whitten sings the high parts, generally).
The first I ever heard out of Neil Young they were playing Cowgirl in the Sand on the radio......Vegas actually had some pretty progressive radio stations in the late 60s and early 70s.......... and I just could not belief what I was hearing. Within a short period of time they were also playing Down By the River and I was a hooked Neil Young fan. Neil has done lots of great music through the years but nothing ever topped this LP.
This is an excellent album, and it did come out in
1969! All the songs here rule, but especially the two
long ones in which Neil Young shows his talent as a
guitarist. Also "The Losing End" is a great little pop
tune. 9/10 from me.
Now Youre talkin'!!!
This record has been in my collection for over 25 years and has never let me down when it comes to jamming with buddies or just hanging out by my self. I can't really rate it as a credible music critic, although it is programmed in my IPOD and I listen to it whenever I have a chance i.e.; on the road, at the cottage, or out on a mission; I listen to this record right behind Marshall Tucker's "Where we all belong" and The Allman Bros. 4 record greatest
The interplay on this album is amazing! Neil and Danny Whitten were the
precursor to Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd in great folk rock. Down by the
river, cowgirl and cinnamon girl are the instant classics the other songs
are good, diverse and solid compositions.9/10.
I'd just like to say that their has never been a more accurate
portrayal of my (laughable) romantic resume than fucking "Cinnamon
Girl," grungey noise-guitar and all. Wotta classic, there, Mack.
"DOYEEEEEE" !!!!!
My personal 10, even if I had a giant page with every album I've ever
listened to. Somehow, it always gets to me: makes me sad, but also
nostalgic, which I think is a good thing. Every song is a winner: they're all
depressing, but he divides it up into "happy depressing" ("When You Dance"),
"sad depressing" ("I Believe In You"), and "fucking amazing depressing"
("Don't Let It Bring You Down"). "Tell Me Why" is one of my favorite songs
ever - the mood is perfect. And don't listen to Mark (on this, at least):
both "Southern Man" and "Cripple Creek Ferry" are great songs. If you can
get past his voice - and you should - you need this one in your
collection.
This a fantastic album. "Southern Man" has the exact opposite effect on
me that it has on Prindle - I think the music is bitchin', but i can't
stand the "every white Southern man is a racist" sentiments. Sure,
Dixie has some serious problems with racial violence, but hey, at least
we've _got_ black people down here! Ya ever seen a black man in
Canada? Neither have I! Of course, I've never _been_ to Canada, but
that's hardly the point. Take that Mr. Neil "Hypocrite" Young! Plus, I
love the Band, so "Cripple Creek Ferry" doesn't bother me at all. By
the way, has anyone heard the Flaming Lips do "After the Goldrush!"
It's pretty cool. Real weird though.
This gets a seven from me.
Don't like this version of 'Southern Man'? Neither do I. Try the live
version on (now wait!) CSNY's Four Way Street on disk 2, the "electric" disk.
Said disk should be given a listen by all who dis cisny as a simple mellow
folkie outfit, but that's OT. You'll hear Neil inventing grundge rock- in
1970!
Well, hmmm. I want to like it, but to me there's just something missing
about this album. The hits are awesome, gorgeous (although I'm not as big
a fan of the title track as most people), and even some of the non-hits
like "Don't Let it Bring You Down" are amazing too. But some of those
other tracks....the bird one, what was it--you know the one about birds--oh
yeah, "Birds." Catchy title. Anyway, that one blows, and so does "Oh
Lonesome Me" (well actually, I'm not really sure whether it blows or not,
because I can't at all remember how it goes at the moment). Actually,
"Southern Man" was a hit too, wasn't it? And I don't like that one
much at all. But don't knock "Cripple Creek Ferry," dude--it gets stuck in my head
all the time. That's probably the track I remember most easily from this
album, scarily enough. Ah well...anyway this is my prototypical 7--a
good album, but lacking that special something that makes some things
special.
Southern Man is MAGNIFICENT. Just so intense. Screw
Lynyrd Skkkynyrd. Their music is terrible. And don't
try economizing on fuel next time, boys, it's not
worth it.
This is a pretty darn mellow album, "Southern Man" being the exception, of
course. There's not much I can add that hasn't already been covered in
previous reviews of this fine album, except that I absolutely adore the
beautiful ballad "Birds". Nils Lofgren was 19 when he helped Neil record
this record! Amazing work. A nine.
