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| Lazy Bones |
World class
By DARRYL STERDAN
Winnipeg Sun
GREENDALE
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
(Reprise/Warner)
Neil Young has been living in own little world
for decades -- but now, it seems he's finally
decided to make it official.
Welcome to Greendale, the latest Young album
guaranteed to please his legions of loyal
followers, alienate his fair-weather fans and
generally leave everybody else scratching their
heads and wishing he would just write more
songs like Cinnamon Girl.
Part rock opera, part concept album, part song
cycle, part soap opera, part Broadway musical,
part soundtrack, part allegory and wholly
freaky, this 78-minute creation -- which Young
has also turned into a feature film and a
concert production -- has already earned its
spot behind the synthesizer-worshipping Trans
and the feedback-fest Arc as one of the odder
landmarks in the shape-shifting
singer-guitarist's lengthy canon.
It's certainly one of the most intriguing and
ambitious projects he's come out with lately. Set
in a fictional Northern California coastal town,
Greendale loosely chronicles the
misadventures of three generations of the
Green family. Grandpa and Grandma Green
hang out on the porch, reading the paper and
bemoaning the state of the world.
Their son Earl -- an aging hippie and Vietnam
vet who paints psychedelic pictures no one will
buy -- lives with his wife Edith on the Double E
Ranch with their son Jed and daughter Sun. It
all sounds very Mayberry. Naturally, it ends up
more like Twin Peaks. Jed turns out to be a
drug-smuggling survivalist who guns down a
beloved local cop during a traffic stop.
Grandpa collapses and dies after taking a
potshot at reporters who surround the Double
E in the ensuing media frenzy. Sun becomes an
eco-terrorist, falls in love with a guy named
Earth Brown, and sets off for Alaska to save the
world after an FBI agent shoots her cat. Oh,
and did we mention the Devil lives in the town
jail and roams the streets at night?
If it sounds disjointed and sketchy, no wonder:
Young claims he didn't set out to write a
narrative, but simply went along for the ride
after the same characters kept popping up in
songs. But don't let Neil's literary aspirations (or
lack thereof) turn you off Greendale. Even if
you ignore the half-baked plot, you can still feel
at home in the music. Greendale's 10 tracks
are vintage Young -- loping, stripped-down
roots-rock, blues and folk, raggedly and
lovingly bashed out by Neil, his trusty old Les
Paul and the rhythm section of his longtime
compadres Crazy Horse.
And even though these rambling numbers tend
toward the long side -- all but one are longer
than five minutes, and three top the 10-minute
mark -- most boast solid choruses, hummable
guitar licks and melodies that stick in your head
after just a listen or two, ironically making
Greendale one of the most accessible albums
Neil has put out in years.
But whether or not you see Greendale as a
nice place to visit, you have to give Young
credit. At an age when his contemporaries are
content to live off their back catalogue, he
continues to evolve and experiment, refusing to
compromise his vision or pander to his
audience -- even (and especially) if they want
to be pandered to.
It's that drive that keeps Young in a class by
himself. Even if he is in a world of his own.
(More on Neil Young)
Track Listing
1. Falling From Above
2. Double E
3. Leave The Driving
4. Bandit
5. Carmichael
6. Devil's Sidewalk
7. Grandpa's Interview
8. Bringin' Down Dinner
9. Sun Green
10. Be The Rain |
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| mac_daddy |
LB -
did I ever send you electric greendale and the bonnaroo set? I have just finished remastering (EQ, max/comp), and they sound great, so if I din't get it to you (I thought I did), I will hit you with it this time...
my man Zevon has his album out today; I was gonna go get both later on... |
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| Martha |
To those of you I've promised the Greendale set from June 14, 2003 I am now burning and mailing. However, I need some mailing addresses for the following people:
1. zippypayne>> I tried to leave you a PM but your Rocks Off name wouldn't plug in.
2. swayed>>need snail mail addy
3. travis b. >> need snail mail addy
Thanks for the patience and for the friendship everyone.
Keep on rockin' in the free world.......
peace,
Martha |
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| Lazy Bones |
quote:
mac_daddy wrote:
LB -
did I ever send you electric greendale and the bonnaroo set? I have just finished remastering (EQ, max/comp), and they sound great, so if I din't get it to you (I thought I did), I will hit you with it this time...
