Neil Young 1989-1999

[CRAZY-HORSE]

NEIL YOUNG & CRAZY HORSE "sleeps with angels" 1994. #9 US, #2 UK, #17 AU

chart placing wise, this is one of the most successful of all of NY's albums, this may or may not be because the title track was a tribute to Kurt Cobain.
Young had a fixation on Nirvana right from the first time he saw them on MTV and heard their debut set "never mind", apparently between 91-94 he spent hours sitting in his ex-US Army jeep on his ranch listening to the cassette, he could identify with the raw brash nature of Grunge music and the clothes they wore as he and Crazy Horse had been doing it since 1971ish, he also wanted desperately to meet Cobain but touring and recording restrictions by himself and Nirvana always got in the way of a meeting. Young was then so dumbstruck by grief and shock over Cobains suicide and the lyrics of "hey hey my my" scrawled on the suicide note that he let it out in song.
.....on with the album now you have the background of it....
it is a strange, sometimes morose collection of songs, "Sleeps With Angels" is more musically diverse than most of Neil Young's albums with his legendary backing group Crazy Horse.
It is NOT the place to start building a Neil Young-collection; it just takes too long for this compelling but mournful record to really sink in, and it just might put you off Young for good.

But if you know what you're getting into, "Sleeps With Angels" is a worthy addition to Young's lenghty catalogue. It is not as accessible as most of his best-known 70s albums, and they weren't excactly lighthearted pop to begin with, but give it time and it will grow on you.
The music is straight out of the Crazy Horse songbook, ragged and unpolished, and Neil Young's fragile quiver of a voice seems even airier than usual. "Sleeps With Angels" opens with the sparse folkish piano-ballad "My Heart", and songs like the half-spoken "Trans Am" and the melodic "Western Hero" are from the same low-key mold. "Sleeps With Angels", "Blue Eden" and the epic 14-minute "Change Your Mind" are slow, gritty electric rock song with some smouldering lead guitar playing by Neil Young, and Crazy Horse generally sound a lot more mellow than usual. There are few up-tempo songs on this album, but the driving "Piece Of Crap" bristles with attitude and power chords, and even slow songs like "Driveby" and the wistful closer "A Dream That Can Last" have a lot of substance to them.Again, I don't think one would be a good place to start, but it's an excellent stop to make along the way. It just takes a little time to sink in is all.

worst track: blue eden
best track: piece of crap

tracks:

1. my heart***
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHFyksF05Iw video
2. prime of life**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQmHHttYX0U video
3. driveby**
4. sleeps with angels***
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IS1Wir4KWg video
5. western hero***
6. change your mind*** #18 US
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGZWPgScALU live
7. blue eden*
8. safeway cart*
9. train of love**
10.trans am**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkbDJEq75zs audio
11.piece of crap***
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZFtjRycPDs live
12.a dream that can last**

3s=5
2s=5
1s=2

rating: 2.2

[CRAZY-HORSE]

NEIL YOUNG "mirror ball" 1995. #5 US, #4 UK, #7 AU

another hugely successful album release and one that seems to be lost in the haze of time by most people.
as previously stated NY had a lot of common ground with the Grunge scene and a lot of his material with Crazy Horse has the Grunge feel to it but to say NY is grunge or created grunge is laughable, he did however give inspiration to a lot of bands from that genre and his biggest fan was Eddie Vedder, and it may well have been inevitable that he eventually do something musically with a grunge band....in this case Pearl Jam feature on this on as NY's backing band.
i do like this album and although all the songs were recorded over two studio sessions, they do lack something that Crazy Horse had. i cant put my finger on it but it appears that these guys are proffessional musicians and masters of their craft whereas The Horse were a ragged band of misfits who couldnt hold an even tempo and appear amatuerish in their playing technique.
the other thing thats lets this one down is that all the songs have a similar beat and sound very similar to the previous track, on the upside there are some beautiful harmonies to compliment Neil's vocals.
Pearl Jam released a companion "ep" entitled "merkinball" to compliment this album on which Young plays guitar.
i suspect this album may be a good one for todays youth to aquaint themselves with Neil Young as Pearl Jam have always had a good following all over the world.

