[Dmitry]

I only have one album of his, ARE YOU PASSIONATE?, that was released a couple of years ago. Picked it up on a whim a month or so ago. I like 3 or 4 songs on it. Besides the usual suspects that appear on the FM dial I don't know much about Young's music.
What's your take on this guy?

[Dave James]

I think what Young brings to the table that's sadly lacking in 99% of what passes for popular music these days is authenticity. With him, what you see is what you get. I remember him way back when with The Buffalo Springfield or Crazy Horse..."Cinnamon Girl", "Down By The River"... those are great tunes, full of memories. And, at least IMO, he gave Crosby Stills & Nash an edge that they never came close to without him. Can you even imagine CS&N doing a song like "Southern Man" without him?

I also think he's underrated as a musician. I have a DVD of a concert performance in Berlin, Germany where he plays a monstrous electric version of "Like a Hurricane". If his extended guitar solo on that one doesn't knock your socks off, something is seriously wrong with your innards.

There's a new concert film out from Jonathan Demme called "Heart of Gold" that supposably captures the essence of Young as an artist. From what I understand, it was the talk of the recent Sundance Film Festival. It was filmed in the Ryman (?) Auditorium in Nashville, Kentucky. Havent' seen it yet, but I intend to.

Up over and out.

[Joe]

I can't imagine that I could call mine a "record collection" anymore if it were missing copies of BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD AGAIN, EVERYBODY KNOWS THIS IS NOWHERE, AFTER THE GOLD RUSH (especially), and TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT.

[J.A.W.]

Joe, on Feb 28 2006, 10:06 PM, said:

I can't imagine that I could call mine a "record collection" anymore if it were missing copies of BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD AGAIN, EVERYBODY KNOWS THIS IS NOWHERE, AFTER THE GOLD RUSH (especially), and TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT.

And, as far as I'm concerned, Zuma. My favorite is Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere.

[DavidM]

I remember 1975 as a banner year for music: Tonights the Night followed by Zuma in the same year. The dark abyss then the sunshine. According to the "Shakey" bio, Neil was a big Coltrane fan. I think this shows in his intense extended solos. The man has been making honest music for 40 yrs, with all the ups and downs of a real life.

[Clunky]

I was given Prarie Wind at Xmas, my first Neil Young and I love it and play it a lot. Went out and found an old Buffalo Springfield ( 1973 2LP set) anthology and Harvest and have been enjoying those LPs too.

[PHILLYQ]

As was said before, his music is honest and comes from the heart, not a calculated package designed to sell.He definitely brought a serious edge to CS&N that made them much better.

[Quincy]

If I counted right I have 29 records with Neil as leader but I don’t have “Are You Passionate.”

He’s had a very diverse career, and he’s done almost everything other than make a reggae album (I thought for sure he’d do that during the Geffen years.)

My favorites have already been mentioned - the 1-2 punch of Zuma and the spooky drunken Tonight’s The Night. You’re in luck in that On The Beach (‘74) is now easily available. I’m still adjusting to “Vampire Blues” without the pops. I’d say Allmusic does a good job of pointing out the really good ones, though some of the 3 star rated albums you’ll probably like more (and others less.) And cripes, was Rust Never Sleeps 27 years ago? I still think of that as “new” one.

Beware the Geffen period. I loved his International Harvester country band in person - one of the best feel good/good time shows I ever witnessed, but the album itself (Old Ways) didn’t capture that.

What’s everyone’s least favorite Neil album? Mine is Landing On Water. Practically mint condition LP.

[GregK]

I have everything by him plus many bootlegs. You are scraping near the bottom of the barrel by starting with Are You Passionate! One of his weaker albums. I would go check out On the Beach, Tonight's the Night, and Time Fades Away (which is out of print and only ever available on vinyl, so good luck!) for his absolute peak. All dealing with personal loss-riveting music. Check out Sleeps with Angels, too for a similar themed album, from 1994. Actually, everything he did in the 70s and 90s (and 60s, which is the Buffalo Springfield period) is worth checking out. Skip the 80s (except for Freedom, which came out in Oct 89, so it's almost 90s)-he was disinterested in making music and the results are clearly not his best. The records in the 2000s so far are uneven-Silver and Gold is nice, a countryish, mellow acoustic album, AYP sounds like it was left over from the 80s, Greendale is very good, full of long guitar led jams; there is supposedly a storyline but the music is the point, and Prairie Wind is a better take on the Silver and Gold theme (reflections on aging, mostly). Overall, Neil Young is one of the greats, and everything he does is worth at least a listen. I think he's underrated, actually-you always hear people worship the beatles, dylan, etc, but not as many for Young, who has had the longest, consistently interesting career of them all
Oh yeah, he makes CSN sound good too!!