Bonnaroo Festival, yes. Which electric/North American show did you send? I work from my tradelist at home so I don't have that info in front of me here at work.
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| Lazy Bones |
quote:
Martha wrote:
To those of you I've promised the Greendale set from June 14, 2003 I am now burning and mailing. However, I need some mailing addresses for the following people:
You rock, Martha!
Neil Young covers still doesn't have artwork for that, Columbus, show (as seen above). |
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| mac_daddy |
"Which electric/North American show did you send?"
the one I have is from MSG (6/23, I think)...
I am also remastering one of the solo acoustic Greeendale shows from Europe - should I put you down for one of those, too? |
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| Lazy Bones |
quote:
mac_daddy wrote:
"Which electric/North American show did you send?"
the one I have is from MSG (6/23, I think)...
I am also remastering one of the solo acoustic Greeendale shows from Europe - should I put you down for one of those, too?
Ahh, you're playing with my head, md! MSG is 7/23. You're sure it's not 6/23 as that was Toronto - a show I was at!? Regardless, I have neither.
Which European show?
[Edited by Lazy Bones] |
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| mac_daddy |
"Which European show?"
Neil Young
29 April 2003
Congress Centrum Hamburg, Hall 1
Hamburg, Germany
Revision A (see below)
Aud: OKM/IIP > A3 > Sony D100 > CDR > SHN > WAV(edit)
> SHN(seekable) > WAV > FLAC
taped 2nd row
Edit by Timbo [email protected] 20-JUN-03
Disc 1 (72:28)
"Greendale" -Set 1-
01. Falling From Above (11:18)
02. Double E ( 8:06)
03. Devil's Sidewalk ( 6:38)
04. Leave The Driving ( 9:31)
05. Carmichael (14:59)
06. Bandit (10:30)
07. Grandpa's Interview (11:22)
Disc 2 (27:19)
"Greendale" cont'd
01. Bringin' Down Dinner ( 4:36)
02. Sun Green (14:16)
03. Be the Rain ( 8:26)
Disc 3 (60:24)
Set 2
01. Lotta Love ( 4:21)
02. On the Beach ( 6:34)
03. No One Seems to Know ( 2:32)
04. Expecting to Fly ( 4:48)
05. Old Man ( 5:39)
06. Cortez the Killer (10:29)
07. Don't Let it Bring You Down ( 4:18)
08. After the Gold Rush ( 8:59)
Encore
09. Hitchhiker (Intro) ( 2:40)
10. Campaigner ( 5:54)
11. Heart of Gold ( 4:06)
(Original) Notes:
- Wow!
- Second 'On the Beach' in 28 years.
- First 'No One Seems to Know' since January 14, 1983.
- 'Cortez the Killer' on 12-string.
- 'Hitchhiker' intro only - bummer 
- First 'Campaigner' since October 24, 1996.
- Wow!!
Revision A Notes:
This recording was originally let out in a form that included
several anomalies including gaps, skips, ticks, repeats, and
volume level changes. These issues (too numerous to list
individually) have been eliminated, repaired, and/or
attenuated in this Revision A.
Many of the problems with the original version are related to the
fact this originated as an edit between two different source
recordings. The details of the 2nd source recording are unknown.
The 2nd source was primarily used for the between song banter &
story telling.
Converted from Shorten to FLAC by Vidvandre
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| mac_daddy |
msg 6/26 |
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| Lazy Bones |
Well, MacD, I have Hamburg coming. I believe, however, it's an alternate, possibly lesser quality, version. Hence, I would like to get both (and MSG).
I'll email you tonight (after I pick up Greendale and the missing 4 ) and see what I can do for you!!
Thanks for the info and offer. Greatly appreciated! |
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| Lazy Bones |
quote:
mac_daddy wrote:
msg 6/26
Cheers! |
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| FPM C10 |
[/quote]
Thanks for the patience and for the friendship everyone.
