- Harvest (1972)
- Freedom (1989)
- Ragged Glory (1990)
- Ragged Glory (1990)
- Weld (1991, live album)
- Sleeps with Angels (1994)
FREEDOM 1989 (Reprise)
Standouts: Basically everything; I mean, 'Someday' and 'Too Far Gone' have their issues, sure, but they're still good.
I'll admit it took me a while to discover Neil Young. I knew who he was ever since I was a kid (my dad and my uncle always liked him after all), and I knew a handful of his songs, but I didn't actively seek out any of his records until quite recently, probably because I assumed that most of the stuff he recorded sounded like the folk rock of a song like 'Heart of Gold', and folky stuff never hit the spot for me until I entered adulthood. But anyway, I eventually ended up with Freedom, 'cos I've liked 'Rockin' in the Free World' for as long as I can remember. This album was something of a comeback for Neil; most of his 80's works weren't particularly well received, but this album revitalised his career and actually made him relevant again - and for good reason. He gained a lot of new and younger rock fans around this time thanks to tours with Sonic Youth and Social Distortion, and it's no secret that Kurt Cobain and Eddie Vedder credit Young as a major influence. In short, Neil's a musical legend.
But anyway, the album begins with 'Rockin' in the Free World', and ends with 'Rockin' in the Free World'! The live acoustic version starts the album, and it's a powerful singer-songwriter, folky, heartland number. The concluding version of the song is an electric, hard rocking rendition. I love both versions, but I guess I'm a little biased towards the hard rock version; I think Neil gets his point across a little better on it, but either way, they're both iconic in their own right. 'Crime in the City (Sixty to Zero Pt. 1)' is a very lengthy acoustic number complete with 5 verses about the decay of an American city. I'll be honest - this track blew me away. It's one of the first songs in ages that really feels genuine - sure, the lyrics aren't structured in a conventional, flowing way, but Neil sings them with genuine heart and soul. It really gives me the feels, and that's saying something - if you can achieve that through your music, then you truly are an artist. I actually think 'Crime in the City' is one of the most underrated songs of all time. This masterpiece is followed up by 'Don't Cry', which is very much a plugged-in affair driven by a killer bass-line. It's on this song that Neil goes all-out on guitar towards the end of the song with an extremely distorted and heavy, almost-improv garage rock guitar part that is pure grunge. I don't want to call it a guitar solo, because it isn't melodic at all, but damn does it hit you hard. And he uses this same technique on other tracks on the album too.
'Hangin' On a Limb' is really quite a pretty song, with Linda Ronstadt providing backing vocals for the folky acoustic playing. True, Neil's never had a great singing voice per say (especially when compared to Ronstadt), but he performs with so much charisma and heart that it doesn't matter. There's another longer track with 'Eldorado', which has a kind of a fitting Mexican-tinge to it in terms of percussion. Eventually it builds up to another one of those hard-hitting, distorted guitar parts, and again, it works perfectly. 'The Ways of Love' again features Linda Ronstadt backing up Neil's vocals, and the track is still folky, but a bit more 'folk rock' this time 'round. The ballad 'Someday' gives me Bruce Springsteen vibes, mostly because of the piano lines and the sax solo reminiscent of Clarence Clemons. I like this track but I don't think Neil quite has the pipes for it to be honest. It's still a decent track, but only just. 'On Broadway' however, is awesome. Neil plugs his guitar back in, and the track has that sloppy, heavy grunge about it once again. 'Wrecking Ball' is another ballad, driven by pianos. This one is probably a little stronger than 'Someday' mainly because it fits Neil's vocal style a bit better, and the fact he doesn't sound like he's trying to steal Bruce's E-Street Band. 'No More' is built around a memorable and catchy hook/melody, and is typical Neil Young. Lyrically it's about drug addiction, which makes sense. The final track (well, apart from 'Rockin' in the Free World') is 'Too Far Gone' - which is fine and perfectly listenable - it even has a slight country edge to it - but it's kinda short compared to the rest of the album.
