been listening to alot of Neil lately, cuz i'm reading his GREAT biography "Shakey"



He just reissued a few of his more obscure albums on CD - they sound great remastered - On the Beach, Reactor, Hawks and Doves and American Stars and Bars. 2 classics, 2 duds... Reactor and Hawks and Doves being the duds. But he has so many classic albums... After the Gold Rush... Harvest. .. Sleeps with Angels... Ragged Glory... Freedom...


any neil fans?

I dig Neil. The first album by him I ever bought was Freedom in 1989, a classic album if there ever was one. So far I haven't heard anything besides that and the double (or is it triple?) cd compilation. What should I get next?

Supernova said:

I'm in the same boat. I think he's great but only have a few things. I have "Harvest" (everyone needs to own "Harvest"!) and "Harvest Moon" (not so much, never got into it) and of course the "Decade" set. Where should I go? Why doesn't he (well, Reprise, his record company) just release a Best Of CD with the modern "hit" songs on it ("Rocking In the Free World" and "Change Your Mind" come to mind).

VinnyM27 said:

If you don't have Sleeps With Angels - released in 1994 - i definitely recommend it. It's a very dark, but smokin', album with Crazy Horse. Some great tunes - especially the title song and Driveby. Not one of his most famous records, gets overlooked alot IMO

Also Tonight's the Night - a very powerful album. 1975, i think.. basically the album's about the death of one of Neil's roadies to drugs... amazing, raw, powerful album...

His live albums LIVE RUST and RUST NEVER SLEEPS from 1979 are legendary...

American Stars and Bars - just reiussed and remastered - is another good place to start. it was kindof a hodgepodge of several recording sessions (78-79 i believe) so it has a bit of an all over the place kinda feel... but it has some of his best songs, especially Lika a Hurrican

Yeah, I love Neil. "Shakey" is a great read, Love that book. Neil comes out of it really well, like a decent, upright, compassionate guy.


My Top 10 Neil Young albums (in no order of perference):

On The Beach
Tonight's The Night
Broken Arrow
Freedom
Ragged Glory
Sleeps With Angels
Harvest Moon
Everyone Knows This Is Nowhere
Rust Never Sleeps
Zuma


All of his albums have something to recommend them, even the two real stinkeroos he made for Geffen (Everybody's Rockin' and Landing On Water).

I recommend the new one, "Greendale". Ok, it's not a classic, but it has its moments, like a great tune called "Bandit", which is classic Neil.

i'd recommend the classics:

-harvest
and above all:
-after the gold rush

those are my favs also.
as well as:

-everybody knows this is nowhere
-rust never sleeps

from the new ones, i really dig
silver+gold and greendale!

Thanks for the recommendations, you guys.

Thanks for all the recomendations. I definatley have to get "After The Gold Rush". I noticed that JohnnyTheFox recommended two Geffen albums. How about "Trans"? Sounds...interesting. Was it really bad or good?

VinnyM27 said:

Trans has some good material on it, especially Transformer Man which is a really touching song about his son.

For a good overview of the Geffen Years, check out the compilation "Lucky Thirteen" - it contains most of the key moments from that time period, including tracks from Trans, Old Ways, Everybody's Rockin, Landing on Water, Life and This Note's For You

Neil Young is a national treasure..best believe.

VinnyM27 said:

well, JohnnyTheFox said "even the two real stinkeroos he made for Geffen ", and i would put the emphasis on the word "stinkeroos"... Neil has made some really poor albums (only a few) and IMO Trans is definately one of them... there are about 20 to get bfore those flops.

if you see the Time Fades Away CD used somewhere, snatch it up... it's been out of print for years, and goes for alot on eBay. It's not a bad CD either... kind of raw... recorded live on tour...

VinnyM27 said:

"Trans" is mostly Neil's Kraftwerk tribute album. He sings through a vocoder and sounds like he's on helium. It's got some great songs on it - "Transformer Man", "Sample & Hold", "Computer Age", "Like An Inca". You've got to give the guy A LOT of credit for releasing spmething that. COMPLETELY different to anything he'd put out before.

I'd get the classic stuff first, then start looking at the more - ur- esoteric ones. You'll have fun, VinnyM27. Neil is NEVER dull.

JonSnow said:

If you see "Time Fades Away" on CD it's a bootleg. Great album. The start of his "dark period". It's the last of the two albums he has yet to release on CD, although rumour has it that this will see the light of day next year, along with some more archive material.

frankjotzo said:

I thought that Time Fades Away has been released on CD, at least internationally. I've seen copies on eBay and they don't seem to be bootlegs. I thought I'd read that it was released for a brief period in the 80's but was out of print shortly thereafter.

Whatever, i hope it sees the light of day soon... along with as much archive material as possible. NY has a Prince-like vault, supposedly.