Neil Young 1976-1988

[CRAZY-HORSE]

NEIL YOUNG & CRAZY HORSE "re-ac-tor" 1981... #27 US, #69 UK, #27 AU

dear oh dear, how hard do the mighty fall?
ive always said that had i purchased anything from the Geffen years before any of his great albums that i would dismiss NY as overrated, they are very,very non inspired albums to say the least.
even the great Crazy Horse music on this one cannot save it, some of the worst lyrics of his career on this one, the worst on this one is "t-bone" that lasts for over nine minutes with the lyrics that a six year old could write; "got mashed potato,aint got no t-bone" over and over again, by the two minute mark i usually swap tracks.
there are two great songs on this one...are they great or just better than the rest of the drivel? "southern pacific" and "mo-tor city" appear to be very good,one about trains, the other NY is supporting US cars over Japanese imports...yeh, i know, riviting subject matter to say the least.
its sad when the bast thing here(mo-tor city) is a rewrite of 1976s "let it shine"...enough said!
and what the hell is "opera star" and/or "moe the sleaze"???c'mon Neil this is crap!
i could go on bagging this one till the cows come home but im not going to, ive said enough and anyway...if you aint got nothing nice to say you should keep your mouth shut IMO
oh man, only one link again, and its the worst track here...i cant take a trick at the moment with NY links

I DO NOT LIKE THIS ALBUM

worst track: t-bone
best track: mo-tor city

tracks:

1. opera star*
2. surfer joe and moe the sleaze*
3. t-bone*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fA6UM0ZM6r4 audio
4. get back on it*
5. southern pacific***
6. mo-tor city***
7. rapid transit*
8. shots*

3s=2
2s=0
1s=6

rating: 1.5

[CRAZY-HORSE]

NEIL YOUNG & THE SHOCKING PINKS "everybody's rockin'" 1982...#46 US, #50 UK, #30 AU

again, its hard to tell if this album is genuinely good for being good or just good compared to the last couple of albums.
no, actually NY does do a good job with this Rockabilly album, it actually sounds like he is having fun for the first time in his career instead of being sombre and moody, his cover of "mystery train" is surprisingly good, but the best track here is "wanderin" which first appeared in acoustic form with a slower melody in concerts back in 1970/71ish and now appears on one of his 'archive' release live albums in original form.
thankfully there is nothing horrible on this one but at the same time neither is there anything great and David Geffen is already starting to confront young on his song selection and demanding "harvest pt.2" to be recorded.
again, a definate lack of links to accompany this album!

I LIKE THIS ALBUM

1. betty lou's got a new pair of shoes**
2. raining in my heart**
3. payola blues**
4. wonderin'**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6a6A6oTFd...re=related video
5. kinda fonda wanda**
6. jellyroll man**
7. bright lights,big city**
8. cry cry cry**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39VjfTW0X...ure=fvwrel video
9. mystery train**
10.everybody's rockin'**

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

rating: 2.0

[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

[Music Head]

hated that one mate

[CRAZY-HORSE]

its not his worst album though...thats yet to come.

ive actually checked on 'allmusic' to see how they rate NY's albums, and my ratings are pretty much the same as theirs so far

[SteveO]

I liked TRANS...guess I can't tell the difference between good music and bad music ....LOL

[CRAZY-HORSE]

I liked TRANS...guess I can't tell the difference between good music and bad music ....LOL

theres no right or wrong with music Steve,whatever turns you on mate!!!

all im doing here is supplying a few facts either from NY interviews ive seen or from his official boigraphy "shakey", then adding my opinions of those tracks, we have another member here in Mr.Soul who swears by his 1980s albums, he obviously sees something in those albums that i dont????
same as "le noise" pretty sure im the only one here who actually likes it.