The last thing worth mentioning is the production. I don't know what the general consensus is regarding this record's overall sound, but to me it's absolutely spot-on. I have the album on vinyl, and I'm listening to it right now on Spotify and it sounds fucking amazing. You can hear every instrument clearly. The acoustic 'Rockin' in the Free World' is live of course, but the whole album sounds like it's being performed live to me, and it really just makes the whole listening experience that much more 'real'. There's something about the fact Neil does sometimes sing out of key that really has a huge impact on me.
Freedom had the potential to be an almost perfect record. Almost. 'Someday' and 'Too Far Gone' are good tracks, but they are noticeably weaker than the rest of the songs. However, this is one of only a handful of albums that actually feel some kind of strong connection to when I listen to it. I realise this probably sounds corny as fuck, but seriously, this is rock in it's purest form.
Adam's rating: 9.4/10
RAGGED GLORY 1990 (Warner Bros.)
- Standouts: Everything.
Neil Young teams up with the Crazy Horse band once again, ditches any of his acoustic traits and the result is Ragged Glory, a record which is very much raw and dirty garage rock from start to finish - garage rock done properly. Many of the tracks here are long; 'Love to Burn' and 'Love and Only Love' are both over 10 minutes long, 'Over and Over' lasts almost 8 and a half minutes while opener 'Country Home' is just over 7 minutes. A lot of the tracks on this album will take multiple listens to digest properly - there isn't a huge amount to differentiate them musically. 'Farmer John' (originally a Don and Dewey song from the late 50's) is sleazy as hell, and 'White Line' sort of has this country rhythm going for it, but for the most part it really sounds as if a lot of these tracks were written quickly and in a way that so that the band would have an excuse to just jam through them. This probably sounds like a negative on the surface of things, but it's really not. It totally gives the album a 'live' and direct feel - almost as if you're listening to a concert. The songs are mostly lengthy as I said, but that's the whole point - this is a band jamming through good, simple, mostly in-your-face, rough rock tunes. The music is dirty, distorted, Neil sings out of tune at times, the riffs are massive and overall the record is just awesome. The style of the album makes it hard to pinpoint standouts, but if I had too, I'd say 'Farmer John' is one of my favourites because it's actually sort of catchy despite how slow and sleazy it is. 'Love to Burn' rules too and has a really grungy feel to it. I love the main vocal hook in 'Country Home' as well, and 'Fuckin' Up' has the best hook of them all - "why do I keep FUCKIN' up?!" - but really I enjoy this album from start to finish. I get lost in it, because it really does feel like you're there with the band. It doesn't feel rehearsed, and that's part of what gives it it's strengths if ya know what I mean. I'm not surprised Neil played such a big role in influencing the 90's grunge scene.
Ragged Glory is generally considered one of Neil's better albums in his discography, and I totally agree with this, HOWEVER, that doesn't mean everyone will enjoy it. A lot of his material is very acoustic and singer-songwriterish - this is not. It's not an album I can listen to all the time. It's just Neil and a band rockin' out. For that reason, I don't think the album's for everybody. In terms of what it actually sets out to do however, it is one of the best albums in it's style for sure.
