Album Reviews6/10
Young Bites the Sponsors’ Hand: ‘This Note’s for You’ and Its Anti-Advertising Snarl, 38 Years On
A grim tale of Neil Young's 1988 Bluenotes record, its banned title song, and the guitar that saves it from excess brass.
CLAY TRIBUNE / THE ARCHIVE
Tag: Neil Young
Album Reviews6/10
Old Ways Was the Full Country Swerve of 1985, and Only Four Songs Earn Their Keep
Neil Young turns country on Old Ways, ten plain tracks of steel guitar and sentiment, with four songs worth keeping.
Album Reviews4/10
Landing on Water: Neil Young’s Machines Cover the Writing
A look at Neil Young's 1986 Landing on Water, where heavy production covers the writing beneath its own weight.
Album Reviews9/10
Neil Young Opens ‘Freedom’ Soft and Ends It Loud — a 9/10 Return to Form
Neil Young's Freedom opens soft and ends loud with Rockin' in the Free World, a record that holds every side of his sound together.
Album Reviews7.8/10
Feeling Through the Machine: Neil Young’s Trans
A voice made distant by machines: Neil Young's Trans weighs feeling against synthesizer and voice box, a strange record time has judged kindly.
Hawks & Doves Splits Neil Young Down the Middle, Acoustic Grief on One Side and Flag-Waving Bar Songs on the Other
A record split in two: quiet old songs on one side, quick country songs on the other. Nine tracks, thirty minutes, no true settling.
Album Reviews6.8/10
Re·ac·tor at 45: Neil Young and Crazy Horse Chase Noise for Its Own Sake
A forceful record: Neil Young and Crazy Horse chase noise and repetition on Re·ac·tor, a small, rough turn in a long career.
Album Reviews6.8/10
Loose by Design: Neil Young’s “American Stars ‘n Bars” Still Rides on Its Best Tracks
A review of Neil Young's American Stars 'n Bars, a mixture of country tunes and wandering guitar pieces that never quite agree.
Album Reviews8/10
Zuma: Neil Young & Crazy Horse Remember How to Enjoy Themselves
A grim chronicle of Zuma, wherein Young and Crazy Horse cast off their former melancholy for a fiercer, nobler tumult of sound.
Album Reviews10/10
Tonight’s the Night at 51: Neil Young’s Wake Still Refuses Every Easy Fix
A grim wake of a record: Neil Young's Tonight's the Night, ten songs of uneasy grief, opened and closed by the same tune.
Album Reviews8/10
Why Neil Young Sounded So Worn Down on On the Beach — and Why the Album Still Works 52 Years Later
A grim, deliberate turn from Neil Young: a record of ruin and quiet accusation, never once eased for the listener.
Album Reviews9.9/10
Neil Young Made a Perfect 10 with After the Gold Rush, and 56 Years On It Still Sounds That Way
A record of quiet guitar, piano, and fierce song, wherein a man moves through every voice within his soul, a grand and lasting work.