I love to read negative reviews of albums put out by aging rock stars. They're predictable in a comforting sort of way. A big chunk of them say that the artist hasn't been any good since the "blah blah" release. Of course, the time span between now and then can usually be measured in decades. Then there are the reviews that try to be efficient in their clever put-down of the musician, pointing out that the artist was never any good anyway...and now he's fat and ugly as well!
Neil Young has always been a magnet for this sort of writing. Somewhere in the past, a rule was constructed that stated that change would not be tolerated and would be viewed with great suspicion. Thus, all of Neil's oddball experiments have been torched as evidence of pretension, self-importance, or other related motive.
This isn't to say that Young has never made any missteps. Hey, given the size of his catalog, he probably has. What I'm getting at is that there are other ways to view a piece of music and its relationship to the rest of the artist's catalog: and that is to see each new record a part of one long story.
Chrome Dreams II appears to be a short retelling of the entire Neil Young story, as it hits all of the high points both thematically and musically. Folk Neil, R&B Neil, country Neil, and Rawk Neil are all represented here. Much of this is held together nicely with a theme of the journey through life. That might read like a cliché but the fact remains that the topics of love, death, inspiration, faith, and home do represent what it means to be human.
From R&B Neil, there is "Shining Light." From Folk Neil, we have "Boxcar" and "The Believer," and the county pieces "Ever After" and "Beautiful Bluebird." Included in the latter genre is the closing track "The Way," which uses The Young People's Chorus of NYC to great (if unsettling) effect.
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Article comments
1 - Pico
Neil is in fact pretentious, because he puts out like three albums a year.
That's like a music reviewer putting out three articles in a day.
;&)
2 - Rel
I am saddened by the fact that many of the reviewers do not appear to realize the sizable accomplisments of Neal Young and the impact the music has had on several generations of listeners.
Great album, great performer, heartfelt msician and songwriter!
3 - Martin Lav
Mark,
I'd say you nailed this pretty well. Good article!
However, I thought Prairie Wind was pretty darn good myself. Seems like the only thing predictable about Neil is his unpredictability. Saw Neil perform much of this "new" album at his Bridge School Benefit in Mountain View, Ca. this past weekend....totally acoustic! Quite impressive.
Live Music is Better.
4 - Mark Saleski
martin, now that you say that about Prairie Wind, i see that i should have been a little more clear. i was worried about Neil as a person...it seemed that Prairie Wind had a lot of "looking back over a life" to it", which i found sort of unnerving.
i thought it was a great record too.
5 - JC Mosquito
But it's the old singer/songwriter and the audience dilemma again. Does an audience listen to a s/s'er because they are interested in his or her point of view and they live their lives vicariously through those songs, or are they interested because those particular songs resonate with something in their own lives? Neil's songs run on different tracks than the ones I'm on nowadays.
6 - Martin Lav
I can only say I believe that the chicken and the egg are one, so it's all one song and since I've been a Neil fan for a while and he's still putting out "new" music, I may as well listen to it.....
The train makes many stops along the tracks, but it's still on the same track, but if you jumped off, well you can also get back on....