Keep on rockin' in the free world.......
peace,
Martha
[/quote]
Martha, THANK YOU for including me. It was a wonderful surprise to get in the mail on a particularly blue day. I stood at the mailbox and thought "Miss Martha Mellencamp...hmmmm....who do I know named Mellenca....OH!" Ha!
Thanks a bunch! |
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| Lazy Bones |
quote:
mac_daddy wrote:
- Second 'On the Beach' in 28 years.
First time (in the last 28 yrs.) was in Chicago '99 - also a solo, acoustic show. Before that, 27 July 1975 at the Greek Theater in Berkeley as a guest of Stephen Stills. |
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| MRD8 |
The Greendale CD comes with a bonus DVD from the Vicar Street Dublin concert...it only features the Greendale album but it still looks/sounds great! |
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| Jaxx |
glad y;all enjoyed greendale so much. quite frankly i had a problem with paying money to see 2 hours of totally new music and neil young's soap box. it certainly is not the caliber of pete townsends, tommy, nor pink floyd's, the wall. its neil young corny. i wouldn't have minded hearing some of the new trax, however, i didn't want to hear the whole thing. some good guitar, some great harmonica. however, when they came out for a lengthly encore of 6 classics, some of which included rust never sleeps, the power and the finger, roll another one for the road and the ever popular cowgirls in the sand, i knew i wasn't the only who knew what we were missing for the previous 2 hours. these guys can jam. greendale missed my boat. |
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| mac_daddy |
Jaxx - that was the way I felt, before I went and saw the Greendale show at the Greek heater (in LA). The Greendale stuff sounds as if it could have come off of Rust Never Sleeps...
Crazy Horse's performance @ Bonnaroo had no Greendale stuff: Powderfinger, Cortez the Killer, Hurricane all sounded as good as they always have (at least on the recording I have). One of the other artists at that festival commented that Neil has the energy of all 4 Stones combined. I don't know about that, but I do know he rocks. He (and the other folks in Crazy Horse) plays hard, every night. The visual stuff is window dressing, but it fits. Listening to the tapes, you don't miss it, though. And as far as the soapbox goes, it ain't that bad. He makes sense, and he is not saying anything he hasn't said in the past 30 years (remember tracks like "Ohio" are about as soapboxy as he gets). And it is refreshing to hear someone sing about something other than getting laid...
I would urge you to let me send you the Greendale show (+ encore) from MSG. It sounds pretty good, and it is a good performance to use to hear the new material. You also might want a copy of the Bonnaroo set - that is probably exactly what you are looking for... |
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| Martha |
Hey Jaxx,
PM me with your snail mail addy I have somethign to send you too!
FPM C-10......we need to have a one to one heart to heart soon...I've been very blue too lately, but am coming around the corner. Glad the music made you smile! I can totally relate to that. :-)
Martha Mellencamp
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| Yyteri Beach |
YES! I can't wait till the new LP is being released.
Does anyone know the release date of LP? |
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| Lazy Bones |
quote:
Yyteri Beach wrote:
Does anyone know the release date of LP?
Yesterday, in North America. Not sure about Finland. |
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| Yyteri Beach |
Thanks Lazy Bones
now I wait when the LP comes to our markets.
Usually Neil releases his records also as LP's so probably I won't have to wait long to see it in here... |
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| Martha |
I got this notice in my e-mail yesterday:
Subject: Neil Young & Crazy Horse Greendale - in stores now!
Neil Young & Crazy Horse Greendale - in stores now!
The package features the Greendale CD as well as a DVD of Greendale, live & acoustic, performed by Young in Dublin, Ireland. For the first time in his storied career, Neil Young has created a fictional place filled with characters and incidents and written an album about them. The album, and the place, is Greendale and the people are the Green family.
