Neil Young 1976-1988

[CRAZY-HORSE]

NEIL YOUNG "trans" 1983...#19 US, #29 UK, #23 AU

after the release of "everybodys rockin" Neil and Peggi discovered their son Zeke had a severe form of Cerebral Palsy and had no way of communicating with anyone. so Young launched himself into this one straight after the release of "rockin" in order to take a couple of years off to dedicate himself to wife and child.
in the process he discovered the "vocorder" a vocal altering instrument and added synths to his music, the reason was to show people that not everyone can communicate in the same way,unfortunately for him, he didnt tell anyone of the despair he was feeling for his son. so no-one knew what he was going through.had he said something, he may have been given time off and wouldnt need to release this piece of crap.
understanding the thought process in his head at the time does not make this a good album, but it is essential to try to understand it to understand the album.
musically the album was caught between the electronics of Kraftwork and the Crazy Horse rock sound, its neither one thing or the other and gets lost sitting in no mans land. imagine "mr.soul" synthed up with Young's vocals through a vocorder...you cant? well thats what has happened here with a terrible version of that song.the two best tracks on this one are the two recorded 'normally'; "little thing called love" and "hold on to your love". Transformer Man is also pretty good, but sounds a lot better acoustic on his "unplugged" album.
im pretty sure this would have been a good album had he recorded it 'normally' rather than experiment and move away from what he is good at.
yet again, another release that i cant recommend to anyone seeking to explore NY's back catalogue.

I DO NOT LIKE THIS ALBUM

worst track: like an inca
best track: little thing called love

tracks:

1. little thing called love** #71 US, #68 AU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bb2Gj0Pg1uE audio
2. computer age*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M15RA1ft3Bc live
3. we r in control* #42 US
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NVgQVEiZms audio
4. transformer man**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eblFQppJfyg audio
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27J2yH_6YQ0 acoustic version to show how good this song couldve been!
5. computer cowboy**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FEl_45qh7g audio
6. hold on to your love**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuOLWkA93vY audio
7. sample and hold**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgZj-AEyX30 live
8. mr.soul*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gOcsOBWMbk audio
9. like an inca*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q06tUFW09Fk live audio

3s=0
2s=5
1s=4

rating: 1.6