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| Prodigal Son |
Neil Young's biography, just read all 700+ pages, is fantastic. Man, if I had a career in rock I'd go by this as the bible: fuck corporate rock, fuck overexposure, fuck aging poorly, fuck the whole bullshit system, fuck the industry. It's some of the principles. I won't get into what each figure is like, and Neil etc., but it's really in-depth and several times takes very accurate looks at life in general; as a rock legend mainly, the business side of rock ruining it, egotism, drugs and what makes a writer great.
Richard Meltzer makes the point that rock n' roll is useless today and that no one should be bothering to make it if they hope to make an imprint on music and culture in the long run. Instead of the honest bands of recent years like the Black Crowes, Nirvana and some others I'm sure I have yet to hear, becoming respected and widely accepted (which is impossible to do since the 80s without being overhyped, overexposed, doomed to annoy and thus ruined in the process) are either religated to underground praise or posthumous popularity. They last longer in their worth but get ignored when relevant. Yet crap like Nickelback, Matchbox 20, Linkin Park, the rest of those phony awful "punk," and "hard rock" bands today is fake angst and emotion that makes a shitload of money for a 5 year period then disappears to be forgotten forever by everyone except people with no musical taste.
Another Neil thing was "When did angst become synthetic?" The current music of rock has no purpose in the world but to make money, satisfy star-obsessed loser mediums (VH1, MTV) and irritate. While it once was liberating, rock and the industry have become the exact opposite; emprisoning.
Neil calls MTV "Television music" and asks does the M stand for money or music, LOL. It tells the truth so much, it's a revelation. Anyone who's a huge Neil fan who hasn't read it should and if you care about all the old music we hold true, check it out.
[Edited by Prodigal Son] |
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| JumpinJackFlash |
I just read the book last week as well, i've been listening to the Weld album all week. Neil is truely a great. I seen him once as well, truely a great night, one of my best shows ever. I've met a couple of the Crazy Horse guy's, but not Neil. As well, i feel likie getting into the train hobbie now. "It's all very innarresting, heh" |
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| Child of the Moon |
Yeah, right behind A Life on the Road, Shakey is pretty much my bible.
I always enjoy reading the Tonight's the Night-era stories. I've tried to pattern myself after that guy. Y'know, Hello Waterface.
Neil.
Kicks.
Ass. |
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| Prodigal Son |
Definitely, he's the guy to pattern a career off of. All parts of the book are great, but I'd say the best one is the 1972-75 dark era, post-Harvest. The most boring is probably the mid-80s part where Neil was just makin' plain shitty records. I love the Eagles during his Tonight's the Night tour. Glenn Frey kept saying, "Neil, why are you doing this to your career?" LOL. It's all in the works. A master plan. The 90s comeback was a cool part too. I also love the fact that this is the most expletive-laced book I have EVER heard and I fuckin' mean that shit right now. There's no two motherfuckin' ways around it.
Neil favourites:
Album of the 60s-Everybody Knows This is Nowhere
70s-Tonight's the Night, but On the Beach is close. Hard to pick one single fave out of that decade.
80s-Bad decade highlighted by the brilliant Freedom.
90s-Sleeps with Angels is great. His best at the time since Rust Never Sleeps.
Song of the 60s-"Cowgirl in the Sand"
Song of the 70s-I can't pick it, just too hard.
Song of the 80s-"Keep on Rockin' in the Free World."
Song of the 90s-"Change Your Mind," all 15 minutes of it!
Most underrated album: Comes a Time. This is a folk masterpiece.
Least favourite
Album of the 70s-Journey Through the Past doesn't count, so let's go with American Stars n' Bars which, despite the presence of "Like a Hurricane" and "Will to Love" doesn't hold up to the others.
Album of the 80s-Wow, take your pick. I think Trans sucks, but it was an artistic statement so I'll go with Life, a cruddy one with "Inca Queen" and "When Your Lonely Heart Breaks" being the only great tunes.
Album of the 90s-Broken Arrow
Song of the 60s-"Emperor of Wyoming"-a dull instrumental.