I actually don't have this album, but I'd like to comment on the flaming
lips cover of the title track, which is great. Kind of a natural choice as
Wayne Coyne kind of sounds like a higher pitched Neil Young, and even the
lyrics seem kind of like something he'd write if you think about it. What
pretty much makes the cover for me is that neat trick they do, where they
start it off with this really chaotic drum solo thing, then have it fade
into the pretty guitar strumming, but never have quite have it fully fade
out, so it creates this ominous rumbling sound in the distance, and then at
the end they turn it back up again. It'd be a pretty good cover otherwise,
but that's the stroke of genius to it.
Someone mentioned Nils Lofgren. There's a great story about this in that new
biography of Neil Young ("Shakey," by Jimmy McDonough). Apparently, Neil was
recording this album in California when he decided he needed Nils. So he
called the 19 year-old Nils on the East Coast and said, "I want you to come
out here and play piano for me." Nils replied that he didn't know how to
play piano. Neil said tersely, "You're playing piano," and hung up. So Nils
flew out to California and hitched a ride to Neil's studio. Neil immediately
sat him down to play piano on "Southern Man," and voila, the song was
complete. Nils had experience playing the accordian, apparently, so learning
the piano as he recorded wasn't that difficult.
If it was warm she wouldn't wear much more...... I'm sorry.
"Ok, we got the formulae - so lets try to recapture it."
Goddammit, Matthew Byrd. . .
2.) Hotel California--EAGLES
3.) Dark Side of the Moon--PINK FLOYD
4.) It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back--PUBLIC ENEMY
5.) Odessa--BEEGEES
6.) Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness--SMASHING PUMPKINS
7.) Automatic for the People--R.E.M.
8.) Bat Out of Hell--MEAT LOAF
9.) Blonde on Blonde--BOB DYLAN
10.) Suck My Ass It Smells EP--G.G. ALLIN
11.) His Greatest Hits, Live!!--MICHAEL BOLTON'S FEMININE SIDE
Hey - "Love In Mind" was only released officially on Time Fades Away, a
live album released after Harvest to piss off his pop fans. "Dance,
Dance, Dance" was never officially released by Neil, but was recorded by
Crazy Horse on their first LP.
It's a shame more people don't know about this album, a nearly forgotten treasure recorded in late 1970. Carolay is a fantastic track co-written by Jack Nitzsche with almost a Phil Specter-like sound and a very catchy melody. Had it been released as a single, it would have had top-10 potential. You never hear this song, or any of the songs here, on the radio today, which is too bad because they're better than much of the garbage that passes for classic rock on so many stations.
I've never heard this album, and never even seen it. But in 1972, when it was released, it received perhaps the worst review of any album ever reviewed by Rolling Stone magazine. Here is the last paragraph of the RS review:
Ehh. Mark is mostly on the money here: some solid compositions, but it
gets boring after a while. A little too pleasant, and the few that aren't
are either boring ("Are You Ready For The Country") or "Southern Man"
reruns ("Alabama"). Actually, there's only one of each, but it sounds better
if I use the plural there. "Out On The Weekend' has a great melody, though,
as does the title track, and the big hits are pleasant enough. On my
page, I give this a Prindle 5, but a 6 or a 7 seems to make more sense on this
page.
This gets a seven.
No, no, no! Well, yes, actually. This is a very good example of how a classic album is really kinda
pleasant and forgettable. About half of this stuff would have been fine if recorded the same way as
the last album (i.e., without the strings and James Taylor and the South
Seattle Cheesecloth
Tabernacle Choir). The rest mostly sucks, and all the over-production just
serves to highlight that.
But let me stand and be counted for "Alabama" - it's at least two bananas
better than "Southern
Man", even if it's just a ripoff of same. It's got a better melody, and it
has thatlyric about banjoes
playing therough the broken glass, so it's great. I have this album, but I
make a point of not listening
to it much. I won't sell it, though, so please don't ask.
Certainly eight, possibly nine. Some of the songs are
just great: Heart of Gold (THAT'S how to play the
harmonica, Bob!), Alabama and Harvest are just
splendid. And Out On The Weekend is my personal
favourite - how can you not like it, Mark? A
'go-nowhere melody'? You're turning into George
Starostin!!
I agree with the 7. Just most of these songs seem pretty dull for my tastes. But the
classics are all great ("Needle and the damage done", "Old Man", "Heart Of Gold", the title
track) and a few other songs are pretty good, but there are some pretty boring tracks on
here. Particularly the overlong "Words".
Neil young's harvest is pretty good. The instrumentation is great, it is so relaxed and the slide guitars make this cool ethereal dreamy mood. My
favorite song is "the needle and the damage done," I'm not gonna shoot heroin!
