― amateurist (amateurist), Wednesday, 14 May 2003 16:55 (twenty years ago) link
― amateurist (amateurist), Wednesday, 14 May 2003 16:56 (twenty years ago) link
I wonder if Neil saw this site? Some of the petition entries are great. Haha - I just randomly clicked on February 2002 and saw that I had signed it. I don't remember doing that, I was probably drunk.
― Mr. Diamond (diamond), Wednesday, 14 May 2003 17:04 (twenty years ago) link
old ways isn't completely terrible, but it IS completely mediocre. you'll play it for a couple days out of curiosity and then never, ever see the need to play it again. it's not one of neil's top five country-ish records, that's for sure.
― fact checking cuz, Wednesday, 14 May 2003 17:08 (twenty years ago) link
Life is marred but the songs are getting better on that one, then he pulls out the greatest off key singing for Prisoners of Rock n Roll.
Landing on Water is more like a poor 80s Bowie record then a Neil record.
― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Wednesday, 14 May 2003 17:25 (twenty years ago) link
Mirror Ball (sold in disgust)
Life (had it on tape but gave it away to a curious newbie)
Landing on Water (and have only ever heard side one)
Time Fades Away (which I gave to my uncle as a xmas present because he seems to think it's the rarest record ever and he's a big fan. I can get it if I want it and he certainly wanted it more than I did, though it is a great record).
Broken Arrow (sold when strapped for cash - taped "Music Arcade" first)
I do own "Everybody's Rockin', but for the life of me I have no recollection of acquiring it at any point. I have and love all the rest in varying degrees, except "This Notes For You," which is without merit. Anyone want a copy of it on cassette?
― roger adultery (roger adultery), Wednesday, 14 May 2003 17:54 (twenty years ago) link
1983 Trans - no review necessary. You either love it or hate it. I love it.
1983 Everybody's Rockin' .. Haven't heard it since 1984 .. but I liked it at the time. It's not "On the Beach" - but it's not bad ... 1985 Old Ways - Only listened to it once or twice .. never sparked much interest. 1986 Landing on Water - totally forgotten. 1987 Life - forgettable - Inca Queen was alright - the songs didn't seem that great, the production definitely wasn't. (Remember Eric Clapton's "Behind the Sun"?) 1988 This Note's for You - I remember thinking "Neil's Back" when I heard this in '88 - haven't heard it since. 1989 Freedom - Neil's truly back. 1989 Eldorado -? 1990 Ragged Glory - the crazy horse harmonies get on my nerves on this one .. but the songs are solid 1992 Harvest Moon - Great record that gets less great with age. 1994 Sleeps With Angels - gave up on new Neil records... 1995 Mirror Ball - "" "" 1996 Dead Man - No vocals, so a totally different animal. 1996 Broken Arrow - listened to once. Should I drag it out again? 2002 Are You Passionate? - haven't heard it except for streaming audio.
― dave225 (Dave225), Wednesday, 14 May 2003 17:54 (twenty years ago) link
not to mention the brand new one, Summer Sun. (or was that a Yo La Tengo record? i can't remember.)
― fact checking cuz, Wednesday, 14 May 2003 18:02 (twenty years ago) link
― j fail (cenotaph), Wednesday, 14 May 2003 18:04 (twenty years ago) link
I didn't like what I heard on Silver & Gold, way too slow. And I haven't heard anything off Are You Passionate. But After revisiting Broken Arrow I'd like to hear it.
― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Wednesday, 14 May 2003 18:10 (twenty years ago) link
― Cozen (Cozen), Wednesday, 14 May 2003 18:29 (twenty years ago) link
― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Wednesday, 14 May 2003 18:39 (twenty years ago) link
― Cozen (Cozen), Wednesday, 14 May 2003 18:41 (twenty years ago) link
― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Wednesday, 14 May 2003 18:44 (twenty years ago) link
― Cozen (Cozen), Wednesday, 14 May 2003 18:47 (twenty years ago) link
― Cozen (Cozen), Wednesday, 14 May 2003 18:48 (twenty years ago) link
― 4mateurist (Cozen), Wednesday, 14 May 2003 18:48 (twenty years ago) link
― the real amateurist (amateurist), Wednesday, 14 May 2003 18:52 (twenty years ago) link
Isn't it true that Geffen sued Neil Young in the '80s, circa Everybody's Rockin' and Landing on Water, for not sounding enough like Neil Young and therefore breaching his contract? I heard this somewhere and thought it was pretty funny. "Look, Mr. Young, we want another Harvest and we want it now! Put down the Vocoder!"