Adam's rating: 9.3/10
- Mirror Ball (1995)
HARVEST 1972 (Reprise)
HARVEST 1972 (Reprise)
- Standouts: 'Out on the Weekend', 'Harvest', 'A Man Needs a Maid', 'Are You Ready for the Country?', 'Old Man', 'There's a World', 'Alabama'
I've always been aware of who Neil Young is, but it really wasn't until the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown that I really bothered to actively seek out his albums and actually listen to his stuff properly. Of course, he has a lot of stuff, and he's sank his teeth into several different genres over his expansive career - from folk rock and country to hard rock and even grunge. I guess we can agree that the earlier portion of his career was mostly folk/country rock-driven songs and records. I mean, he was in Buffalo Springfield before he went solo after all. 72's Harvest is very much a largely acoustic set of folk/country driven singer-songwriter tracks, and a very good one at that. I will say that I did already know 'Old Man' and 'Heart of Gold' before I added Harvest to my beloved collection, and what a timeless classics they are. 'Old Man' is a very personal song for Neil, as it's about an elderly caretaker for the Broken Arrow Ranch in Northern California, which Young had purchased in 1970. The majority of this record is full of extremely heartfelt songs and at times, rather beautiful melodies (see 'A Man Needs a Maid'). But there's also some really good hooks in most of the tracks - 'Old Man' goes without saying, but the bare-bones 'Heart of Gold' and the catchy country/blues rock of 'Are You Ready for the Country?' are extremely memorable too. 'There's a World' even features strings and kinda sounds like the start of an epic prog rock song. It isn't an epic prog rock song of course, just a very pretty and over-dramatic, 3 minute folk song. I always thought Neil had an almost mediocre voice in terms of his actual singing range, but he sang with such passion that it doesn't matter. This is certainly true when you hear, well, almost any of the tracks on Harvest. It's all about having heart and soul in your performances.
I'm still new to Neil Young. I've listened to many of his albums on Spotify now and bought a handful of CD's/vinyl too, but like I said, I've really only began properly listening to him recently. Harvest is an album that I find hard to fault in terms of what it actually is, and what it's trying to be. I don't think there's any major flaws to be found, yet it I wouldn't say it's one of my favourite's of the one's I've actually heard so far in his discography. Albums like Freedom and Ragged Glory for example, really struck me hard, and clicked with me instantly, whilst this didn't quite have the same effect. That said, I'm still giving Harvest a 9 because it really excels at what it sets out to achieve.
Adam's rating: 9/10
FREEDOM 1989 (Reprise)
Standouts: Basically everything; I mean, 'Someday' and 'Too Far Gone' have their issues, sure, but they're still good.
I'll admit it took me a while to discover Neil Young. I knew who he was ever since I was a kid (my dad and my uncle always liked him after all), and I knew a handful of his songs, but I didn't actively seek out any of his records until quite recently, probably because I assumed that most of the stuff he recorded sounded like the folk rock of a song like 'Heart of Gold', and folky stuff never hit the spot for me until I entered adulthood. But anyway, I eventually ended up with Freedom, 'cos I've liked 'Rockin' in the Free World' for as long as I can remember. This album was something of a comeback for Neil; most of his 80's works weren't particularly well received, but this album revitalised his career and actually made him relevant again - and for good reason. He gained a lot of new and younger rock fans around this time thanks to tours with Sonic Youth and Social Distortion, and it's no secret that Kurt Cobain and Eddie Vedder credit Young as a major influence. In short, Neil's a musical legend.
But anyway, the album begins with 'Rockin' in the Free World', and ends with 'Rockin' in the Free World'! The live acoustic version starts the album, and it's a powerful singer-songwriter, folky, heartland number. The concluding version of the song is an electric, hard rocking rendition. I love both versions, but I guess I'm a little biased towards the hard rock version; I think Neil gets his point across a little better on it, but either way, they're both iconic in their own right. 'Crime in the City (Sixty to Zero Pt. 1)' is a very lengthy acoustic number complete with 5 verses about the decay of an American city. I'll be honest - this track blew me away. It's one of the first songs in ages that really feels genuine - sure, the lyrics aren't structured in a conventional, flowing way, but Neil sings them with genuine heart and soul. It really gives me the feels, and that's saying something - if you can achieve that through your music, then you truly are an artist. I actually think 'Crime in the City' is one of the most underrated songs of all time. This masterpiece is followed up by 'Don't Cry', which is very much a plugged-in affair driven by a killer bass-line. It's on this song that Neil goes all-out on guitar towards the end of the song with an extremely distorted and heavy, almost-improv garage rock guitar part that is pure grunge. I don't want to call it a guitar solo, because it isn't melodic at all, but damn does it hit you hard. And he uses this same technique on other tracks on the album too.