This is a strange ass album. It seems like it was cobbled together from
lots of different ideas, like Neil wanted to go in several different
directions at once. You got your country ballads ("Heart Of Gold"), your
symphonic elements ("A Man Needs A Maid"), your crackly-sounding live cuts
("Needle And The Damage Done"), and your psychedelic epic ("Words"). Truly
an odd bundle of songs. Not as good as some previous works, but when its
kickin' its some of his best work. Love the banjo in "Old Man". A solid eight.
Oh, man, I REALLY like Imperial Bedroom! I say it's an absolute triumph. Others say it's a BIG, pretentious mess......... which it probably is. When I first listened to Harvest I had never heard of Neil Young before and, as it turned out, Harvest is really not like most of his albums........ not even close. Except for a few tracks, though, it may be his most enjoyable. Sure, it's put down all the time, for good reason sometimes, but I still like it. It may not be a masterwork but I'd reccomend Harvest in a heartbeat........... that's more than I could do with Imperial Bedroom......... even though I find Imperial Bedroom to be more accomplished. I'm just saying...... I'm not sure what I'm saying......... I'm sleepy. 7/10 on the on the good scale (give or take a point) and 9 1/2 on the listenablility/I REALLY reccomend/likeability scale. That's got to count for something. I'm giving this one an 8 1/2, a 9 on a good hair day.
This is one of Neil Young's most sleepy albums. It's
also very country. I don't listen to it often and if I
do, not from the beginning to the end. The singles
"Alabama" and "Heart of Gold" are very good and
emotional but the rest isn't as good as these on...ZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzz.....
I seldom play this one. That said, it does get a solid seven because some of the songs are darn good. In fact, for most artists, it would probably deserve a 9 or a 10, but I expect better from Young. My favorite tracks are A Man Needs a Maid, Heart Of Gold, Old Man, Alabama and Are You Ready For the Country. Tracks I avoid include There's A World and Words. I also think the title song is a bore, even though Young thinks it's one of his best. Nice tune, but a dull performance.
This is the first LP from dark trilogy Neil wrote (along with "On The Beach" and "Tonight's The Night") that treated this drug addiction problem and the fact that guys that took drugs started dying for some weird reason. It was a serial killer outthere I tell you!!! And He got away BIG time.
My first Neil Young purchase, tho' not my BEST. Here's a perfect
example of how to make a DAMN GOOD roots rock album that
simultaneously is obviously not a CLASSIC. "Words" sucks, for
example, but it's defintely the best song to close out the album. We
also got some killer hard rock ("Alabama"), some uber-pretentious (and
uber-GOOD) symphonic tracks ("There's a World", "Maid", and some
acoustic mournful Goldrush-ish stuff "Needle and the Damage Done".
Elsewhere, you've got smooth country stuff that fills out the album
and doesn't really impress or offend the ears, and as the cherry on
top, you've got the two hits, conveniently located smack dab in the
middle of the album. Uncoincidentally, they're also the best songs.
This may be a stretch, but I think Coldplay were listening closely to
this when they recorded their debut.
This one kicks butt. It's a crime that nobody knows about it, but now I can
act all cool by sharing my opinion. Almost every song is a winner excepting
the ugly "Yonder Stands The Sinner" and maybe the rambling "Last Dance"): the
ballads shimmer and the rockers are catchy and interesting. Mark's right
that the songwriting isn't as hot this time around, but the sloppy
arrangements and bizarre, sincere vocals make up for things. "Journey
Through The Past" might be the nicest melody he's ever come up with, and
"Love In Mind" and "The Bridge" are almost as pretty. "Don't Be Denied" is
also great, especially the last verse - harrowing stuff. A 9 from me, but
don't buy it because then I won't be cooler than you anymore.
This is one of Neil's best, right up there with Zuma and On The Beach,
though perhaps not as classic as After the Goldrush and Tonight's The Night.
The title song is a great little rocker. Journey Through The Past and The
Bridge rate as two of Neil's most beautiful piano numbers, and LA is one of
those sloppy, gloriously out-of-tune songs that would have fit in well on
Tonight's The Night (maybe right after Albuquerque, which is in the same
vein). Best of the lot may be Don't Be Denied, with a catchy chorus and a
wonderful guitar riff. The words are a bit too literal, maybe, but it's a
stand-out nonetheless. I have mixed feelings about Last Dance. It gets stuck
in my head, which is annoying, and it's overly long without all that much to
say. But I love how Neil drunkenly yells "Last Dance" right before it
starts, and I get a kick out of hearing Graham Nash in the background urging
the crowd to "sing along" as Neil chants "No no no" over and over again.