― Brandon Gentry (Brandon Gentry), Wednesday, 14 May 2003 18:56 (twenty years ago) link
― roger adultery (roger adultery), Wednesday, 14 May 2003 19:16 (twenty years ago) link
― amateurist (amateurist), Wednesday, 14 May 2003 19:18 (twenty years ago) link
― Kiwi, Thursday, 15 May 2003 10:29 (twenty years ago) link
― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Thursday, 15 May 2003 16:04 (twenty years ago) link
"on the beach" is of course fantastic, ive had it for some time on a cdr bootleg ripped from someone's vinyl which was a little grainy and played slightly too fast probably due to the turntable it was ripped off being just that little bit too fast as well. but i still loved the songs even then, everyone of them means something special to me and i often listed it as my favorite neil young album even though i only had that crappy cdr. of course the remaster is a big improvement in terms of quality (a great remastering job, looks like theres been a lot of effort put in, it sounds alive!), and i love it. if you havent heard it before, now is the perfect time.
and now onto the 3 lesser known and sometimes critically dismissed records that i hadn't heard before, ive tried to do mini reviews:"american stars and bars" - i like this a lot, a lot of country rockers, all of them pretty good i think ("old country waltz" is a lovely opener i think). and the second half of the record is even better than that, "star of bethlehem", "will to love", the already well known "like a hurricane", and "homegrown" all classic i think. thus all in all a good album, and the second half is classic.
"hawks and doves" - i like the first and mostly acoustic half of this record, "little wing", "the old homestead", and "captain kennedy" are all pretty lovely. the second half, mostly country rockers (which feel a bit second rate compared to the ones on american stars and bars) hasnt made much impression on me yet, i think theres supposed to be some sort of political context to the songs "union man" and "hawks and doves" but its difficult to make out how serious neil is. i need to listen to these songs again, but to me the second half seems a bit meh.
"re ac tor" - certainly not neil and crazy horse's best, but i enjoyed it still, i actually rather liked "t-bone", its a good metaphor for my life "Got mashed potato, aint got no t-bone"... most of it sounds like neil and crazy horse just whacked it out in a few hours in a garage, and sure theres a certain tossed off element to it, but often gloriously so, the band plays it very loose, and they just jam out the songs. sure a lot of them aint lyrically expansive (although "shots" is quite deep and is an absolute gem of a song, probably best on the album) but for a lot of songs it works, on "opera star" and "surfer joe and moe the sleeze" the lyrics are simple but say everything they need to say. "rapid transit" is a little disappointing, i think its trying to make a point about the "new wave" movement, but the music is too stuttering for it to fit crazy horse's playing and it just doesnt really work. but all in all, i liked this album, its not classic but i think its rather underrated. mind you, if you arent interested in neil and crazy horse doin good long jams, then you probably wont get as much out of it. but i do.
― Bob Shaw (Bob Shaw), Tuesday, 12 August 2003 13:51 (twenty years ago) link
― Bob Shaw (Bob Shaw), Tuesday, 12 August 2003 13:58 (twenty years ago) link
― stevie (stevie), Tuesday, 12 August 2003 15:47 (twenty years ago) link
― theodore fogelsanger, Friday, 9 January 2004 22:38 (twenty years ago) link
and the lyrics on the last two tracks still bug me even though i love the arrangements
― amateur!st (amateurist), Saturday, 10 January 2004 18:02 (twenty years ago) link
― jel -- (jel), Saturday, 10 January 2004 18:13 (twenty years ago) link
― Bob Shaw (Bob Shaw), Saturday, 10 January 2004 18:16 (twenty years ago) link
― amateur!st (amateurist), Saturday, 10 January 2004 18:17 (twenty years ago) link
― Bob Shaw (Bob Shaw), Saturday, 10 January 2004 18:21 (twenty years ago) link
― amateur!st (amateurist), Saturday, 10 January 2004 18:25 (twenty years ago) link
― pete s, Saturday, 10 January 2004 18:29 (twenty years ago) link
― amateur!st (amateurist), Saturday, 10 January 2004 18:36 (twenty years ago) link
― pete s, Saturday, 10 January 2004 18:55 (twenty years ago) link
― amateur!st (amateurist), Monday, 12 January 2004 15:17 (twenty years ago) link
this thread does not have enough discussion of RAGGED GLORY, for my liking. What a great album THAT is!
