The Official Neil Young Thread

[Strat]

Bandit from Greendale is one of his most beautiful songs. Brings me to tears almost every time.

There’s a really touching story within Greendale and I think I it’s just a wonderful right.

Bringing down dinner is another top notch Neil song. One of my other favorites is sun green.

[VinylGuy]

Listened to Zuma, Silver & Gold and a few songs from Year Of The Horse.

Jesus, what an artist.

[Kevin Davis]

Bandit from Greendale is one of his most beautiful songs. Brings me to tears almost every time.

There’s a really touching story within Greendale and I think I it’s just a wonderful right.

Bringing down dinner is another top notch Neil song. One of my other favorites is sun green.

"Bandit" is a gorgeous song, and you're right, there's a story in there that transcends Neil's occasionally clunky (endearingly so) delivery of it. The solo acoustic versions of the songs (on the bonus DVD that came with the album) really draw you into the story. And the laid back, unhurried vibe of the album is very pleasing to just immerse yourself in -- Crazy Horse as a trio just has this mellow, tireless groove that feels like it could go forever.

But there's also something just inherently and charmingly ridiculous about a Neil Young album that uses the word "grandpa" as many times as Greendale does, and I think if you can prepare your brain to just embrace that penchant for absurdity, your capacity for enjoying Neil Young's entire catalog will skyrocket.

[epilogue]

For whatever it's worth, Cinnamon Girl is my favorite Neil Young song and one of all time favorite songs by any artist ever.

I can not fathom being too familiar with it not how it could in any way diminish the experience of Everybody Knows This is Nowhere.

[kreng]

there's a new fireside thing posted today too

[Anders]

For whatever it's worth, Cinnamon Girl is my favorite Neil Young song and one of all time favorite songs by any artist ever.

I can not fathom being too familiar with it not how it could in any way diminish the experience of Everybody Knows This is Nowhere.

Both Cinnamon Girl (the song) and Everybody Knows This is Nowhere (the album) are top Neil Young for me. Probably what I have listened to most overall.

[Anders]

Read just a little bit about Crazy Horse. Strange how they go in and out of his career. Imagine if Ed said to Matt and Jeff, that he would record with Stone, Mike and a different rythm section for a couple of years.

[liebzz]

I guess Neil set up those expectations from the outset, since he worked with Buffalo Springfield, CSNY, his own stuff, Crazy Horse, etc. It could also be rock stars from that era. To this day it seems Bruce and only Bruce decides when the E Street Band is going to record and tour.

[Anders]

Good point.

Left for Dead (Crazy Horse album) seemed to have some disagreement. It was made while Crazy Horse guitarist Frank "Poncho" Sampedro was otherwise engaged with Neil Young (having been the only member of Crazy Horse that Young did not fire from his late-eighties band The Bluenotes), Left For Dead was the first Crazy Horse album in 11 years and the album's title was a defiant statement of alienation felt by the other band members having been left behind.

However: In 1990, Talbot and Molina would again reunite with Young and Sampedro for Ragged Glory.

[VinylGuy]

yeah, it seems everyone knows Neil can call you and make plans and then ditch them. I guess Crazy Horse could have felt forgotten in some capacity...but his 90s comeback was with them. I knew Neil with them and i would say its my favorite part of his career.

[liebzz]

I think his time with Crazy Horse has been the best for him - I certainly like it more than Buffalo Springfield or with CSNY, Stray Gators, or even solo by and large. And while I don’t like all their albums together, the run from Ragged Glory —> Broken Arrow was great, the year they did Americans and Psychedelic Pill was amazing, many of the albums from 1969-1981 are his greatest, and even Colorado from last year was really enjoyable. They bring out something special in him that he doesn’t quite reach with his many other arrangements.

[VinylGuy]

Loved Colorado. I listened to it a lot. Ragged Glory was my first Neil album and i was blown away. And i only saw Neil live with the band, and it remains one of the best shows i ever saw.

[rick malone]

I'm not sure if anyone else in rock has written about an artist's journey, its trials and shedding friends(or so called friends) as well as Neil. I'm not even sure anyone else has tried. Perhaps Lennon.

They had the best selection,
They were poisoned with protection
There was nothing that they needed,
Nothing left to find
They were lost in rock formations
Or became park bench mutations
On the sidewalks and in the stations
They were waiting, waiting.

So I got bored and left them there,
They were just deadweight to me
Better down the road without that load

[Kevin Davis]

"Thrasher" is one of my top five favorite songs of all time. I have never thought about it in the context of Neil's journey as an artist, to me it is just a gut-wrenching song about how friendships change. What a song.

[i got bugs]

Loved Colorado. I listened to it a lot. Ragged Glory was my first Neil album and i was blown away. And i only saw Neil live with the band, and it remains one of the best shows i ever saw.

I love NY but he was prob one of the worst shows I saw.. it was when that psychedelic pill album came out.. the set was 95% that album, which didn't even leak yet at the time.. i think I recognized homegrown n maybe 1 other song.. the whole crowd was like wtf.. saw him on one other occasion n that was good tho

[VinylGuy]

Loved Colorado. I listened to it a lot. Ragged Glory was my first Neil album and i was blown away. And i only saw Neil live with the band, and it remains one of the best shows i ever saw.

I love NY but he was prob one of the worst shows I saw.. it was when that psychedelic pill album came out.. the set was 95% that album, which didn't even leak yet at the time.. i think I recognized homegrown n maybe 1 other song.. the whole crowd was like wtf.. saw him on one other occasion n that was good tho

my show was in 2001 and it was glorious. The best thing i saw at that time.

[epilogue]

Loved Colorado. I listened to it a lot. Ragged Glory was my first Neil album and i was blown away. And i only saw Neil live with the band, and it remains one of the best shows i ever saw.

I love NY but he was prob one of the worst shows I saw.. it was when that psychedelic pill album came out.. the set was 95% that album, which didn't even leak yet at the time.. i think I recognized homegrown n maybe 1 other song.. the whole crowd was like wtf.. saw him on one other occasion n that was good tho

my show was in 2001 and it was glorious. The best thing i saw at that time.

I saw him as part of CSN&Y in Jan of 2000 and it was phenomenal. Young was a wild man that night. He was all over the stage. Totally melted faces. To this day, one of the best shows I've seen and Young stole the entire thing.

[i got bugs]

Loved Colorado. I listened to it a lot. Ragged Glory was my first Neil album and i was blown away. And i only saw Neil live with the band, and it remains one of the best shows i ever saw.

I love NY but he was prob one of the worst shows I saw.. it was when that psychedelic pill album came out.. the set was 95% that album, which didn't even leak yet at the time.. i think I recognized homegrown n maybe 1 other song.. the whole crowd was like wtf.. saw him on one other occasion n that was good tho

my show was in 2001 and it was glorious. The best thing i saw at that time.

The good one I was at was farm aid 01 in Virginia

He then came out w dmb to play watchtower

[liebzz]

It’s been a while. I saw Neil Young & Crazy Horse in 1997 and in 2012 at Global Citizens.

[Farmer John]

I've seen him a few times, but the best would probably be 2009 London, ON for the Fork in the Road tour. It was such a good setlist with so many songs that I was never expecting to hear.

Albuquerque, Speakin' Out, Feel Your Love (CSNY), CHANGE YOUR MIND!

And he opened with When You Dance I Can Really Love, which is a great way to start a show.

A close second to that is Toronto 2011 for the Le Noise tour. It was the only time I've seen him solo and it was at Massey Hall which made it extra special.