I LIKE THIS ALBUM

worst track: scenery
best track: downtown

tracks:

1. song x**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQF_IYdrPjo live
2. act of love***
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqXT-YR2Tmw live
3. im the ocean***
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mt98mHPI4...re=related live
4. big green country**
5. truth be known*
6. downtown*** #6 US
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oo-4viCN_w4 video
what happened yesterday(interlude)
7. peace and love** #34 US
8. throw your hatred down**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxpAFjMxc40 live
9. scenery*
fallen angel (epilogue)

3s=3
2s=4
1s=2

rating: 2.0

[CRAZY-HORSE]

NEIL YOUNG & CRAZY HORSE "broken arrow",1996. #31 US, #17 UK, #59 AU

sorry Mr.Soul, but you will disagree with me on this one!!
after releasing two of his most successful albums of his career in the past couple of years Young heads back to familliar ground and resurrects Crazy Horse again. only this time not as successful nor as good as most of their previous outings.
of the eight tracks here with a duration of 47minutes we have four tracks lasting a total of 33 of those minutes. the first three tracks are reasonable efforts but lack the punch of earlier Crazy Horse work, but do contain the trademark lengthy guitar solo's but they are not as enjoyable as they consist primarily single chord/note riffs. the final track is also a lengthy track that fails to inspire me as a piece of music.
the album in whole was recorded through a single mic to capture a 'live' feel but fails to make the mark, i feel the album starts off well but tapers off towards the end,
as a footnote Young himself now dismisses this album(quote: broken arrow is one of several albums i do not like) and does not play any of these tracks live.

I DO NOT LIKE THIS ALBUM

worst track: baby,what you want me to do
best track: changing highways

tracks:

1. big time** #35 US
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLBCjjvhM1Q audio
2. loose change**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7cXXNT2U7E audio
3. slip away**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stzfzAJXu...re=related audio
4. changing highways**
5. scattered(lets think about livin')**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pf50jY0mAts live
6. this town*
7. music arcade*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLqWiJvMndA live audio
8. baby,what you want me to do*

3s=0
2s=5
1s=3

rating: 1.6

[CRAZY-HORSE]

NEIL YOUNG & CRAZY HORSE "year of the horse" 1997. #57 US, #36 UK, #76 AU.

another live album this time round with Crazy Horse, this one contains tracks from Buffalo Springfield's "mr.soul" through to several from the "broken arrow" album.
its good to hear "mr.soul" in its original form on this one, and the three tracks he plays from the "broken arrow" album sound better live here than on the studio album, the other track that gets full marks for me here is "when your lonely heart breaks" from "life", most of the others do not quite bare up to their originals, i suspect his vocals have dropped in pitch slightly and those older tracks lose something from that in the process, this album is also not as rugged and raw sounding which obviously part of the overall production and cleanup in the studio.
not a bad album but not in the same league as "live rust" or "weld" IMO.
i couldnt find any links for the album from the album,sorry.

worst track: dangerbird
best track: mr.soul

tracks:

1. sedan delivery**
2. when you dance you can really love**
3. when your lonely heart breaks***
4. mr.soul***
5. barstool blues**
6. pocahontas**
7. slip away**
8. big time***
9. human highway**
10.scattered***
11.danger bird*
12.prisoners of rock 'n' roll**

3s=4
2s=7
1s=1

rating: 2.2

[CRAZY-HORSE]

CROSBY,STILLS,NASH & YOUNG "looking foreward" 1999. #26 US

this is the third studio album from CSNY and by far their worst effort and just scrapes into the "like" rating.
this one sounds a lot like four individuals,each hiring the other three to play and provide harmonies, thankfully i got this one at a discount price and i dont recommend anyone paying full price for it either. the critics at the time dubbed it "looking backwards" as they have stuck to the same sound they were making twenty five years ago, with folk,blues,country/folk, the only track to offer a variation in sound is the opening track which has a light breezy calypso feel to it, but that one still only manages "*".
NY's four tracks here were ones he had already written for his next solo album "silver and gold",three of which are likeable, the other in "slowpoke" is very good.
anyone looking to discover CSNY should only get this one in order to complete their collection and stick to "deja vu" as their main refference point for this band.
sorry, but there are no decent links for this album!!!

I LIKE THIS ALBUM

worst track: faith in me
best track: slowpoke

tracks:

1. faith in me*
2. looking foreward**
3. stand and be counted*
4. heartland**
5. seen enough*
6. slowpoke***
7. dream for him**
8. no tears left**
9. out of control**
10.some day soon**
11.queen of them all**
12.sanibel**

3s=1
2s=8
1s=3

rating: 1.8