Neil Young 1989-1999

[CRAZY-HORSE]

NEIL YOUNG "freedom" 1989 #35US, #17 UK, #76 AU

this one from 1989 is by no means a 'perfect' Young album,but at least for the first time since "rust never sleeps" there are no bad tracks here. the main theme of the album is social decay,drug use, and homelessness in 1980s America(could have been anywhere i guess) after a decade of decadance and greed in the business and financial sectors.
both "rockin in the free world" and "crime in the city" sum up the album perfectly,the latter being a track Dylan would have been proud of.
the only real eyebrow raising track here is the cover version of "on broadway", a lengthy electric version that takes time to appreciate fully.
elsewhere, "hanging on a limb" details the constant fear of success and failure of someone famous, i can only assume Young is refering to himself.
the album was originally first released as a mini album called "el dorado" in Japan with slightly different versions of several of the tracks here, they were probably the original tracks Young laid down on tape in the late 1970s for an unreleased album called "times square",other tracks on this one were also slated for the 1976 unreleased album "chrome dreams", i believe only tracks 4,7,8 and 12 were brand new songs at the time of recording/re-recording the album in 1988/89.
wherever the tracks came from, this is a welcome return to form for an out of form Young.

I LIKE THIS ALBUM:

tracks:

1. rockin in the free world(acoustic)**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVfBDdEjmYc live
2. crime in the city** #34 US
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eRvx4tYNGU live acoustic
3. dont cry**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8M7Q3C7Us0 audio
4. hanging on a limb**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3gtE07Th9o audio
5. el dorado**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKM1TRl6-FU audio
6. the ways of love**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZh1xQpUTDw audio
7. someday**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_9FcAgPDaU audio
8. on broadway**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Uw5QoMmH1g audio
9. wrecking ball**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgICZMdDoNc audio
10.no more** #7US
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkpV30P0RXk audio live
11.too far gone***
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26-PQRC1BvE audio
12.rocking in the free world*** #2US
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AQQ4gkWChE live

3s=2
2s=10
1s=0

rating: 2.1