'Hangin' On a Limb' is really quite a pretty song, with Linda Ronstadt providing backing vocals for the folky acoustic playing. True, Neil's never had a great singing voice per say (especially when compared to Ronstadt), but he performs with so much charisma and heart that it doesn't matter. There's another longer track with 'Eldorado', which has a kind of a fitting Mexican-tinge to it in terms of percussion. Eventually it builds up to another one of those hard-hitting, distorted guitar parts, and again, it works perfectly. 'The Ways of Love' again features Linda Ronstadt backing up Neil's vocals, and the track is still folky, but a bit more 'folk rock' this time 'round. The ballad 'Someday' gives me Bruce Springsteen vibes, mostly because of the piano lines and the sax solo reminiscent of Clarence Clemons. I like this track but I don't think Neil quite has the pipes for it to be honest. It's still a decent track, but only just. 'On Broadway' however, is awesome. Neil plugs his guitar back in, and the track has that sloppy, heavy grunge about it once again. 'Wrecking Ball' is another ballad, driven by pianos. This one is probably a little stronger than 'Someday' mainly because it fits Neil's vocal style a bit better, and the fact he doesn't sound like he's trying to steal Bruce's E-Street Band. 'No More' is built around a memorable and catchy hook/melody, and is typical Neil Young. Lyrically it's about drug addiction, which makes sense. The final track (well, apart from 'Rockin' in the Free World') is 'Too Far Gone' - which is fine and perfectly listenable - it even has a slight country edge to it - but it's kinda short compared to the rest of the album.
The last thing worth mentioning is the production. I don't know what the general consensus is regarding this record's overall sound, but to me it's absolutely spot-on. I have the album on vinyl, and I'm listening to it right now on Spotify and it sounds fucking amazing. You can hear every instrument clearly. The acoustic 'Rockin' in the Free World' is live of course, but the whole album sounds like it's being performed live to me, and it really just makes the whole listening experience that much more 'real'. There's something about the fact Neil does sometimes sing out of key that really has a huge impact on me.
Freedom had the potential to be an almost perfect record. Almost. 'Someday' and 'Too Far Gone' are good tracks, but they are noticeably weaker than the rest of the songs. However, this is one of only a handful of albums that actually feel some kind of strong connection to when I listen to it. I realise this probably sounds corny as fuck, but seriously, this is rock in it's purest form.
Adam's rating: 9.4/10
RAGGED GLORY 1990 (Warner Bros.)
- Standouts: Everything.
Neil Young teams up with the Crazy Horse band once again, ditches any of his acoustic traits and the result is Ragged Glory, a record which is very much raw and dirty garage rock from start to finish - garage rock done properly. Many of the tracks here are long; 'Love to Burn' and 'Love and Only Love' are both over 10 minutes long, 'Over and Over' lasts almost 8 and a half minutes while opener 'Country Home' is just over 7 minutes. A lot of the tracks on this album will take multiple listens to digest properly - there isn't a huge amount to differentiate them musically. 'Farmer John' (originally a Don and Dewey song from the late 50's) is sleazy as hell, and 'White Line' sort of has this country rhythm going for it, but for the most part it really sounds as if a lot of these tracks were written quickly and in a way that so that the band would have an excuse to just jam through them. This probably sounds like a negative on the surface of things, but it's really not. It totally gives the album a 'live' and direct feel - almost as if you're listening to a concert. The songs are mostly lengthy as I said, but that's the whole point - this is a band jamming through good, simple, mostly in-your-face, rough rock tunes. The music is dirty, distorted, Neil sings out of tune at times, the riffs are massive and overall the record is just awesome. The style of the album makes it hard to pinpoint standouts, but if I had too, I'd say 'Farmer John' is one of my favourites because it's actually sort of catchy despite how slow and sleazy it is. 'Love to Burn' rules too and has a really grungy feel to it. I love the main vocal hook in 'Country Home' as well, and 'Fuckin' Up' has the best hook of them all - "why do I keep FUCKIN' up?!" - but really I enjoy this album from start to finish. I get lost in it, because it really does feel like you're there with the band. It doesn't feel rehearsed, and that's part of what gives it it's strengths if ya know what I mean. I'm not surprised Neil played such a big role in influencing the 90's grunge scene.
