Neil Young - Harvest

Proclaiming his intentions with "Are You Ready for the Country?" Young detoured briefly to the Nashville mainstream. On this No. 1 1972 album, even the singer's acquired-taste voice comes across smooth and beautiful--the smash "Heart of Gold," with steel guitars and Linda Ronstadt's backup vocals, is by far Young's most commercial-sounding song. His usual dissonant touches, like the otherworldly guitar in "Out on the Weekend," are less spooky in this new context. The last two tracks, the deceptively gentle "The Needle and the Damage Done" and the hypnotic rocker "Words (Between the Lines of Age)," predict "Tonight's the Night," Young's haunted 1975 classic. --Steve Knopper Amazon.com essential recording

JAPAN REMASTERED VERSION AVAILABLE

A while back, Warner Brothers Japan re-released 12 Neil Young titles. The surprise was that remastered content appeared for the first time on most of them.

The titles & WB-Japan catalog numbers are:

Neil Young WPCR-75086
Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere WPCR-75087
After The Gold Rush WPCR-75088
Harvest WPCR-75089
On The Beach WPCR-75090
Tonight's The Night WPCR-75091
Zuma WPCR-75092
Long May You Run WPCR-75093
American Stars n' Bars WPCR-75094
Comes A Time WPCR-75095
Rust Never Sleeps WPCR-75096
Live Rust WPCR-75097

I picked up most of these, A/B'd them, and found them to be superior to the domestics. However, having purchased the domestic 2002 remasters of "Beach" and "Stars n Bars", I declined the Japan versions of those two titles.

Unfortunately, while the Japan version is remastered, Live Rust is not restored to the original LP's running form, and remains still the bastardized version.

If you own the U.S. versions, and you're a NY fan, I would seriously consider replacing them with these. June 18, 2008

"Old man look at my life...

...I'm a lot like you. I need someone to love me the whole day through."

Folk/Rock at it's best. Simple acoustic chords, haunting lyrics, and poignant stories. Arguably, this is Neil's masterpiece album. The Needle and the Damage Done, is a wonderful lament for friends lost to drugs. Old Man is an ode to the caretaker on a ranch that Neil bought some time ago. Heart of Gold is just that...Solid! As a lad I spun this LP every night when I hit the sack. I had a Hohner harmonica and played along. This disc belongs in the time capsule of my life. Enjoy it for years to come. February 13, 2008

Neil Young made History with Harvest.

"Dream up, dream up,
let me fill your cup
With the promise of a man."

This was one on the first albums I ever bought, and it remains a favorite. Harvest is Neil Young's signature album with his distinctive folk-esque acoustic guitar and harmonica, and his deeply personal lyrics. Backed by "The Stray Gators," a group of country session musicians including Ben Keith on pedal steel guitar, Kenny Buttrey on drums, Tim Drummond on bass, and Jack Nitzsche on piano and slide guitar, along with backing vocals by James Taylor, David Crosby, Graham Nash, Linda Ronstadt, and Stephen Stills, Neil made history with Harvest. The album resulted in three hit singles, "Heart of Gold," "Old Man," and "The Needle and the Damage Done." The complete album setlist includes:

1. Out On The Weekend (Album Version) (4:35)
2. Harvest (Album Version) (3:11)
3. A Man Needs A Maid (Album Version) (4:05)
4. Heart Of Gold (Album Version) (3:07)
5. Are You Ready For The Country (Album Version) (3:23)
6. Old Man (Album Version) (3:22)
7. There's A World (Album Version) (2:59)
8. Alabama (Album Version) (4:02)
9. The Needle And The Damage Done (Album Version) (2:10)
10. Words (Between The Lines Of Age) (Album Version) (6:40)

G. Merritt January 13, 2008

oh yes

This is one of the best cd's I have ever bought. I was looking through some of my dads old vinyl and came across this masterpiece. I HAD to get the cd. It's timeless. Simply amazing. Every music lover should have this album. I could listen to it over and over again. BRILLIANT
Thank you Neil Young December 27, 2007

A Real Bumper Harvest!

"Harvest", Neil Young's fourth album (1972), and commercial success at that. Still, for a supposedly commercial album it has some of the most harrowing, personal, and emotional lyrics I have heard to date (this is something that comes with much of Neil Young's work, and it's that side of him that I like best).
Perhaps the best example of this is "A Man Needs a Maid", a song of isolation and lonliness. In honesty, I didn't used to like this one- long, slow, and those long notes during the refrain really used to bug me for some reason. But now, the more I listen the more I dig; the orchestration is a masterpiece (and I don't care how many people say it's overproduced, saying that about ANY song is, in my opinion, idiotic, since it obvious pleased the artist enough for him to release it as it was), and the lyrics, if not his best, are so personal and touching that I hate to knock the song, even if it isn't one of his VERY best. It's just a wonderful piece of expressive work. Easily at 4/5 level on its own.
Other highlights, are Harvest (another one it took a me a little while to appreciate, but it really does have a poignant message about loneliness and love), Out on the Weekend, which, again, has grown amazingly on me, the classic Heart of Gold, Old Man, the fun Are You Ready for the Country?, and even Words (Between the Lines of Age). The rest: I like the tune and the political points in Alabama but I wasn't aroudn then, and I don't know enough to appreciate it fully; Needle... is great, just not at the same level as others,and There's a World, is one that, personally, I'm still attempting to penetrate (and I feel close), but either way, the biblical-sounding orchestra (did actually quote parts of this, or all for that matter, from the bible, say, one of the Old Testaent profits, just curious?) is, for once, just a tad much.
All in all, however, this is a great album, 4/5. Not necessarily his best, but great nonetheless. Enjoy; this sounds just as "Young" as it did years ago! November 7, 2007

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