Let's face it, aside from maybe Paul McCartney, can you imagine anyone less
suited than Nash to be with Neil on the tour when this album was recorded? I
sure wish I had been there, but I probably would have just spit up (I wasn't
quite two at the time). A definite 8-star effort, maybe a low-9.
This album has long been one of Neil's underappreciated classics, although,
with greater availability via eBay, it seems to be getting its due. Time
Fades Away is a perfect reflection of what Young was going through at the
time; post-Harvest superstardom, playing in front of enormous crowds in
stadiums, and overwhelmed by fame and the recent death of friend and
collaborator Danny Whitten, Young released this rambling, shambling
collection of new material knowing it wouldn't yield any hits and would send
him straight to "the ditch". And that was fine with him. I can only guess
what went through the heads of concertgoers expecting to hear "Old Man" but
getting "Yonder Stands the Sinner". The songs are an interesting raw mix
where emotion bleeds trough the speakers. From lovely piano ballads like
"The Bridge" to the stripped-down snotty 'carpe diem' stomp of "Last Dance",
they showed Neil in warts-and-all glory with no apologies. "Don't Be
Denied" comes off like a biography of Neil's childhood and early fame with
the Buffalo Springfield, but turns out to be a life-affirming note to
himself after the shock of losing his close friends to drug addiction. Still
unavailable on CD (allegedly Neil hates it and didn't include any tracks
from it on the Decade collection), Time Fades Away stands as my second
favorite album of all time. Pick it up on ebay, steal it from your friends
hippie-burnout pops, or barter your BOC belt buckle - you'll thank me when
you hear can't purge the opening riff from "LA" out of your head.
Please correct if Im wrong here,but when was the last time anyone has had the balls to put something like this out.After going "top 40" with Heart of Gold. "L A" is one of the best songs on "vinyl" not to mention the rest of this good ol boys tunes on this record!
I don't own this because I've never seen it. Ever. It's only
available on vinyl, and it must be illegal for stores to carry it. From what I've
listened to (on Decade), "Turnstiles" does indeed suck, but "Walk On"
is a catchy, full-sounding rocker. I still have my doubts, though, as to
whether this album actually exists. Maybe Prindle is just trying to seem cool
by reviewing an album that only he's heard?
Of course it exists! It must! I downloaded it off Napster!
Sorry Ben but On the Beach exists. I know 'cause I had it,sold
it and regained it. As I only have about 26 N Y records I don't know
if i qualify as a fan but for my few cents worth this is the best of his early
releases up to Live Rust. And just to prove there's more than one
idiot I also like Trans. Best of the lot though is Weld,
Mr. Young at his best thrashing about with heaps of feedback and enough slopiness to
keep things interesting. It's been a bit down hill from there,
old age catching up I guess. Best idea is keep just a few of
Young's records,say Weld,On the Beach, Ragged Glory, Decade,Harvest Moon and Live
Rust and go listen to someone like Richard Thompson(who can
write a song with great lyrics and plays much better guitar) or John Martyn.
On the Beach. Moody, sombre, dark, depressing as hell?
Maybe but what's wrong with that, eh? Sometimes you got to let a little pain
into your life - keeps it real.
Anyway each to their own - sorry to read you don't like it (although for
someone who claims to not like it you sure go into some DEPTH about it -
ahem)
Me? I think it's one of the top ten albums of all time.
A fact I can prove by pointing readers to my website which is called - oddly
enough - Release On The Beach! www.dergunerz.freeserve.co.uk There you can
read through 1500+ comments about the album sent by the general public
worldwide. There are also mp3's of the album for free download.
'Course it's up to you to love it or hate it.
I was just going to say that if it don't exist in the US then it sure does
in little old New Zealand. And then I saw that the other post came from a
guy in New Zealand, Any way, I own it, I'm not particularly fond of it and
so it is for sale to the highest bidder, bids to Doyster@xtra.co.nz
"I'm a VAMPIRE babe, sucking blood from the Earth."
Aside from the dull "Vampire Blues" and the annoying "For The Turnstiles,"
this one is hard to match. "Walk On," the only upbeat number on this
release, is quite funky and features some of Neil's most creative electric
guitar playing. The slow "See The Sky About To Rain" atmospheric,
highlighted by Neil's strong keyboard work. "Revolution Blues" ranks with
Neil's best electric tunes, with lyrics that are disturbing and funny at the
same time. Great rhythm guitar work here from David Crosby. The second side
boasts the moody "On the Beach" and the acoustic-themed "Ambulance Blues,"
which I never grow tired of hearing. I'm not sure what Neil's trying to say
here (he admits himself in the lyrics, 'It's hard to say the meaning of this
song'), but the music more than makes up for some of the disjointed words.