Ragged Glory is generally considered one of Neil's better albums in his discography, and I totally agree with this, HOWEVER, that doesn't mean everyone will enjoy it. A lot of his material is very acoustic and singer-songwriterish - this is not. It's not an album I can listen to all the time. It's just Neil and a band rockin' out. For that reason, I don't think the album's for everybody. In terms of what it actually sets out to do however, it is one of the best albums in it's style for sure.
Adam's rating: 9.3/10
WELD 1991 (Warner Bros.)
Wow. Just wow. Neil in the early 90's was a rock n' roll monster. I understand why the really old-school fans would consider albums such as After the Gold Rush and Harvest Moon etc. to be his finest works, but for me, 90's Neil reigns supreme. Weld is two discs of sloppy, live, raw, feedback-drenched Young-Crazy Horse brilliance; pure electric fuckin' rock n' roll! Awesome guitar tones throughout! It's easy to see why he made such an impact on the grunge scene with records like this one. 'Crime in the City' from Freedom is one of my favourites - Weld's version (much like the whole album) is very much a plugged-in affair and it transforms an excellent singer-songwriter acoustic number into a loud and loose, rockin' political statement! The stretched-out, sloppy, distorted Bob Dylan cover of 'Blowin' in the Wind' sounds out of place on paper, but it gets the crowd singing along and fits into the set just fine. Of course, the massively influential 'Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)' from Rust Never Sleeps is also a highlight. A 'lotta Ragged Glory tracks on here too, which is understandable given that they'd just made that record at the time. Good thing, because songs like 'Fuckin' Up' and 'Love to Burn' are staples of Neil's career in the 90's, and totally appropriate for the grungy state of rock music was in at the time. Predictably, 'Rockin' in the Free World' - which has been lengthened to more than eight minutes here - is another one of my favourite tracks this live album has to offer.
Not much else to say really. Giving Weld a 10/10 seems a little too kind, but it's really not that far off being perfect as a live album either. You could even argue that some versions of the Ragged Glory tracks here are the definitive ones, depending on just how raw you like things of course. You know, if somebody came up to me and asked me for some pure, bare-bones, real ROCK recommendations, I'd probably tell them to check this out, along with albums like the Stooges' Raw Power, MC5's Kick Out the Jams and Montrose's debut...
Adam's rating: 9.7/10
SLEEPS WITH ANGELS 1994 (Reprise)
- Standouts: 'My Heart', 'Driveby', 'Sleeps with Angels', 'Change Your Mind', 'Blue Eden', 'Safeway Cart', 'Trans Am', 'Piece of Crap'
Another album with Crazy Horse, and another that's generally considered one of Neil's best with said band. Unlike Ragged Glory, Sleeps with Angels is a bit more diverse and not entirely garage rock-focussed. Neil has always been full of surprises after all. 'My Heart' is a brief, pretty little opener driven by pianos. 'Prime of Life' is a droning rock song with a touch of flute to accompany the band (the only Neil Young song to feature any flute playing, apparently). 'Driveby' is a very slow and kind of sombre track. Nice background music though. In fact, the generally darker nature and tone of this record makes sense. Kurt Cobain had killed himself not long prior to the release of this album, and he'd even quoted Neil Young's 'My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)' ("It's better to burn out than to fade away") in his suicide note. The act directly affected Neil, and he wrote the resulting title track from this album, 'Sleeps with Angels', in response. The title track itself is an appropriately grungy, feedback-drenched number. Come to think of it, Kurt's death may explain the mood for this entire record.