Song of the 70s-Anything from Journey Through... but outside of that LP, I hate "There's a World." But the other overwrought orchestral song, "A Man Needs a Maid" I think is great, minus the over-the-top symphony stuff.
Song of the 80s-I hate that song "T-bone" from Reactor.
Song of the 90s-I dunno, not many weak tracks.
Most overrated album: Look, folks, Harvest isn't THATgood. Sure, it's really good but not a masterpiece thanks to "There's a World," "Words," "Alabama" and the fluffy country of "Are You Ready for the Country?"
His best live album: Weld
Worst live album: His last one, Friends & Acquaintances.
There's the meat-and-potatoes of my Neil meter. The guy does rank up there with John Lennon, Bob Dylan, Keith Richards, Pete Townshend, Jimi Hendrix and Joe Strummer in my most idolized single figures in rock elite. Maybe he ranks about 2nd or 3rd. |
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| Fiji Joe |
Child wrote:
"Yeah, right behind A Life on the Road, Shakey is pretty much my bible."
Just curious, where does the actual Bible rank in your list of good books
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| Child of the Moon |
Let's see...
Favorite song: On the Way Home. Even if Neil doesn't sing the original Buffalo Springfield take of it, it's still my favorite piece of his writing.
Least favorite: So far? Probably a tie between There's a World and a number of things off of Old Ways.
Favorite record: Tonight's the Night. Followed by On the Beach and Time Fades Away. I love the Doom Trilogy.
Least favorite record: Old Ways. Don't get me wrong - I really like most of his '80's records, but this one is just plain bad.
Yeah, I actually enjoy most of his 80's discs. Trans is a personal favorite, actually - one of my first real exposures to Neil. I think the vocoder stuff on there is fantastic, with Transformer Man being the standout. Hawks and Doves initially bothered me, but I enjoy the first side more and more, and Union Man is funny. I like Re.Ac.Tor a lot (yeah, I kinda like T-Bone). Everybody's Rockin' is a fun record, so is This Note's For You. Landing On Water is another one I really enjoy. As for Life, well... its one major redeeming quality is Prisoners of Rock and Roll.
I personally like most of Neil's "experiments." Actually, I like most of what the man does, no matter how contradictory it may be. At least he's *real.*
Got mashed potato, ain't got no t-bone... |
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| Child of the Moon |
quote:
Fiji Joe wrote:
Just curious, where does the actual Bible rank in your list of good books
Not very high. |
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| Fiji Joe |
Yeah, it's a tough read...and the characters are just not believable |
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| Prodigal Son |
Actually, in review, that song "Someday" off of Freedom is sucky. But that's only because of that awful drippy keyboard sound. Ugh... Otherwise it'd be good. Freedom, I just listened to that. What an album. "On Broadway" is covered so well. Neil's rockers are always fun to solo along with. Just awesome thrashing work you can do on the strings as long as you turn up the distortion and volume. I'm also intrigued more by his 1967-72 period of occasional orchestral driven songs ("The Old Laughing Lady," "The Loner," "Expecting to Fly," "Broken Arrow," "A Man Needs a Maid," stuff that, once he was through doing, never re-emerged until th years of 1978, 1992 and 1999). Now, let's rank the albums from best to worst on my list:
Remember: A+: excellent masterpiece, A: great, near flawless, A-: minor masterpiece, B+: very good, B: pretty good, B-: decent, C+: nothing much but okay, C: average, C-: subpar, D+: mediocre, D: slightly bad, D-: poor E+: totally lousy, E: even the playing gets called into question, E-: A terrible joke, F: An album worse than imaginable ala William Shatner, Hulk Hogan raps.
1. Tonight's the Night (A+)- a tortuted rock gem with Neil putting forward hurting, honest tunes with Crazy Horse's help.
2. On the Beach (A+)-A misunderstood dark, yet somehow hopeful, 9-song masterpiece.
3. Rust Never Sleeps (A+)-A totally Neil cliche record... and that's a good thing. And Crazy Horse is almost more brutal than ever on the electric tracks.
4. Everybody Knows This is Nowhere (A)-Spare, jam-inspiring, loud, distorted garage rock at its finest-why couldn't punk today be more garagey than studio, radio-friendly junk? Damn, Crazy Horse can't play so good but they can do what I call-effective amateurism.