It's a crime that this isn't available on CD. I own a poor-quality CD
bootleg, but I'd love to hear this album as Neil intended it to sound. Come
on, Neil, release it! I give it 8.5 stars.
Along with some other long-overlooked Neil Young albums, this was remastered and reissued on CD in 2004. It sounds fantastic.
Am outraged frankly at the almost universal scorn poured on "For The Turnstiles." I worked in the laundry of a mental hospital in Hamburg during the 1980s and would sing this song all day long in a loud whining voice and each and every time I finished my colleagues would stop their folding and ironing and what have you and oblige me with what seemed like a heartfelt round of applause.
Well, if you're THAT depressed, Mark, you should really dig this album. Not
that it's all gloom (Come On Baby, Let's Go Downtown, f'r instance) but Neil
sounds so stoned throughout most of the album that even the happy numbers
sound kinda depressing. I don't think this record warrants the abundance of
praise it gets. Yes, it's spontaneous and the melodies are overall quite
strong, but it's also extremely sloppy - the Stray Gators sound like a
third-rate country bar band. Those who call this album one of the best albums
of all time are making an affront to craftsmanship, as far as I'm concerned.
This only gets a five from me.
Lots of people believe this is Neil's best album, and sometimes I think I'm
one of them. When I get in the right mood, usually late at night when
everyone else in my house is asleep, I lie on the couch and listen to this
on my earphones and it strikes just the right chord. Other times it seems
too depressing - especially on a sunny day. Considering that some call this
a tough album to enjoy, it's interesting to note that one of Neil's most
accessible tunes of all time - "Mellow My Mind" - is here. If you don't
like this song, you just plain don't like the artist. Some say the title
track and "Tired Eyes" are too literal and too sad to listen to, but I don't
agree. Both gripped me from the very first time I heard them and still do.
"C'Mon Baby Let's Go Downtown" is a fantastic little rocker that shows how
much talent the world lost when Danny Whitten died. And some of the more
drugged-out numbers here like "Albequerque" and "Speakin Out" rank among my
favorite Neil tunes. "World on A String" is tight and loud, and "New Mama"
is melodic and soft. For someone new to Neil, this wouldn't be my
recommendation. I'd try "After the Goldrush" and "Decade." But if you want
to dig a little deeper, you can't do better than "Tonight's the Night."
I guess i need to express my views on Danny Whitten-----You see I knew him since the day he was born--I am his only sibling---I have always loved him and Miss him dearly--I still think about him every day---and he died Nov 18th 1972---What a day that was---By the way--i dont know where this comment is going (i hope on the web page)as everyone needs to know THAT DANNY DID NOT DIE FROM HERION---i have the death Cert. to prove it--the only thing in his system was alcohol and dizapam (valium) and that was NOT a good mix--You know i am going to say that Everyone Knows--- is the BEST record EVER made----and Neil would not have been half as good with out Dannys backup vocals and great guitar playing---he was self taught and was VERY GOOD--There will just never be that great blend of voices ever again--He is still everywhere---to the ones that play his (now)cds and still listen --and to all the ones that hear I DONT WANNA TALK ABOUT IT-- and think of Danny---i thank you---He still lives-----There was just a 1 year play(musical)in London called Tonights The Night--with all songs done by Rod Stewart and I DONT WANNA was in the play and it was a great honor for that to happen--Rod has done that song on 5 cds through the years----so that helps keep the music alive-----------thanks for letting me bend your ear----
Trilogy goes on, that is - ends with this record.
i've been listening to this album a lot recently. i didn't like it when i first heard it.... neil's voice was grating, i guess, and the songs didn't stand out that much. but since then i've found there's an overall mood to the album that makes me want to return to it. boozy and early in the morning.
Listened to this for the first time in a while today. It's a good'un, because I am a sucker for songs which have lots of pedal steel on them. I buy Alan Jackson albums just for the pedal steel. Hell, I buy POCO albums to listen to the pedal steel. So understand it's a disease w/ me and I am perhaps not to be trusted.
You know, Capn Marvel seems to be the only dude on the web who likes
this album as much as the critics, so after listening to the album, I
just sauntered over to his site to re-check what he said about it.