[CRAZY-HORSE]

NEIL YOUNG "old ways" 1985...#75 US, #39 UK, #30 AU

after two years looking after his son Zeke,setting up the Bridge School charity for famillies of severely handicapped children and becoming a major player in model train company "lionel" Young ventured back into the studio, this time to record a straight up country album and the results are mixed. guest appearances by Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson are always nice as i love both of these guys,especially willie. the album opens up with a cover of "the waywood wind" and its a pretty good version,despite three duds on this one which brings the rating down i do like the overall album. here we have the original version of "are there anymore real cowboys", but Willie's version the following year is superior. "once an angel" is his first 'real' love song, and its brilliant,for his wife.
the album is produced real slick,probably a bit too slick for a NY album IMO,but still ok to listen to.
and what the hell is that dumbass "misfits" thing doing on here, all the other tracks are country related as per the album title, yet this one is about astronauts,wtf!!!
again, Neil's mate David Geffen was pissed, he wanted another "harvest" album,what he didnt understand was the more people wanted NY to do something, the more he retreats and goes the other way...in true Scorpio style.
pretty sure youtube is a Scorpio also as it wont give the links that im asking for???


I LIKE THIS ALBUM

worst track: misfits
best track: once an angel

tracks:

1. the waywood wind*
2. get back to the country**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZEl_1ZJe...ED1EC224B2 live
3. are there anymore real cowboys**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ad8PMCe7UME live
4. once an angel***
5. misfits*
6. california sunset*
7. old ways**
8. my boy**
9. bound for glory***
10.where is the highway tonight**

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

rating: 1.9

[CRAZY-HORSE]

NEIL YOUNG "landing on water" 1986, #58US, #52UK, #43 AU

man oh man, do i really have to do this album???
just remain positive Lloyd...ok, well, the album cover artwork is the best thing about this one...does that say it all?, not quite, the album also manages a perfect score.......of "1.0". theres nine tracks here, it could have been worse as there could have been 10 or 11!!
overbearing synths, drumbeats way out in the foreground of the mix, very 1980s IMO.
forgetable lines like "shes so on fire,shes my desire"...is this the man who penned "after the goldrush" and "tonights the night"???
if i had a choice to play Aqua's "aquarium" or this i'd pick Aqua,thats how bad this one is.

I DO NOT LIKE TO SUBJECT MY EARS TO THIS!

worst track: nine of them
best track: hopefully something from the next album!

tracks:

1. weight of the world*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=400nQvEfwb4 audio
2. violent side*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djxTc7NCT...re=related audio
3. hippie dream*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=400nQvEfw...re=related audio
4. bad news beat*
5. touch the night*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXmiwjKx_Cs video
6. people on the street*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOVkzZn48...re=related audio
7. hard luck stories*
8. i got a problem*
9. pressure*

3s=0
2s=0
1s=9

rating: 1.0

[CRAZY-HORSE]

NEIL YOUNG & CRAZY HORSE "life" 1987, #75 US, #69 UK.

NY,Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp got together to form "farm aid" in 1986 to do a series of shows throughout the US to raise money for struggling farm famillies,this along with Bridge School charity concerts still go on annually to this day. it was during the 1986 start of the farm aid project that Young got Crazy Horse back on stage with him, an event which led to the group appearing on his following album, this one.
sure, theres several reasonable tracks on this one,two ballads, the superb "long walk home" which is classic Young, and the very good, "when your lonely heart breaks", the other two okay tracks are "too lonely", a good Crazy Horse rocker, but not as good as their previous rockers and "prisoners of rock 'n' roll" which is a dig at David Geffen primarily and the music business in general in the 1980s. apart from those tracks theres the terrible attempt to recreate "cortez the killer" in "inca queen" and four other forgettable tracks. the worst thing about this album is still the use of those horrible overbearing drums at times.
after this Geffen would make a futile attempt to sue Young for making "non commercial records and un-Neil songs" since joining Geffen, the case was thrown out and Young moved back to Reprise records where coincidently his material would start to get better and become more 'neil-like' in the process.

I DO NOT LIKE THIS ALBUM

worst track: mideast vacation
best track: long walk home

tracks:

1. mideast vacation*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPVHE0ip0fk live
2. long walk home***
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csraH3H5yzQ live
3. around the world*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQ4E38IKosU live
4. inca queen*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNos0A5s0uQ audio
5. too lonely**
6. prisoners of rock 'n ' roll**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1N_Lp6s5uo live audio
7. cryin' eyes*
8. when your lonely heart breaks**
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4p0LfSG0Wo live
9. we never danced*

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

rating: 1.5