Search and destroy: Neil Young

Mirror Ball is a good un. I've heard people say it would be better as a Crazy Horse album, but it's really a different kind of rock record to one he'd make with them: Neil's take on 90s alt rock with four guitars and dynamic drumming. CH don't really have the stamina or chops for that.
That's not a diss of CH though - I love the slightly knackered, drawn out jams of Broken Arrow. Again, he takes them to a different place (as he had with the great Sleeps With Angels) with quite gentle, wistful melodies over blown-out Crazy Horse jams, something he perfects on the gorgeous Ramada Inn from Psychedelic Pill. Damn fine album. Giant Sand's cover of Music Arcade is excellent too.
I must give Le Noise a proper listen. The Hitchhiker is excellent. Americana is a lot of fun. The version of Oh Susannah that sounds like Shocking Blue's Venus is a hoot.
Are You Passionate was a huge disappointment on arrival, but I should maybe revisit it to give it a fairer listen.

Neil's take on 90s alt rock with four guitars and dynamic drumming.

I think one reason I never really got into Mirror Ball (with the exceptions of the songs Michael B mentioned, which are great) is that the Eldorado EP struck me as a far more dynamic and agitated realization of that approach.

Well, that EP is particularly awesome. Stealth Japan-only comeback! "Mirror Ball" ... eh, I'm not sure Pearl Jam brings anything that Neil needs. His b-team did just fine with a similar (iirc) sound on "Living with War."

Just to reiterate Neil silently released a version of Living With War with the choir taken out (a release of particularly poor selling album a year after it came out is classic Neil) but it's well worth hearing

That's a fair point Tarfumes. Eldorado is fantastic. There's nothing as vicious as Cocaine Eyes on Mirrorball. IFRC from Shakey, this was when Neil was experimenting with Marshall stacks instead of his usual chain of Fender deluxes plus massive speaker. Neil with Marshall was too brutal for many of his entourage to take, heh heh.
The songwriting across Mirrorball isn't consistent - Downtown is nothing special, although its goofy hippy fantasy of classic rockers playing in a bar is quite cute in Neil's hands - but Song X, I'm The Ocean and Throw Your Hatred Down are great, and I'll also rep for Act of Love and Deep Green Country. It's a really fun album to play guitar along to as well.

Again, "Eldorado" was 6 or so years pre-"Mirror Ball," so don't see why anyone would compare them. Now, comparing "Eldorado" with "Living with War" makes more sense, because it's the same band of Chad Cromwell and Rick Rosas, Neil's A+ b-team. Though per the thread revive, "Eldorado" is also well pre-"Sleeps With Angels," too.

Telling me that Living With War features the Eldorado rhythm section actually makes me want to hear it (I never have).

so every time i sit down to "long may you run" i think "hell yea! mid-70s neil!" but shit it's really bad, huh? i never make it through in one sitting

blame Stills. his songs on that are an abomination

does always seem like a weird case of neil trying to fit into someone else's scene. i dig the yacht rock slow-jamminess of Midnight On The Bay.

when in doubt, blame Stills. I blame Stills for global warming for instance, bellowing like that on "Black Queen".

I really like "Black Coral", probably my favorite Stills song, but the rest of his songs on here are pretty rough. "Midnight on the Bay" is great; in general, I love the vibe of Neil's songs on this record. It was not at all a surprise to learn that he was living on a boat in Florida at the time.

it's weird i've never actually listened to long may you run

Midnight on the bay! how did I live without that one?

i guess the title track isn't too bad either

sounds like it could easily fit on comes a time

Title track rules!

midnight on the bay is good too!

title track is fantastic, i just generally prefer it in live versions.
here's a kinda weird unreleased track from the stills-young tour - "evening coconut," named after neil's boat.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHmU2xoQo7k
not entirely sure, but he may have reworked this into "Thrasher".

the only problem with this record is that they didn't put all the stills songs on side 2 so you would never have to listen to them.

haha still is a douche but i think he's kind of underrated in a way! he's a great guitar player...i like the first manassas record quite a bit, and super session w/bloomfield and kooper...plus some of the CSN stuff and Buffalo Springfield...as far as cocaine cowboy asshole dudes i have more respect for him than like henley and frey

oh for sure

evening coconut sounds great, thanks tylerw. totally has the feel of "thrasher" (which is definitely my top 5 neil tunes for sure)

yeah it is nice - though haha, stills does his best to ruin it with his weird latin patois improv vocals at the end. Stills!

i like stills fine (i'm a fan of of the roughly contemporary dark star from csn) but these songs are all pretty weak. black coral is ok.

xp Compare that to Young's desperate attempt to salvage the abomination that is "Make Love To You" with his kinda-awesome "Love you! Love you!" backing vocals on the chorus. For the most part they seem to stay out of each other's way on the rest of the record, I think.

would've been interesting if they had taken the opposite approach -- having stills come in and record with crazy horse. would probably be a weird-but-classic record. but it was probably never on the table, given the contempt CSN showed for the horse.

It's amusing to hear Neil get Old Black cranking on the Stills stuff.

Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stones plays bass on and co-authored "The Love Gangster" and is reported to have said that he would have left the Stones to join Manassas.[1]

the "Midnight, midnight!" backup vocals on "Midnight on the Bay" froze my blood.

listening to this right now for the first time

obv knew the title track

stills bringing the lols already with "make love to you.....awwwwriiight"

oh man never heard this

thing that sucks about stills is he is pretty good at guitar and he shoulda just been a real good sideman type dude, but too much ego

yeah just seems like he had this idea of "I CAN DO ANYTHING." whereas neil was aware of his limitations and made them into assets.

but too much ego cocaine

fixed that 4 u

oh man midnight on the bay is a stone groove

Stills' voice is fucking gross.

haha black coral is hilarious

take it easy DOWN THE-AH
you've only SO MUCH AIR

goddamn these lyrics are next level

Have you ever been down deep?
I mean way down under the ocean
Just inside Odin's reach
Better beware of this potion

And remember you don't belong
It always seemed so unfair
The fishes around will always remind you
Got to go slow, take it easy down there
You've only so much air

When you get a little deeper
If you slow down you might keep her
The sea, unforgiving and she's hard
But she'll make love to you
Show you glimpses of the stars

At about two hundred feet
You realize the peril
But seductive is the deep
That shark over there holds no terror

For a while you really belong
The ocean will always share
You become one like friends and lovers
But remember, take care, she'll try to keep you there

The deeper you go
'Cause of the pressure of the air
The nitrogen comes and goes, gets you high
It's an alien atmosphere

They call it rapture of the deep, be you not afraid
You're too far down by now to be scared
Two hundred and eighty-seven feet
I saw Jesus and it made sense that He was there

So belong but don't be long
There's plenty of ocean to share
Please take heed, there's mouths to feed
The ocean, she'll provide
Don't take more than you need
'Cause Heaven just might be the sea

you take that midnight on the bay, lotta love, and ocean girl and you have the beginnings of neil's great lost yacht rock album.
this could be the cover
http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ls1o32NzB51qf4c00o1_500.jpg

he has the best face!

maybe he could have repurposed "Kahuna Sunset" by Buffalo Springfield from the archives too

yeahhh, and "wind through my sails" and "sail away" would probably work in there too. there actually was supposed to be a geffen era album called "Island In The Sun."

i love this idea

and lol @

Have you ever been down deep?
I mean way down under the ocean

dancing across the water

and windward passage!

I saw Jesus and it made sense that He was there

BETTER BE-WEAH OF THESE MOOHHTIONS

i'm gonna start using "Have you ever been down deep? / I mean way down under the ocean" when i meet new people