For "Spirit Road" he once again straps on the electric guitar and mines more familiar terrain in the lyrics as well. "Spirit Road" finds him "headed out on the long highway in your mind" in search of the "spirit road you had to find" where "getting home to peace again" await the traveler at the road's end.
So on its surface, Chrome Dreams II is a mixed bag that feels like one of those notoriously "in-between" Neil Young albums I alluded to earlier. Some are calling it his best in years, although I'm not really sure I'm quite ready to go there yet. What I will say is that there is at least a little bit of every element here that has made Neil Young such an enduring artist over the years.
There's some nice quiet acoustic stuff, some of the grungier sound you'd more often associate with Crazy Horse, and even a few surprises in the form of a few gospel flavored tracks. And there are at least two lengthy electric guitar classics in the mode of "Like A Hurricane."
For right now, that's good enough for me.
Article comments
1 - Pico
Well done, Glen, I'm going to have to pick up this Neil.
And now, I will sit back and see if your comment section gets half the action your last Neil Young review did ;&)
2 - Glen Boyd
I don't think this one will be nearly as controversial Pico -- it's just a review. But I guess we'll see won't we?
-Glen
3 - gsilverman
Glen,
I was thoroughly enjoying your review and looking forward to adding this release by Neil to my collection until I found myself hopelessly sidetracked by the following sentence:
"Available in bootleg versions for years, the track is said to be part of an original Chrome Dreams CD that Neil nearly released in 1976."
Surely, you meant to use the term "album" or "LP" there, rather than "CD." Hard to imagine a 1976 that included CD's. Oh, if only. Most of the Neil Young recordings I heard back then skipped, popped, or in the case of 8 track or cassette, hissed.
OK, I'm over it now. CD, LP, whatever, Neil's in-between is definitely good enough for me, too. Thanks for the review.
4 - Glen Boyd
Yeah big faux paux there, and thanks for the catch. It's actually now also pointed out to me by bigtime Neil Young expert Thrasher that the track "Ordinary People" was NOT originally recorded for "Chrome Dreams", but rather for "This Notes For You" -- which actually makes perfect sense once you hear it.
Anyway, my review still stands as a mild "thumbs up" at this point. Couple of great tracks there, and still others that I fully expect to be growing on me (especially after seeing Neil Last night here in Seattle)
-Glen
5 - Connie Phillips
Congrats! This article has been forwarded to the Advance.net websites and Boston.com.
6 - Apell
Great article. I too am fan of Neil Young however there are a lot of albums where he seems to have lost focus on the songs while trying to go with a "sound" whether it be country, punk/grunge rock or 80s electronic production like on Chrome Dreams.
I like his early songs such as "Don't let It Bring You Down". I have recorded an electronic influenced version of it and you can hear a sample of it here.