― Special Agent Gene Krupa (orion), Saturday, 28 January 2006 04:48 (eighteen years ago) link
― Stormy Davis (diamond), Saturday, 28 January 2006 05:38 (eighteen years ago) link
― Special Agent Gene Krupa (orion), Saturday, 28 January 2006 05:42 (eighteen years ago) link
― Susan Douglas (Susan Douglas), Saturday, 28 January 2006 08:30 (eighteen years ago) link
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Saturday, 28 January 2006 14:04 (eighteen years ago) link
title track really gets mehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKgj1FNToWY
― Hall of Fam (Spottie), Monday, 9 July 2018 23:54 (five years ago) link
I need a crowd of people... but I cant face them day to day
― Hall of Fam (Spottie), Monday, 9 July 2018 23:59 (five years ago) link
Thought this revive would be about: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/hear-boz-scaggs-cover-neil-youngs-on-the-beach-666042/
― Making Plans For Sturgill (C. Grisso/McCain), Tuesday, 10 July 2018 00:20 (five years ago) link
incredible album. the first time i heard this i had found a copy on a cassette tape in a thrift store. it had On the Beach on one side and Re-Ac-Tor on the other. i ended up going on tour soon after that and it ended up being the perfect road tunes. just sheer beauty from top to bottom. "Ambulance Blues" is so heartbreaking. An ambulance can only go so fast holy fuck that's a spooky line.
― Hazy Maze Cave (Adam Bruneau), Tuesday, 10 July 2018 00:26 (five years ago) link
title track is all-time
― Karl Malone, Tuesday, 10 July 2018 00:31 (five years ago) link
Is "Ambulance Blues" the Greatest Thing Neil Young Ever Did?
― Naive Teen Idol, Tuesday, 10 July 2018 05:38 (five years ago) link
An ambulance can only go so fast
neil has an endless number of lyrics that are sort of banal but also somehow incredibly moving and deep and full of meaning to me
― The Desus & Mero Chain (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 10 July 2018 14:11 (five years ago) link
oh yeah absolutely. lots of examples on this album, but the best is obviously from tired eyes: "he tried to do his best, but he could not"
― supreme court justice samuel lance-ito (voodoo chili), Tuesday, 10 July 2018 14:13 (five years ago) link
David Crosby = worst Byrd
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 11 July 2018 15:46 (five years ago) link
In contrast, didn't Neil say Manson was kind of an OK guy?
― Alan Alba (Tom D.), Wednesday, 11 July 2018 15:48 (five years ago) link
(xp) Have you heard those songs Skip Battin wrote with Kim Fowley?
― Alan Alba (Tom D.), Wednesday, 11 July 2018 15:49 (five years ago) link
I don't know what the fuck about "Revolution Blues" apparently scared Crosby to death – might be coke paranoia.
― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, July 11, 2018 10:23 AM (thirty minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
i think crosby was tight w/terry melcher, and obv neil had hung w/manson and dennis wilson...
― The Desus & Mero Chain (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 11 July 2018 15:56 (five years ago) link
Crosby's father was an award winning cinematographer, their family was very much in the film industry, which was one of the Manson cult's big targets. he straddled the line -- like many artists -- between old money and youthful revolutionary. pretty understandable that he would be scared when people are being brutally murdered.
― Hazy Maze Cave (Adam Bruneau), Wednesday, 11 July 2018 19:51 (five years ago) link
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floyd_Crosby
― Hazy Maze Cave (Adam Bruneau), Wednesday, 11 July 2018 19:52 (five years ago) link
Was just listening to the title track and although the ramble of it, the repetition, would probably make Auden blush, it did make me think of sections of the Age of Anxiety:
... The fears we knowAre of not knowing. Will nightfall bring usSome awful order - Keep a hardware store In a small town... Teach science for life to Progressive girls -? It is getting late. Shall we ever be asked for? Are we simply Not wanted at all?
― The shard-borne beetle with his drowsy hums (Chinaski), Tuesday, 17 July 2018 08:57 (five years ago) link