5. Comes a Time (A)-A folk journey. There's great beauty in tunes like "Comes a Time," "Goin' Back," "Lotta Love," "Look Out for My Love," "Four Strong Winds," and "Peace of Mind" mostly thanks to the acoustic guitar and Nicolette Larson.
6. After the Gold Rush (A)-His quintessential folk-rock hippiefest album, with occasional fury such as "Southern Man" thrown into an otherwise mellow album with Neil's voice at the height of its whininess.
7. Zuma (A-)-Ragged, yet more uplifting (compared to previous works) garage rock album, and the occasional nice ballad. Crazy Horse's triumphant comeback.
8. Freedom (A-)-A helluva comeback. Some touching moments ("Wrecking Ball," "Hangin' on a Limb") yet some unbridled bitter rock ("Sixty to Zero-Crime in the City," "No More," "Eldorado"-such a desperado-type tune). But those sonic thrashings do the real damage ("Keep on Rockin'," "Don't Cry," "On Broadway.")
9. Sleeps with Angels (A-)-Another tragic death (Cobain) brings out the most passionate mourning in song from Neil and Crazy Horse.
10. Harvest (A-): His most hyped album, but although some tunes bring it down, I find the meat of it to be exhilirating: "Harvest," "Old Man," "Heart of Gold," "The Needle and the Damage Done" and "Out on the Weekend."
11. Ragged Glory (B+): in 1991, it was good for an old-fashioned return to the rock that helped Crazy Horse become so damn good and some maturity creeps in.
12. Harvest Moon (B+): A lovely acoustic-based album although maybe too care-free, lighthearted and happy to be a monumental Neil album.
13. Neil Young (B+)-"The Loner," "I've Been Waiting for You" and "The Old Laughing Lady" are just too great to hold this one back.
14. American Stars n' Bars (B+): A little overdrawn hillbilly-type country-folk but "Will to Love" and "Like a Hurricane" are as powerful as anything he's ever done.
15. Silver & Gold (B): A nice showing of old guy folk peans in 1999.
16. Greendale (B)-if all the songs were as gripping as "Bandit" or "Be the Rain," I'd put this one in his top 10.
Inter... I mean innaresting (I'm gonna write like that from this day forward, hahah... not really) plotline, though. Flashbacks to protesting writing of Neil's.
17. Mirroball-w/Pearl Jam (B): Somehow, this combo works well on record too.
18. Hawks & Doves (B-): Some political folk-country songs about labour issues, etc. that had only one or two great tracks.
19. Trans (B-): A computer derived experimental album that has a good concept that gets lost in the distraction of Neil doing a TECHNO-ROCK album!!!? Not so terrible, though.
20. Landing on Water (B-): Synthesizer dominant-yes, but hard rocking yes also.
21. Broken Arrow (C+): I dunno much about this one but every rating I see thinks it's below standard.
22. Are You Passionate? (C+): I remember this one went with a thud and that 9/11 song "Let's Roll" was pretty off-the-cuff as was the rest.
23. Reactor (C+): The garage rock theme gets a more metal approach on this one and it fails to deliver most of the time. Too bad Crazy Horse was only used twice in the 80s by Neil and both times it stunk.
24. This Note's for You (C+): The bar band attempt works on a few songs, but the formula doesn't hold power for a whole disc.
25. Everybody's Rockin' (C): Yes, a few songs are fun. But the lame-sounding digital recording and annoying backup vocals just add to the discomfort of listening to Neil tackle 50s rockabilly.
26. Life (C): With all the potential, Crazy Horse+Neil, some good songs on the table, it just seemed dull. Electronic wizardry does not work with this group.
27. Old Ways (C-): A rather slapdash collection of pure country. Outlaw, rebel country. But Neil does not pull off being Waylon or Willie very well at all.
28. Journey Through the Past (D)-does this even count as an album? The soundtrack was released without him ok'ing it and I can see why. I mean, a cover of the Beach Boys' instrumental "Let's Go Away for a While" is skimping the bottom of the barrel.
