The Official Neil Young Thread

[liebzz]

One of the more interesting observations was the way Re-Ac-Tor colored the way I saw other albums by different artists. As in I thought perhaps that was what Pearl Jam was going for in Backspacer. Also, I was quite surprised to hear much of that in Jim James’s Uniform Distortion, whether intentional or not in its somewhat carefree attitude in not taking every chord and lyric so seriously and providing a quick punch without overthinking it.

I will say overall that I pretty much went from considering Neil Young one of my favorite classic rock artists (I arbitrarily set that timeframe from 1962-1978) to him being my favorite. Perhaps I would switch back taking the same journey with The Who’s catalogue, whom I considered my favorite before this but I doubt it.

[Strat]

You can’t put Neil in a box. “Classic rock”

Some of his best albums are behind that time period you stated.

Neil is his own category

[Kevin Davis]

I love the Who, a lot, but their music holds kind of a fossilized place in my life. I can go back and immerse myself in it every once in a while, and really enjoy it, even occasionally discover a song I'd missed before, but ultimately it's dependent on me connecting with a part of myself that's long gone. Same deal for Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, et al.

My relationship with Neil's music still feels like a living, breathing thing. I'm in favor of quality over quantity but there's something to be said for the level of active engagement Neil has maintained with his work over all these years, both the contemporaneous side of it as well as his involvement with his archival projects -- his commitment to his work and his vision is intoxicating, even when the music sucks, and occasionally contains life wisdom and insight that exists completely independent of the content of the art. He's one of the very few elite for me, one of a handful of artists where if you told me I could never listen to his music again, I'd honestly feel like a piece of my life was missing.

And I'd put Sleeps With Angels up a few rungs too.

[tragabigzanda]

Top 10 maybe?
Hello Morning
Close Captioned
The Kill
Place/Position
Do You Like Me?
Latest Disgrace
Recap Modotti
Nightshop
Break
Life & Limb

I'd maybe bump Life & Limb for Epic Problem

[Strat]

Neil and the horse played red rocks about 6 years ago. People were losing their minds in Colorado for the shows.

Neil played mosrly new songs and maybe one hit. Long horse jams.

People lost their minds and botched about how bad the shows were

I sat back and laughed st those idiots. Neil has been circumventing expectations since day one. What those people didn’t realize was they got the most incredible and honest show from a true artist.

That is Neil. We are very lucky to have him.

[liebzz]

Neil and the horse played red rocks about 6 years ago. People were losing their minds in Colorado for the shows.

Neil played mosrly new songs and maybe one hit. Long horse jams.

People lost their minds and botched about how bad the shows were

I sat back and laughed st those idiots. Neil has been circumventing expectations since day one. What those people didn’t realize was they got the most incredible and honest show from a true artist.

That is Neil. We are very lucky to have him.

A similar thing happened with Global Citizens when he was the first headliner. A bunch of people left before they started and even more left when they realized he wasn’t playing a greatest hits show. It was fantastic.

In any event, I agree with all the comments above and agree he transcends classic rock. But this journey resulted in Neil’s work passing a bunch of artists I know and love. And rather than being burnt out on Neil, I still want to go back and listen to more. Which is amazing.

[liebzz]

Yeah, really great fun keeping up, liebzz. I agree with your category placements nearly 100%, though I'd bump the following albums up a notch from where you have them:

Trans
Hawks & Doves
Are You Passionate?
Time Fades Away

I'd personally put Time Fades Away in the top 5 of all time; it's a brief document of an amazing band doing something really special, at arguably the creative peak of his career. I hope you'll throw that one on again some night.

At some point soon I will re-listen to Time Fades Away. I re-listened to a few favorites this morning. It really is so fantastic.

[makeshift]

Big Neil fan. I agree with Neil on Time Fades Away. It's weak/ drummer is terrible. That new Tuscaloosa reinforced it to me. It's got to be his worst official live album- most are incredible. Don't be Denied is the only song that really stands out IMO

[tragabigzanda]

[Strat]

Insanity! I’ll never understand why that album isn’t as celebrated as his other most beloved works. It’s ramshackle, groovy, dark and fun, all at once.

Garage rock at its finest.

[Strat]

I've been spending time getting to know the Neil Young Archives and there is certainly a lot to digest. Its totally worth the investment. Neil is very candid across the street. The side bar to the left is usually where he responds to fans questions. today it looks like he posted an article/interview that was done recently and added his own remarks to some of the passages. The article is very intense. The author makes a lot of snide comments about Neils mental capacities and physical appearance as an aging man. He's very honest and very passionate about the things that make Neil the genius that he is. But its an interesting read especially with Neil placing comments after certain passages in response to some of the comments in the article. Anyway, any Neil fan should spend time on the archives site. Neil is the best

https://neilyoungarchives.com/news/1

[VinylGuy]

With the new album coming, it is a very good moment to revisit Neil´s catalogue for sure.

[Birds in Hell]

I agree with Neil on Time Fades Away. It's weak/ drummer is terrible. That new Tuscaloosa reinforced it to me. It's got to be his worst official live album- most are incredible.

For what it's worth, Time Fades Away has Johnny Barbata on drums while Tuscaloosa feautres the earlier tour drummer, Kenny Buttrey.

Barbata also plays drums on the studio cut of CSNY's Ohio, was a member of The Turtles (playing on Happy Together) and may have run over makeshift's dog or something.

[rick malone]

Time Fades Away is one of my faves. Maybe not as good as On The Beach(what is?) but still great IMO even if the piano songs don't do much for me. These are albums where I get a glimpse of the real Neil, I think. Never been a huge fan of Ragged Glory, Harvest Moon, or anything that came after.

[Strat]

Time Fades Away is one of my faves. Maybe not as good as On The Beach(what is?) but still great IMO even if the piano songs don't do much for me. These are albums where I get a glimpse of the real Neil, I think. Never been a huge fan of Ragged Glory, Harvest Moon, or anything that came after.

wtf is wrong with you

[Birds in Hell]

If we're doing "unpopular Neil Young admissions", I don't rate Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere very highly - or as highly as most people seem to.

[Strat]

If we're doing "unpopular Neil Young admissions", I don't rate Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere very highly - or as highly as most people seem to.

Im with you on this. I got you.

[Strat]

Also i finally listened to Tuscaloosa and i think it is a very very weak archives release. Most of those songs are played much better with other grousp of musicians and periods of time with Neil. The Live at the Roxy and time Fades away showcase much of that music much better. That Tuscaloosa release is very subdued and not sure of itself.

[tragabigzanda]

[Kevin Davis]

The problem I had with Everybody Knows was that I was already so familiar with the cornerstone tracks from having listened so much to Decade that the rest of the album felt really underwhelming by comparison -- though I do think the title track is an underrated little gem, echoed some 40+ years later in "Born in Ontario."