God, the man's a prick. A full-blooded prick. And a CLEVER prick to
boot. Avoid his ejaculations at all costs (get it???!???jny!@!#
This one's a blast. "Drive Back" is annoying, and "Stupid Girl" has never
really tickled my feet, but everything else is a winner. Like Mark says,
it's just so happy, even when it's melancholy: "Pardon My Heart" and "Danger
Bird" are great examples. "Looking For A Love" used to make me think, "Wow,
it's like he's speaking to me!" - who knew Neil Young worried about trivial
romantic things just like everyone else? Even when it's dumb ("Don't Cry No
Tears"), the melodies are great and the guitars leap off the vinyl in such a
full, enjoyable way. I love this as much as you can possibly love something
you've always been too cheap to spend 15 bucks on the CD version of. A
Prindle 9.
This gets an Eight.
My favorites on Zuma are easily "Pardon My Heart" - a soulful and tortured
acoustic number - and "Barstool Blues," a tortured and soulful rocker which
Neil recorded so drunk that he accidentally sang one octave higher than
normal. Other standouts include "Lookin' For A Love," a great little country
tune, and "Though My Sails," an acoustic song with fantastic harmonies from
Neil's friends Crosby, Stills and Nash. By the way, Zuma has the worst album
cover in rock history, and there isn't a single photo of the artist anywhere
inside or out. That and "Stupid Girl," are the only drawbacks to this one.
Ok, so dark days are over and Neil says: "Dont cry no tears around me..." and the album that starts so good - cant possibly fail to impress me, you and that veird looking lady that shouts obscene stuff on the corner of 52nd and 3rd... If I was radio DJ and if I was lazy and if I was bald and if I was into getting fired - I'd lock myself into the studio and play this record 24 hours untill they'd smoke me out, lure me out (by offering me free breakthrough anti-balding shampoo) or just plainly kick me out.
This is okay, but as far as Neil albums go, it's not hugely special. About a B+, really. One song is jawdroppingly good, however...yeah, everyone knows I'm talking about "Cortez The Killer," which is truly astounding and a better song than most people will ever hope to write in their lives. Neil's guitar soloing on that track is just fucking amazing.
I live in Fiji...no music here...just Brittenny and stuff...I really want to
hear Long May You Run...been down here 15 yearsand have a laptop but no
credit cards. Can somebody be kind and email me a copy of Long May You Run,
pleae if its legal?
Thanks
I've never heard this album except for the wonderful title song. And I don't particularly want to hear it. Indeed, thanks Mark, for listening to it and telling me about it so I don't have to. One interesting note however - although the album is credited to the "Stills-Young band," the fact is, the two almost never were in the studio at the same time during its making. Apparently Stills and Young could barely stand each other, so they each went in separately to lay down their tracks. Some band. And the bad feelings continued when the two of them decided to tour in the summer of 1976 to promote the album. After a few dates, Neil decided he wasn't having any fun and told his bus driver to reverse course and take him back home to California (Stills and Young didn't even share a bus for this tour, evidently). Stills arrived at the next concert site (with all the fans waiting) only to find a short note from Neil, saying, "Interesting how some things that start spontaneously often end that way. Eat a peach, Neil." They had to cancel the rest of the tour. Hard to believe Stills ever wanted to talk to Neil after that, but they must have made up because CSNY has toured several times since then, and at their last concert here two years ago (for which I had a front-row seat), Stills and Young seemed to enjoy jamming together on guitar.
Recorded in Miami, this is Neil and Stephen's woozy vacation concept album. All the vacation staples are here: the road trip ("Long May You Run"), one-night stands/bar pickups ("Make Love to You" and "Midnight by the Bay"), nautical exploration ("Black Coral" and "Ocean Girl") and of course, hotel/motel debauchery ("Fountainbleau"). Not the best LP either man ever put his name to, but OK for what it is.
Yep, this is the same Dean Stockwell of Quantum Leap fame....the same
Stockwell who inspired After the Gold Rush. Dean is an old hipster
dude, whose best friend is Dennis Hopper. Dean was also responsible for
Neil Young's wonderfully bad/good dumb/witty film Human Highway.