By live rankings
1. Weld/Arc (A): Have they ever rocked harder in their history together? Not at least live and on record.
2. Live Rust (A-): A rather standout set from Neil and the Horse on the tour that yielded the even-better Rust Nevr Sleeps LP.
3. Time Fades Away (A-): dark, moody, scary live relic that saw Neil do a 180 from the joyful Harvest period.
4. Friends and Acquaintances (B): It's okay, but nothing special in terms of a Neil live disc and all the guest appearances don't do much to change it.
Anything with CSN (a crappy trio, and only a mildly alright band with Y).
1. Deja Vu (B-): Yikes, this tripey trio got some good effort from young guitaring on "Woodstock" and contributing "Helpless" and "Country Girl" which gets shabby treatment though. I can still barely stand this group, especially without the Y. They had that tour
2. Long May You Run (Stills-Young band) (B-): Some nice Neil tunes, Stills had one or two okay ones but it falls flat due to the lack of chemistry. Besides, based on Shakey, I think Stills was in a complete state of cocaine-induced paranoic writer's block.
3. Four-Way Street (C+): A smarmy live set where the group cannot gel at all and for the most part perform each other's solo signatures, approapriately enough.
4. That last one! what was it called? (C+)-The one that spawned the CSNY2K tour. It brought back many traditions: the rivalries, the jealousy, the media panning and the critics singling Neil's material out as the only worthwhile stuff on this crapola from 2000. Saw them do "Rockin' in the Free World" once and it was bad, folks. Neil was seeming inspired but Stills just stood there strumming away while singing off-key harmonies as did Crosby who had no instrument and waddled around. Nash did a bit better than them and unfortunately tried to liven things up by jumping around-uh, no thanks Graham you're not that cool. Except for Neil they were all fat (polio will make you look rather gangly although Neil's grown out of that stick figure phase) and Stills seemed to be even pudgier than ever while Crosby was, Crosby. And except for Nash, they all had bald spots. Not a shining moment for Neil and those guys.
5. American Dream (D+)-the biggest piece of crap Neil
ever had a major role in. Need more proof that this group was better just to break up after 1971?
[Edited by Prodigal Son] |
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| Child of the Moon |
Heh, innaresting! 
I dunno, I'm not that hard on CSNY. For example, before I read that you weren't a huge fan, I was gonna point out the version of Southern Man on Journey Through the Past that they do, because I personally think it kicks a major hunk of ass. Neil screaming the words says it all: "I heard screamin' and/BULL-WHIPS crackin'!!!/How long, how long!!??/Hooooooooow!!!!????"
And personally, I kinda like the campy quality of American Dream. No, it's nowhere near their best work, and Neil's songs only mildly save the day... but I find a strange, appealing hilarity in songs like "Got It Made" and "Nighttime for the Generals." Let's call this one "sentimental value."
Four Way Street also gets a bad rap and, while the band doesn't necessarily gel for most of it, pay attention to at least Neil's songs. The acoustic tracks (Don't Let It bring You Down, Cowgirl, the killer medley of Loner/Cinnamon Girl/DBTR) are just amazing. I'll often put that disc on just to listen to Neil's songs. On the electric disc, things are relatively pedestrian, but I *love* the version of Carry On, especiialy the way it comes in at the start.
Just behind talking about the Stones, I love talking about Neil more than anything. Innaresting. |
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| Prodigal Son |
Yeah, me too. Really innarestin'. Anything you disagree with on my list, besides CSN and (sometimes) Y? |
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| Gazza |
"Shakey" has been my "bog read" for several weeks now. Its very innaresting indeed...lol
I'm pretty much with you on your fave Neil albums, although I happen to like a lot of the 80's ones you dont care for, such as "this notes for you", "trans" etc. I've never warmed to CSN & Y, apart from the Neil stuff.
my fave neil studio records:
1) tonights the night
2) On the beach
3) ragged glory
4) Rust never sleeps
5) Zuma |
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| Child of the Moon |
The Doom Trilogy (Time Fades Away, On the Beach, and Tonight's the Night) and Zuma are currently the records I spin more than anything else. I've just been in that mood lately. As the man said, "You're such a stupid girl/You've really got a lot to learn..."