[.:.impossible]

I've really enjoyed listening to On The Beach since it was re-issued. One of the Neil Young albums that I had somehow never listened to until recently. Everything everyone has said already, for sure. He's for real.

[wolff]

Decade would be a good one to get for an overview of his work
from 1966-76.

My favorite Young:

Harvest
Tonight's The Night
Zuma
Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
After The Goldrush

He is also a huge proponent of analog and vinyl.
From what I hear his latest two, Greatest Hits and Prarie Wind,
are great vinyl products.

This post has been edited by wolff: 28 February 2006 - 08:00 PM

[doubleM]

My faves are: American Stars 'n' Bars, Harvest, Live Rust, and Harvest Moon. Love Neil Young.

[Alexander]

I have the Springfield and CSNY material (one of my favorite Young performances is the version of "On The Way Home" on "Four Way Street") as well as a few of his better known solo discs ("Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere," "After the Gold Rush," and "Harvest"). I really should pick up some more of his stuff. I love what I have...

[bertrand]

I see no one has mentioned Comes A Time yet?

Bertrand.

[Big Al]

How about a little love for Ragged Glory? One of THE great guitar albums of all time.

[md655321]

Ive seen Neil live twice. Once solo acoustic, once with Crazy Horse in full out jam mode, will most songs cracking the 10 minutes barrier. Both were utterly fantastic, even transcendent.

Are You Passionate is definitely a weird start. Kinda like starting your Miles collection with Star People.

[DrJ]

As much as I admire Young I think his best work is behind him. Start collecting the records from COMES A TIME and earlier if you really want to know what he was once capable of. Some of the best stuff rock has ever offered up.

[Quincy]

Big Al, on Feb 28 2006, 07:51 PM, said:

How about a little love for Ragged Glory? One of THE great guitar albums of all time.

A huge thrill when I saw him with the International Harvesters was that he opened with "Country Home" which I knew from a vinyl bootleg I had. One of my favorite songs, unreleased at that and BANG, he opened with it. Finally it showed up on Ragged Glory, so yup, I love that album. And "F*cking Up" is such a great riff (aside from being the story of my life!)

I like the album with Pearl Jam (Mirror Ball) way more than I probably should but I can't help myself (and I'm not a Pearl Jam fan, so go figure.) "I'm The Ocean" is infectious.

I wouldn't recommend it to someone with just one (or even 4, or 6, or...) albums but I have a soft spot for re-ac-tor, namely for "Surf-er Joe And Moe The Sleaze" and "Rap-id Tran-sit." And of course the very profound "T-Bone." :lol: But it was also released when I was 18, so it smells like teen freedom to me. Bought it and Dire Straits' Love Over Gold on the same day. Whew, Mr. Big Spender!

[Rosco]

Got a lot of time for Neil Young. Not everything he does works (his albums are generally awesome or awful with little in between) but you gotta love the guy for putting himself out there with everything that he does. For me, he's like the rock world's Miles. Don't stand still, keep the tapes rolling, put everything down mistakes and all and screw the critics. Records don't get made that way anymore.

If you're a newbie, start with Decade, an excellent introduction to Young the younger, including some fine tracks unavailable elsewhere and one or two from otherwise inessential albums (like 'Long May You Run' with Stepehen Stills).

But it's hard to go far wrong with any of his late 60s- 70s output: Everyone Knows This is Nowhere, Harvest, After the Gold Rush, On the Beach, Tonight's the Night, Rust Never Sleeps- all classics.

There's some good things from the last few years too (Freedom, Harvest Moon, Ragged Glory spring to mind) though I thought the album with Pearl Jam was a little shapeless. As has been said, avoid the Geffen period. I too made the mistake of buying Landing on Water and took it back.

Have to admit though, I've missed out on the last few albums. I'll have to give them a listen sometime.

[sal]

I thought "Silver & Gold" was a nice record. Not as good as his early stuff, of course but a good record nonetheless.

[GregK]

as usual Clementine is RIGHT ON-I have seen year of the horse and it is one of the great rock documentaries. Very raw, like his Dead Man soundtrack, which was also a Jarmusch project. Red Rocks is tedious, with perhaps one of his very worst songs. Motorcycle Mama done live with his wife screaming the female vocal. I think Neil is one of the best but I just cant listen to that one; however, Words and Cowgirl in the Sand on that disc are very good. I recommend to anyone even remotely interested to seek out any bootlegs you can find-every record is represented even better live, especially the 80s material (check out the live versions of the Life songs-excellent and very vital!). The live version of the Trans stuff that I have heard are so good-well worth the comparison. Makes you realize how good those songs were; it's all in the presentation. If Neil ever releases his vast Archives project, it will be like the Holy Grail for his fans-supposedly multi-DVD volumes will be released of all live & outtakes

[J.A.W.]