See what critics are saying about this stunning new album:
"One of the most ambitious works of his career... a great artist once again at the peak of his game." - Chicago Tribune
"The Music is as inspiring as the message. In an age when so many musicans aim for nothing more than a place on the charts, Young reaches boldly here for our hearts." - Los Angeles Times
"The Music is Vibrant and unpolished, the characters captivating, the message uplifiting." - USA Today
"4 Stars" - Rolling Stone
"Young has rarely sounded so fresh and inspired... an uncompromising artist with the courage to follow his muse." - Chicago Sun Times
Also now available for the first time ever on CD...American Stars 'N Bars, On The Beach, Hawks & Doves and re-ac-tor.
neilyoung.com
_______________________________________________________
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| Lazy Bones |
Quite the night last night. Picked up Neil's Greendale (w/ bonus dvd) and On The Beach - my favourite Neil Young album. And to boot, found the last copy of NME magazine (with Keith on the cover). It has a rather amusing sub-title:
"Keith tells greatest rock stories ever slurred"...or something to that effect. Nice cover picture; not much content. |
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| mac_daddy |
btw - "stars and bars" and "on the beach" are the sh*t! |
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| Lazy Bones |
quote:
mac_daddy wrote:
btw - "stars and bars" and "on the beach" are the sh*t!
Amen!
Lol..almost fell off my chair..missed the "the" in your post.
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| Jaxx |
quote:
mac_daddy wrote:
Jaxx -
I would urge you to let me send you the Greendale show (+ encore) from MSG. It sounds pretty good, and it is a good performance to use to hear the new material. You also might want a copy of the Bonnaroo set - that is probably exactly what you are looking for...
hi and thanks for the offer. i caught the show at red rocks outdoor amphitheatre. the sound was perfect. really. the theatrics and dancers caught me by surprise and you are right, the soapbox remains the same and i'm not shocked just bored i think...anti media, anti cops, anti vietnam, provietnam vets. i should also add that while i didn't want to hear 2 hours of totally new music (i felt neil was being self indulgent), i have to give the guy a thumbs up for bravery! how many artists can you think of that would come out and play totally new music for 2 hours with 3 decades of classics behind them shove their values in your face and charge 70 bucks a ticket to do it?
i'll PM you my snail mail. the bonnaroo set is exactly what i'm looking for. you too martha i'll PM ya. i am all ears these days...
[Edited by Jaxx] |
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| Child of the Moon |
I've been following this album and its creation since Neil played "Falling From Above" for the first time, last year at the Bridge School. I've heard the boots, read the interviews, seen the web page, saw the concert, and got the album yesterday (plus the re-released four albums, OTB, etc.)... and all I can say is, this is the best stuff Neil's done since Sleeps with Angels. I've got a solo acoustic boot from 5/1/03 (Germany, I think?), and I instantly fell in love with "Falling From Above," "Bandit," "Grandpa's Interview," and others. Then I saw the concert at Concord, and the Horse did a fantastic job with the material, especially "Be the Rain."
Now I have thw album itself, and I can proudly state that I've already listened to it a full four times since I bought it (not to mention the occasional listen to one or two songs). I LOVE this album. I sincerely hope Neil keeps at least some of these songs in future, non-Greendale setlists. I can't wait for the movie itself to come out.
By the way, the "found four" LP's all kick ass, especially On the Beach, which is probably my second-favorite Neil album (behind Tonight's the Night). I admit I've always dug Re.Ac.Tor, and even American Stars N Bars, side one is beginning to grow on me (I've always really preferred side two). Hawks and Doves... well, I enjoy "Captain Kennedy" and "Union Man," but I think it'll take more time to warm up to the rest...
PS - Greendale High football rules! |
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| Lazy Bones |
Macdaddy,
Yesterday I received the Hamburg show that I had been waiting on. Although an exc audience recording, I'm confident that this is the main copy that's circulated through the Rustlist and other places. And, as you noted, is presumably the version with small ticks and abnormalities as I noted a small few.
Another show also received is the 19 June, Hammersmith, London show. Another exc, audience recording. The solo, acoustic Euro theatre leg has really produced some excellent audience recordings thanks to some great venues. |
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| Staffan |
quote:
Child of the Moon wrote:
Hawks and Doves... well, I enjoy "Captain Kennedy" and "Union Man," but I think it'll take more time to warm up to the rest...
LOL! I really fancy those piano and fiddle driven tunes on side two! They are REALLY danceable! And they all sound the same (well, almost!). Particularly Hawks and Doves (the song!) is wonderful. And track 7, too.
I haven't yet ordered Greendale, been busy, but I've heard it on five or so bootlegs (both solo and CH) and I like it a lot, specially the last songs.
Staffan
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