I listened to Stars N Bars this morning. I like it more every time I hear it. Will to Love and Like a Hurricane... just incredible stuff. And Saddle Up the Palomino makes me smile, ear to ear.
I like to "play" Harvest (that is, on guitar) more than I play it on the CD player. Some songs are really great - the title track, Needle, Alabama - some are pretty good - Old Man, Heart of Gold - but there are some I just plain don't like - the London Symphony Orchestra tracks. But like Stars N Bars, I like it a little more with each listen. I think the same goes for Hawks and Doves and Freedom.
Rust Never Sleeps... I really dig that one. The acoustic tracks probably *just* edge out the electric ones, purely on the strength of Thrasher and Pocahontas. In fact, Powderfinger never really impressed me until I heard an acoustic version of it from '83. It converted me - I love that song now.
There are still some records I haven't actually gotten down to buying yet - Long May You Run (I've heard enough, it's nothing special), Comes a Time (I've heard this one, and I like it a lot), Old Ways (shit), Life (almost shit), and several of the live albums. I also have to point out the Buffalo Springfield albums, and Neil's contributions to them. I especially dig their second album, but all of 'em are pretty good. |
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| Lazy Bones |
Athough my probable top 5 Neil albums change constantly, the top 3 will always be:
1) On The Beach
2) Zuma
3) Tonight's The Night
Ragged Glory, Broken Arrow, Harvest, Trans and Greendale always seen to bounce around and make their way into my top 5 in an unpredicatable and timeless fashion. "Hold On To Your Love" (from Trans) has always had a soft spot with me. And, seeing he's never played it live, I guess that helps in one of many ways things stick in the player from time-to-time - much like Pardon my Heart (only played twice) and all of On The Beach. For The Turnstiles (from OTB) is the leading performed song from the album - only 51 performances. Vampire Blues and Motion Pictures - once each.
The best thing I love about Neil (aside from being Canadian  )is his attitude and confidence in taking risks. And turthfully, I don't even think he considers it "risks" but he's notorious for playing songs live years before he officially releases it - if ever. Some examples of the number of years a song was first played live before it was released:
Human Highway - 5 yrs
The Old Homestead - 6 yrs
Wonderin' - 14 yrs
Cryin' Eyes - 10 yrs
Too Far Gone - 13 yrs
Country Home & White Line - 15 yrs
Interstate - 11 yrs
Silver And Gold & Razor Love - 16 yrs
Then, without need for discussion, there's Greendale. I love the fact that although most fans want to hear the classics, he enjoys continued creativity, adventures and new material rather than continually rehashing out old (sometimes what he considers, aged and boring) songs.
His continued support for Bridge School and Farm Aid only help in appreciating the man as a fellow human being.
Hold on to your love, Neil!
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| JumpinJackFlash |
Yup, he really doesn't give a hoot what others think. Lucky me, when i seen him, he did play all the classics, and not some albumnevr heard before. Infact here is the review, coming close to 7 years ago now. http://hyperrust.org/Tour96/Regina.html |
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| Lazy Bones |
Here's an interesting thread on the Dylan pool board:
http://pool.dylantree.com/phorum/read.php?f=2&i=584283&t=582626
[Edited by Lazy Bones] |
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| mac_daddy |
Greendale - LB, I still haven't forgotten, I swear...
I enjoyed the Greendale show alot...
I also enjoy, in no particular order:
Harvest
Harvest Moon
Rust Never Sleeps
Tonight's the Night (Alberquerque, and Borrowed Tune - that should be a fave around these parts, as the borrowed tune is Lady Jane, if I am not mistaken)
Comes A Time
Freedom
Zuma
I also enjoy Mirror Ball - the one with Pearl Jam
didn't know there was a "doom trilogy" - now I am going to have to go and check the other two titles out...
oh - and the video for "This Note's For You" is a must see.
also - if you are a fan, check "Year of the Horse." One of my favorite movie directors (Jim Jarmusch) shot the thing with his crew, using only super8 and hand-cams - great stuff!! |
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| Lazy Bones |
quote:
mac_daddy wrote:
Greendale - LB, I still haven't forgotten, I swear...