Strange, no one (including me) has mentioned Neil's very first album, Neil Young (Reprise 6317), that came out twice in 1968 - Young decided to remix and reissue the album within months of its first release. It's a bit overproduced in my opinion, but it does contain several fine songs, "The Loner" being one of them.

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drf600/f610/f61072zg6bm.jpg

[Quincy]

GregK, on Mar 1 2006, 03:41 PM, said:

I have seen year of the horse and it is one of the great rock documentaries.

You won't look at fake flowers on a table the same way after seeing it. DANGER DANGER! :lol:

Quote

If Neil ever releases his vast Archives project, it will be like the Holy Grail for his fans-supposedly multi-DVD volumes will be released of all live & outtakes

Supposedly it is really happening. (I know, I know, we've been fooled before.) Here's a blog devoted to Neil Young news with a hopeful clue.

Neil Young archive clue link

[Dmitry]

WOW! AND WOW! :tup :tup :tup
Thanks for so much insight! After reading this thread a couple of time it looks to me as though everybody here has his own favorite Neil Young record.
Well, I just went to the Newbury Comics and bought two of his cds - ON THE BEACH and SILVER AND GOLD.
Too soon for me to express my initial opinion on either, since I've only played a few tracks of the former on the way home from the store, but I'm pretty much overwhelmed about the positivity of your responses.
Thank you.

PS - Clem, Damascus Gate sounds like a deal to make. Too bad you don't like to return calls.

This post has been edited by Dmitry: 01 March 2006 - 10:23 PM

[Joe]

J.A.W., on Mar 1 2006, 07:56 PM, said:

Strange, no one (including me) has mentioned Neil's very first album, Neil Young (Reprise 6317), that came out twice in 1968 - Young decided to remix and reissue the album within months of its first release. It's a bit overproduced in my opinion, but it does contain several fine songs, "The Loner" being one of them.

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drf600/f610/f61072zg6bm.jpg

This is an odd, at times "popp-y" but still intriguing LP. In fact, I still love "The Old Laughing Lady" and "Here We Are In The Years", which is as beautiful a thing as Neil's put on record (IMHO).

[Big Al]

clementine, on Mar 1 2006, 05:10 PM, said:

Ragged Glory (i think Big Al overrates this quite a bit-- if he meant COMETS ON FIRE i'd agree-- not SO much Neil didn't do over & over & over & over indeed but not a bad record, just lacking the peak songs of)

Probably. I just remember when this came out, when rock & roll seemed all but dead to me, putting this on in the Walkman while I was doing the lawn; that opening riff to “Country Home” and off it went! Never had so much fun mowing the lawn in my life! Plus, I can’t think of a better Neil record for blazin’ down the highway! I’ll grant ya side two starts to falter, but the sum is greater than the parts, so lop off a few extraneous tracks and I’ve got one helluva 45-minute record. Also dug ARC/WELD which came out later (and is it me, or did it seem for a while there that Neil was starting to become like the Who/Stones/McCartney monolith in that, with each passing studio record there came another live album?)

[GregK]

Big Al, on Mar 2 2006, 09:53 AM, said:

Probably. I just remember when this came out, when rock & roll seemed all but dead to me, putting this on in the Walkman while I was doing the lawn; that opening riff to “Country Home” and off it went! Never had so much fun mowing the lawn in my life! Plus, I can’t think of a better Neil record for blazin’ down the highway! I’ll grant ya side two starts to falter, but the sum is greater than the parts, so lop off a few extraneous tracks and I’ve got one helluva 45-minute record. Also dug ARC/WELD which came out later (and is it me, or did it seem for a while there that Neil was starting to become like the Who/Stones/McCartney monolith in that, with each passing studio record there came another live album?)

I'd have to say no-Between Arc/Weld and the next live record, Year of the Horse (from a tour, so the Unplugged disc doesn't count) there were 4 studio records, plus a Geffen compilation and the Unplugged-then the CSNY disc came after Year of the Horse, followed by Silver and Gold, then Road Rock (which sounded nothing like any recent studio record, so it's not like it was live document of the recent tour like the Who/McCartney ones). Neil is anything but predictable!

[.:.impossible]

bertrand, on Feb 28 2006, 10:50 PM, said:

I see no one has mentioned Comes A Time yet?

Bertrand.

Talk about it.

[Kalo]

I'm a Tonight's the Night man myself, with Rust Never Sleeps a close second,
but this thread makes me realize that I need more Neil Young in my life...

(It's kind of embarrassing to realize that I have more Nilsson than Neil in my collection -- that's not to say I don't love me my Nilsson...)

[wolff]

Hey Dmitry,

Most of us have known Neil Young since day one.
He's been around a while, and never compromised.
He is an American icon. From the race problems of the 60's and Vietnam he's been there.
A bit like Dylan and Cash and a very few others in this regard.
An American original that brought rock to new heights.