With all that has happened to Neil over the past year or so, it is no wonder that critics are zeroing on these incidents as way of explaining the motivations and intentions of "Prairie Wind". Whether it was the passing of the mother of Neil's first son (Carrie Snodgress), the death of Buffalo Springfield bass player (Bruce Palmer), the loss of his father (Scott Young), or surgery for a brain aneurysm, needless to say, the man has stared death in the face.
And Neil's response? Listening to "Prairie Wind", we hear a man who has lived a thousand lives and yet seems ready to live another thousand.
Reviews have been rolling in for Neil Young's newest album "Prairie Wind" and mostly positive. In addition, the CD is doing very well in the sales department — currently ranked as the #1 top seller on Amazon.com after fluctuating around #2, #3, #4 over past several days behind Paul McCartney and Barbra Streisand, no less?!
While much of the album has been politely characterized as "Neil-lite", undoubtably there are songs destined to have legs that will carry them many years forward. The most obvious song to nominate to the pantheon is the CD's final song: "When God Made Me". Without putting too fine a point on it, how can a man asking 10 questions provoke so much discussion?
Well, only Neil Young.
And so we bring you a few critic's comments.
From the Edmonton Sun review by ANGELA PACIENZA:
"Prairie Wind is a throwback to Young's country-tinged Harvest and Harvest Moon days, which should please a significant contingent of his fan base.The sound gives the weighty songs a gentleness entirely appropriate for an album where Young tenderly recalls his upbringing - the Prairie landscape creeps into at least four of the 10 tracks, including the current radio single The Painter. Vivid memories of the farmhouse where he was raised and the ukulele given to him one Christmas by his father shine through on Far From Home."
From Music OMH review by Tony Heywood:
"Fighting fit he may now be, but the gentle tapping of the Grim Reaper's scythe echoes throughout Prairie Wind.
Article comments
1 - John Owen
By now I've learned to put up with the one not-good song on most Neil Young records (I'm thinking of YOU "Old King" and "White Line"), and if "Prairie Wind" is what you say it is, I'm all over this. One of my favorite things about "Zuma" for example was how the music sounded much perkier than on "On The Beach" or "Tonight's The Night" but the lyrics were even more sullen. If this record sounds like "Harvest Moon" but feels like "Everybody Knows This is Nowhere," I'm gonna love it.
Great work. Thanks!
2 - thrasher
It is a little hard to believe the album is currently #1 on Amazon's music sales?
Afterall, it's been over 30 years since Harvest, Neil Young's last #1.
3 - Radman
Another great one by Neil, my hero. Thank you.
4 - El Bicho
I've always enjoyed Neil, but this album and Greendale are two amazing pieces of work that I would compare to any of his career.