Wow...a very underrated album, and Prindle for once seems to know what he's talking about. "Homegrown" is hicky and disgusting, but the other shit-kickin' country numbers
are a load of fun. "Will to Love", seven minutes of one-track recording quality of Neil smacking his guitar with lyrics about salmon swimming upstream, shouldn't work, but
does. Oh yeah, and this has "Like a Hurricane" too. Killer. 7/10
The more I listen, the more I like it. Especially side one, with all the
country stuff, believe it or not. Some of these songs - especially "Old
Country Waltz," "Hey Babe" and "Hold Back the Tears" make for very pleasant
listening, disregarding the trite lyrics. I also dig "Saddle up the
Palomino," which probably marks the first and only time the words "saddle"
and "Palamino" appear in the title to a rock song. "Bite the Bullet" is a
bit grating, though - always gives me a headache.
Here we have old Neil wrapped out into USA flag having good time playing songs as diverse as "Old Country Waltz" which made all those crazy hippie fans of Neil ask for a refund (it was declined becouse of this hole in the law that allowed rock stars "...to record country crap and call it folk ... that has rock and roll heritage ... and has direct influence in such art-house ... trendsetters like Velvet Underground and Neu!.."). Bemused hippies (completely unaware that 60's ended "Like seven years back..." as it was pronounced by bemused Tommy Chong on the corner of 12th and Broadway) totally dug "Saddle Up..." and "Hey Babe" as they figoured out that Neil must be even more burnout than all of them put together...
9/10
Decade is an odd duck of a compilation. People who only want Neil
Young's "hits" aren't going to be all that enthusiastic about shelling
out thirty bucks for a two-disc set, and folks who like the damn
flappy-headed Canadian bastard enough to spend that kinda money in the
first place would be better served by getting the albums. But hey, on
the plus side - Neil put "Sugar Mountain" on it!
Only the self-righteous and unfair attack on the South in "Southern Man",
and the comatose "The Old Laughing Lady" fail to be brilliant here. Shows
Neil Young as a great, versatile, uncompromising artist capable of being as
gentle as James Taylor is and then able to rock as hard as The Stones. And
this is a smart purchase for the thrifty music fan!
Just wanna say that "Winterlong" is a very nice beauty of a song that should of been
released on one of Neils regular albums. The Pixies also do a great cover of it as well.
For years, I resisted buying this album. Maybe it was the $30 price tag. Or maybe it was the fear that as a Neil Young neophyte all these songs at once would be too much for my system. Eventually, I did acquire Decade and I'm glad. It's the most complete and best-assembled greatest hits album in history, though it's only up to date through 1977. And it's a perfect introduction to the artist.
A bit too crappy for my liking.
After reading the two reviews here already, I have to add my two cents.
Comes A Time is one of Neil's best, and I say that as someone who also
immensely enjoys his harder stuff like Zuma and Ragged Glory. The melodies
here are almost all memorable, and the country stuff (like the fiddle on the
title track) isn't overdone and sounds very tasteful. I'm not a country fan,
myself, so if this were overly country, as Mark insinuates, I probably
wouldn't like it. The title track, "Going Back," "Human Highway," "Already
Gone," and his cover of "Four Strong Winds" rate as some of Neil's finest
acoustic work ever, and "Look Out For My Love" stands on its own as one of
Neil's best songs ever, acoustic or otherwise. Also, I'm partial to "Lotta
Love," which is kind of country sounding, so sue me. Nicolette Larson's
harmony vocals (present on most of these songs) mesh perfectly with Neil's
own unique voice. This is Neil's best acoustic-tinged album, way ahead of
both Harvest and Harvest Moon. Don't listen to the first two reviews here -
go out and buy this underrated classic!
Hey, hey. My, my...
This is consistently "very good," but outside of maybe "Pocahontas" (not that
Vanessa Williams Disney song, which is actually kinda pretty) and
"Powderfinger," which is damn catchy, none of it is "great" in my humble
opinion. Which isn't actually as humble as you'd think. I honestly do
believe I'm better than you. Anyway, the whole thing is very
enjoyable, but I never feel like listening to it, so I'll give it a 7.
One of my personal heroes. Neil's an incredible guitar player who doesn't
fuck around or try to show off; he's got a charming, cracked voice which I
love in the same way that I love Curt Kirkwood's and Will Oldham's voices;
and as Mark mentioned earlier he's an honest, sincere guy who cares about his
kid. I seem to be in the slight minority here, but Rust Never Sleeps gets my
ten by a long shot. I love Zuma and Tonight's the Night as much as the next
guy, but there's something that's always felt...epic...and resounding about
the way these songs were written. 'My My, Hey Hey' is a superb, creepy
thriller in both of its versions, but my favorites have always been the
downright harrowing "Sedan Delivery" and the heartbreaking "Pocahontas."