Tonight's the Night (Alberquerque, and Borrowed Tune - that should be a fave around these parts, as the borrowed tune is Lady Jane, if I am not mistaken)
No problem, Mac.
You're right, Neil did use the melody of Lady Jane in Borrowed Tune and also gives them credit in the lyrics:
"I'm singin' this borrowed tune
I took from the Rolling Stones,
Alone in this empty room
Too wasted to write my own." |
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| Child of the Moon |
quote:
mac_daddy wrote:
didn't know there was a "doom trilogy" - now I am going to have to go and check the other two titles out...
Unfortunately, Time Fades Away is only available on vinyl, and as a bootleg CD. It's a shame, because I think it's one of his best, most honest records. Neil sort of dismisses it nowadays because it's almost too honest... a very accurate portrayal of the time, which was early 1973.
People tend to refer to that tour as the "anti-Harvest" tour, because it seems to be the consensus that he hardly played anything from the album. As far as I can tell, that isn't quite true. Neil played Heart of Gold and Old Man at almost every show, and Harvest, Out On the Weekend, Alamaba, Needle and the Damage Done, and Are You Ready for the Country all made pretty regular appearances. The thing is, when Neil wasn't playing Harvest songs, he was usually treating fans to the likes of The Last Dance, Don't Be Denied, Time Fades Away, and Come Along and Say You Will (not on the album).
Anyway, it's funny... I've always had a soft spot for Trans, probably because it was one of my first big exposures to Neil's music. It proved to me that this guy was different from the rest - he could take a bizarre concept like vocoders-meet-the-Rolling-Stones and make it into an album that keeps me coming back every time. In fact, it's the vocoder tracks, like I said, that really "make" the album for me. If everything on there sounded like Little Thing Called Love and Hold On to Your Love, it wouldn't be the same at all.
Greendale... I friggin' *love* Greendale. End of story.
There's one song that, lately, I really wish would have been released in a more widespread (official) fashion. "Pushed It Over the End," as performed at both the Bottom Line and with CSN in '74, is probably one of my top ten favorites songs of his. No, I take it back - it *is* in the top ten. I like how, in Shakey, the author says something like, "When I ask fans how this song makes them feel, most mutter the same word: Uncomfortable. Young was a haunted man." It's a disturbing song, to be sure, and that first line really clinches the whole thing: "Good lookin' Millie's got a gun in her hand, but she don't know how to use it." |
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| Prodigal Son |
He can be complex and puzzling-such as his Reagan supporting-but that's what makes him great. Yo Child of the Moon, Comes a Time is really worth it. It's got the passion that Harvest Moon (though great) sometimes lacks and melds all his folk styles into a very heartfelt and moving album. The first listen was okay, the 2nd better, the 3rd was great and by the next few I was considering this one of the better 70s albums I've ever heard. I'm still looking into buying Trans, Mirrorball and Weld. Geez, isn't "I've Been Waiting for You" just a tremendous song. That break into the Dylan-esque piano, acoustic backing and the flat yet somehow in tune guitar bending all distorted and fuzzy (his style on that debut album) is just one of his finest solo moments. Apparently, all his wild soloing on Freedom got cut out of some tunes like the magnificent "El Dorado." That album was a huge artistic statement at the end of those dastardly 80s and from a guy in his mid-40s. He says he made songs like "Don't Cry," "Crime in the City," "Rockin in the Free World," "Eldorado" and "No More" so harsh based on the anger he felt about his son Ben's struggles with cerebral palsy. Definitely those explosions of distortion on "Don't Cry" tell the tale. The great part is, the guy still has a lot of amazing songs he's done live or in the studio, that haven't been released but isn't that supposed to be rectified with the Neil Young Archives project? Anyway, he said the personal music (stemming from his divorce) on Homegrown (an aborted album from 74) is too close to the heart to release. As is Time Fades Away I guess. The man is the only artist who can committ career suicide about three different times (1972-75, 1980-88 and a late 90s dry spell) and STILL be respected and popular. |
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