Neil Young: from the 80s to the 90s (part 1)
As the 80s became the 90s Neil Young continued to release remarkable music
The 80s was not kind to Neil Young, or he was not kind to us, releasing some of his weakest albums to date, like Landing on Water and Life, but returning to Reprise records gave him an opportunity to refresh his music. And he released a pair of albums that stand with the best of his classic run of record from the 70s.
Freedom and Ragged Glory are both wonderful records. I am writing about 1989’s Freedom here and will write about the second album in a week or so.
I first discovered his music in the mid 90s, when I bought After the Gold Rush from HMV in Newcastle (or was it Our Price?). I had that wonderful opportunity to delve into an incredible back catalogue, discovering more and more great music. I tried to work chronologically, but became bogged down in his 80s work as he struggled to find a voice, although I think Trans is a genuinely fascinating record.
Freedom came out in 1989, and it is a huge return to form, pulling together many of his past and future themes onto one disc.
It opens with the remarkable Rockin’ in the Free World. This live version bristles with anger and energy, not least on the moment where he gives us some of the greatest rock and roll lyrics of all time
That’s one more kid
That will never go to school
Never get to fall in love
Never get to be cool
It is a testament to his authenticity that he gets away with a title like Rockin’ in the Free World, but he does. It’s not corny in his hands, but a genuine plea for hope.
Crime in the City paints a bleak picture, a mess of images over a stylish folk rock groove, as we hear a “ten year old” say “There’s still crime in the city…but its good to be free.” This is a cut down version of a 12 verse song that sets out his view of the world.
Don’t Cry is a fascinating song, Young’s vocals are just on the edge of breaking, deliberately, as he wails this tale of a breaking relationship. The music is sonic: the drums clang and clank and the song is punctured by a screaming overdriven solo - the kind of sound that would lead to Young getting the title of “Godfather of Grunge”. “Roy Orbison meets trash metal” is how Neil Young described the track and he’s right: it’s a soaring Orbison ballad but with a blistering electric guitar ripping the song into pieces.
The first of two songs featuring Linda Rondstadt, Hangin’ on a Limb sounds like a classic piece of Neil Young folk music. It could easily sit on Harvest or Comes a Time, or even the acoustic side of Rust Never Sleeps. Its delicate melody dances and their voices blend perfectly throughout this hopefully, joyful piece, just their voices and Young’s acoustic guitar. Lyrically it nods to The Byrds’ Ballad of Easy Rider, to my ears at least.
The pleasure from this album comes from its variety. Eldorado has rasping castanets and dancing guitar lines, a song that could come from Zuma, taking a Spanish theme in its music and Mexican imagery in its narrative. Musically it’s as strong as anything else, swaying with a bolero beat at times, and rocking out at others.
He follows this with another folk track, the second with Linda Rondstad, and The Ways of Love is another album that could easily feature on any of his strong 70s records. It’s beautiful and warm.
Side two open with Someday, a real 80s power pop track. It opens with raining keyboard sounds that could come from a Prince track during the same period. It’s another song of hope, and it would be easy for “We all have to fly someday” to sound corny and emotive, but somehow Young gets away with it, probably because his shaky, distinctive voice gives real authenticity. It has a great silly moment as the men “working on that great Alaska pipeline” grunt and groan in the background. It always makes me smile. It soares into a Springsteen like middle section, propelled by Ben Keith and Larry Cragg on saxophones.
His choice to cover On Broadway, the song made famous by The Drifters, is superb. It is a track that just about seems to hold itself together, as he turns the shining pop-soul track into a grungy electric wail, his voice at the very edge of its power. Young’s guitar is loud and growling, and Chad Cromwell’s drumming is powerful and metronomic. It’s one of the best cover tracks he ever released.
Wrecking Ball is a lovely piano ballad, echoing and haunting recalling some of his best early work. It has some lovely imagery that the sweet music is built around:
The restless line of cars
Goes stretchin' down the road
But I won't telephone
'Cause you might say hello
The contrast with next song No More is amazing. No More is a straightforward rocker that could easily sit on Young’s first album. It has the minor key soloing that he does so well drifting through the whole song. It’s followed by country rocker Too Far Gone. Here acoustic guitars and mandolins blend beautifully on a classic track. Young’s guitar playing is exemplary on this album, as evidenced by this great piece of music.
The album ends as it began, of sorts, with a powerful hard electric version of Rockin’ in the Free World. Young had tried this trick before, with Rust Never Sleeps opening with the acoustic My My Hey Hey (Out of the Blue) and ending with Hey Hey My My (Into the Black). Here he electrifies the opening track and turns it into a proper punk rocker. It snarls with energy as he rails against George Bush Sr’s Presidency. It’s an explosive end to an amazing record, hinting slightly at what was to come next.
Fairly soon I’ll write about the follow up album, Ragged Glory, but for now enjoy this amazing record.