"Ride My Llama" can be enoyed just for the way Neil throws in those bizarre
chord changes. Crazy Horse is another of those no-bullshit, straightforward
hard rock bands that impresses constantly because of their focus and melodic
know how (AC/DC and the Ramones also come to mind), not because of some
radical tinkering with their formula. This is a damn near perfect
album.
This one gets my ten - no doubt about it.
This was one of those CDs that I bought from BMG because the all-music guide told me to and I still
haven't thanked them for that. Actually, this CD's not that great, but it does have four absolute gems in
"My My, Hey Hey", "Pocahontas", "Powderfinger", and the yet-to-be-mentioned "Thrasher". The other
ones are okay, but nothing to write home about ("Welfare Mothers" never seems to go anywhere).
Speaking of underrated, how come no one has mentioned "Thrasher"? I haven't the slightest idea what ole
Neil's talking about, but he uses a lot of cool similes and metaphors and other literary devices I learned in
7th grade (I'm sure there's an onomotapeia in there somewhere) and his vocal performance gives me
goosebumps every time. I suppose I'd give this a 7 and a half, I don't usually review classic rock albums
(mostly metal) but since this one's in my collection thanks to the All-Music Guide (there's the thanks I was
talking about) I thought I'd give it a shot.
Just 2cents to plug Thrasher. One of his best to meditate on; then, throw
on Cortez to flush it out. Most of the comments on this page don't seem to
mention Neil's poetry much. A nice line is one thing, but he has some
complete poems, too. Songs that make you work, but with rewards. Thrasher
is a great example. The layers of meaning go deep and on and on, and rotate
into each other. Light/dark, plant/grow/grim-reap, young/old, gain/lose,
follow/lead, life/mortality--all traditional images/themes writers have
harvested for centuries--twisted in with Neil's own quirky imagery, such as
the jangly credit card fuel metaphor. These verses are not random.
This is my favorite out of all the Neil Young records I own (After the
Goldrush, Harvest, On the Beach) just because I love the sound, and
some of his best songs are on here. The first side is practically
flawless, even if 'Ride my Llama' is pretty silly. Powderfinger is some
of Neil's finest rocking along with the closing track. The other two
tracks on the second side are the low point for me, but 'Welfare
Mothers' is a fun riff rocker. By the way, does anybody else think that
'Sedan Delivery' sounds uncannily like a Husker Du song? It's just a
punky, feedback drenched riff with short psychedelic interludes---if it
weren't for Neil's singing it easily could have fit on Zen Arcade!
For those who wrote here saying they're not sure what "Thrasher" is about: The song describes Neil's relations with his sometime band-mates Crosby, Stills and Nash. At the time (1978), he was pretty distant from those three, having two years earlier abandoned Steven Stills midway through the Stills-Young Band tour. CSNY also hadn't put out an album of new material since 1970 and hadn't toured since 1974, though CSN did do some albums on their own. Lyrics like, "So I got bored and left them there, they were just deadweight to me; better down the road, without that load" and "How I lost my friends, I still don't understand" and "There was nothing that they needed, nothing left to find" all refer to what Neil saw as CSN's lack of desire to do anything new with their music and his feeling distant from what they were about. At least that's my interpretation. Since 1978, Young has gotten back together with CSN for two albums, neither of which were supposed to be that good. And CSNY has toured several times. So maybe they get along better these days. CSN, by the way, especially Nash, weren't too happy about Thrasher when they heard it. Asked about it later, Young said something like, "I see why they were mad, but what am I supposed to do, not do the song just because someone doesn't like it?"
Wild sodomy commited by furious, insane and starving baboons is sexy. Sexier than 'Sail Away' and Rust Never Sleeps is Neil Young's best.......... Exxx-cept for Freedom..... hm, I give this one a 9.
All coolen down from "Comes A Time" Neil takes his electric guitar and goes "Dam bam bam bam bam bam! Dam bam bam...!" and he finally noticed that punk thing that happened in the daze of mid seventees...
As good a track list as this is, and as good a live musician as Neil Young
is, this album nevertheless is a tiny bit underwhelming. Part of the
problem is, as Mark mentioned, him making a joke out of "Cortez the Killer"
at the end; part of it is his slightly half-assed performance of "Like a
Hurricane"; part of it's that both those songs are shorter than they should
be. Don't get me wrong, it's still really good--just not the blowout live
album that I had hoped for. And where are "Cowgirl in the Sand" and "Down
By the River"? 8.
Ah, this is NEIL YOUNG as I know it, since this was my first NY\CH record.
Okay, how to say this...I've never heard Rust Never Sleeps but it's one
of my favorite albums. Wait, really.