To me, 'Western Hero' sounds like a typical, solid, folky Neil number. Could have fit on many of his albums quite easily if I say so myself. 'Change Your Mind' is a bloody long, fourteen minute-plus, brooding epic. Probably my favourite of all these tracks, actually. I also like the plodding, almost bluesy and droning jams of 'Blue Eden'. 'Safeway Cart' is extremely moody and foreboding, with Neil's vocals only being marginally louder than a whispering tone. Things don't get much more upbeat with 'Trans Am' either, another sombre number. Things do pick up on the stupidly-titled 'Piece of Crap' though, which is an up-tempo, sleazy rocker that has more in common with the songs from Ragged Glory! Love it! The album's finishing piece, 'A Dream That Can Last' is a ballady kind of closer - I quite like it, but it isn't a standout for me either.
I must admit, as much as I like this album - and I really do - it isn't one I pull out all that often. I've seen some people stick this right at the top of the Young/Crazy Horse output, but I still like Ragged Glory best in that category. Every track on Sleeps with Angels is very good, but I just don't ever listen to any of them individually. I suppose that's due to the darker tone of the album, but either way, it's difficult to really pick faults with any of them. It's the kind of record that I have to be sat at home, and listen to in full to properly enjoy. Not that that's a bad thing though - if you've got things to be doing at home, this is a perfect album to play in the background.
Adam's rating: 8.8/10
MIRROR BALL 1995 (Epic)
- Standouts: 'Song X', 'Act of Love', 'I'm the Ocean', 'Big Green Country', 'Downtown', 'Peace and Love', 'Throw Your Hatred Down', 'Scenery'
Even though Mirror Ball actually consists of Neil playing and performing songs with Pearl Jam as his backing band (don't expect much singing from Eddie Vedder, except on 'Peace and Love' and some backing vocals here and there), musically it sounds extremely similar to Ragged Glory with Crazy Horse. And this is a good thing, a) because Neil's made many great albums with Crazy Horse, and Ragged Glory in particular is incredible anyway, b) because it really showcases Neil's songwriting trademark when he goes down the harder, garage rock/grungy kinda sound and c) because I'm not really much of a Pearl Jam fan anyway - I have Vs. and Ten in my collection, and while I do like Vs., neither of these records really made me want to go out and buy more of Pearl Jam's stuff. Mirror Ball, to me sounds like Pearl Jam were following orders from Neil for the most part.
The overall performances are a little tighter than the deliberate sloppiness of some of the Crazy Horse material, but as I said, you'd have to be some kind of super fan to figure out that this album was recorded with Pearl Jam if someone just played it to you with zero context. And the songs are bloody good! 'Song X' kinda took a few listens for me to really enjoy, but I do love it now. It sort of has a traditional, almost nautical kind of vibe in the vocal melodies that you have to hear for yourself to see what I mean. 'Act of Love' is very 90's alternative rock/grunge, but this is good again, because Neil is really suited to that style. I think the lengthy 'I'm the Ocean', with it's repetitive song structure is extremely powerful stuff. It's the kind of song that is deserving of a repetitive structure because it's just so damn infectious. 'Downtown' is quite upbeat, and lyrically it's pretty stupid, but it definitely has a very improvised, live kind of feel to it, and this is something Neil is very good at pulling off. It's fun!
'Throw Your Hatred Down' is faster too, and is really great. It takes the Ragged Glory formula, improves on the musicianship and adds a touch of alternative rock to the mix, and the result is one of the best tracks on the album. The album ends on a short and brief ballad, 'Fallen Angel', but this is really just a little outro to the long and drawn-out 'Scenery', which again has a very personal and 'live' feel to it. Like they just came up with it on the spot, in the recording studio. Really I think every track on here is at solid at the very least. Most are great to downright excellent - especially 'I'm the Ocean' and 'Scenery'.
Another great album then. Even if you aren't into Pearl Jam, the way these songs are performed makes it feel like another album with Crazy Horse. While I still think Ragged Glory is a stronger album, the slightly more 'cleaned up' sound on Mirror Ball may actually appeal to some listeners even more. Either way, I highly recommend it.
Adam's rating: 9/10
