Neil Young - After the Gold Rush

After laboring in Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Neil Young finally hit perfect pitch--if his endearing off-center whine can be called "perfect"--with his third album. He's equally passionate with trippy riddles (has anybody figured out what "We've got mother nature on the run" means in the title track?) and pointed protest (after 30 years of rock-radio overplay, "Southern Man" still rings with truth about redneck racism). His creaky ensemble, including pianist Jack Nitzsche and rotating members of Crazy Horse, transforms ramshackle country and folk songs into soulful hippie hymns. --Steve Knopper Amazon.com essential recording

"Masterpiece" is an understatement.

This album always puts me in a state of hypnosis in which I become absorbed by it, unaware of anything else around me. I can't listen to it while I'm driving, It's just that good. Same goes for "On the Beach".

October 22, 2008

Great headphone album-made me discover a mono track

This is still one of my favorite albums of all time, and I just discovered how good it sounds in headphones (great stereo spread), however I am listening to Oh lonesome me, and it is in mono-I think I remember that from when I had it on LP. Anyway, I don't think old Neil did any better than here. The songs are all great, and his voice is in perfect shape! July 3, 2008

WHEN ROCKERS BECOME SONG-WRITERS...

So, what happened here I think, was that Neil broke his leg or something, and had a release deadline to keep, and he couldn't pick up the electric guitar that he had weilded so flawlessly on his previous release. SO, instead he decided to hit the piano, and focus more on his softer side, initiating a creative flood for softer material, and hence, coming up with a songwriters treasure trove of an album. AFTER THE GOLD RUSH seems to be the favorite for anyone in the singer/songwriter circuit, and well it should be. The range of style on this thing is wide, but subtle. His most covered material can be found here, ONLY LOVE CAN BREAK YOUR HEART, BIRDS, DONT LET IT BRING YOU DOWN. Sure he hits the threshold of dismal here (even for Neil) with songs like the title track and OH LONESOME ME; but he also lets loose once or twice with songs like WHEN YOU DANCE and the silly but cool CRIPPLE CREEK FERRY. Personally I always dug TILL THE MORNING COMES. Its like a minute and a half long, but it says all it needs to say. "I'm gonna give you till the morning comes, till the morning comes. I'm only waiting till the morning comes." And that about says it. Neil somehow manages to shred one through the amplifier with the intense SOUTHERN MAN, and a pair of others stand well also. To make this story short; every song here is an example of quality, and I doubt there is a singer/songwriter around that would disagree. SO, it doesn't rock out like, say, one of the Crazy Horse albums; but it definately deserves repeated listens, and has even caused me to flip the volume up more than once. Classic. June 19, 2008

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

'There was a band playing in my head, and I felt like getting high.'

Maybe it's partly nostalgia, but After the Gold Rush and Harvest will always be my two favorite Neil Young albums. Recorded after Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (1969) and before Harvest (1972), After the Gold Rush is considered Young's commercial breakthrough album and contains so many of his best-known songs ("After the Gold Rush," "Only Love Can Break Your Heart," "Southern Man," and "Don't Let It Bring You Down") that many might consider this a greatest hits compilation. With Stephen Stills providing backing vocals and Danny Whitten on guitar and vocals, Billy Talbot on bass, Ralph Molina on drums and vocals, and Nils Lofgren on piano and vocals, the album is a mix of acoustic-folk CSN ("Tell Me Why," "After the Gold Rush," "Only Love Can Break Your Heart") and hard-rocking Crazy Horse ("When You Dance I Can Really Love," "Southern Man"). Album tracks include:

1. Tell Me Why 2:54
2. After The Gold Rush 3:45
3. Only Love Can Break Your Heart 3:05
4. Southern Man 5:31
5. Till The Morning Comes 1:17
6. Oh, Lonesome Me 3:47
7. Don't Let It Bring You Down 2:56
8. Birds 2:34
9. When You Dance You Can Really Love 4:05
10. I Believe In You 3:24
11. Cripple Creek Ferry 1:34

G. Merritt
June 17, 2008

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