Both great albums in my opinion. Going to get stuck into this article. Been a fan for a long time but I’ve still not heard everything.
Gems continue to pop up, recently been listening to Razor Love on repeat!
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Neil Young
- Thread starter Bill Walker
- Start date
Both great albums in my opinion. Going to get stuck into this article. Been a fan for a long time but I’ve still not heard everything.
Gems continue to pop up, recently been listening to Razor Love on repeat!
NeilYoungIsBack
Well-Known Member
NeilYoungIsBack
Well-Known Member
Yes, Silver and Gold is a good album and that's a great songGems continue to pop up, recently been listening to Razor Love on repeat!
Onholiday(somemightsay)
Well-Known Member
I'm just waiting on @BlueHammer85 to gain interest and produce an all out Top thousand.......... ;-)He's ranked Harvest Moon higher than Harvest which is a bit odd I think.
The big surprise for me on that list is how high he's ranked This Note's for You...
It's all subjective though and my opinions sometimes change over time. e.g. I've said on this thread previously how much I hate Landing on Water, but I've listened to that album maybe 5 times in the past couple of months and it's growing on me a bit.
His worst album for me is probably Are You Passionate?, but one or two of the recent ones are pushing it close, especially Storytone (the orchestral version, I don't mind the solo acoustic version so much).
A ranked list of his 21st century output would be interesting to do...
NeilYoungIsBack
Well-Known Member
For a bit of fun, I've decided to pursue the idea of ranking Neil Young’s studio album output since year 2000.
For this exercise I will exclude all the live albums, the soundtrack album Paradox and albums recorded in previous decades that have been finally released in the 21st century – i.e. Hitchhiker and Homegrown.
I think that means there is a list of 17 albums for inclusion. This is because one of the albums (Storytone) was released in two very different formats – the initial release involved songs backed either by an orchestra or by a Big Band. The second version released a few months later was the same set of songs but this time performed solo on acoustic guitar or other instruments.
Since the experiences are very different, I have decided to give each version of Storytone its own individual ranking.
One thing to note is that my list of contenders includes one album that for some reason is not included in the list covered by the Guardian journalist. This is the 2017 album The Visitor where Neil is backed by Promise of the Real.
For this exercise I will exclude all the live albums, the soundtrack album Paradox and albums recorded in previous decades that have been finally released in the 21st century – i.e. Hitchhiker and Homegrown.
I think that means there is a list of 17 albums for inclusion. This is because one of the albums (Storytone) was released in two very different formats – the initial release involved songs backed either by an orchestra or by a Big Band. The second version released a few months later was the same set of songs but this time performed solo on acoustic guitar or other instruments.
Since the experiences are very different, I have decided to give each version of Storytone its own individual ranking.
One thing to note is that my list of contenders includes one album that for some reason is not included in the list covered by the Guardian journalist. This is the 2017 album The Visitor where Neil is backed by Promise of the Real.
For a bit of fun, I've decided to pursue the idea of ranking Neil Young’s studio album output since year 2000.
For this exercise I will exclude all the live albums, the soundtrack album Paradox and albums recorded in previous decades that have been finally released in the 21st century – i.e. Hitchhiker and Homegrown.
I think that means there is a list of 17 albums for inclusion. This is because one of the albums (Storytone) was released in two very different formats – the initial release involved songs backed either by an orchestra or by a Big Band. The second version released a few months later was the same set of songs but this time performed solo on acoustic guitar or other instruments.
Since the experiences are very different, I have decided to give each version of Storytone its own individual ranking.
One thing to note is that my list of contenders includes one album that for some reason is not included in the list covered by the Guardian journalist. This is the 2017 album The Visitor where Neil is backed by Promise of the Real.
Looking forward to reading your findings!
chesterbells
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- Joined
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How about this? Neil wearing a Sex Pistols tshirt LOL...
Both those great, but this is often the one I go to; some real feeling from both audience and stage here...
Bill Walker
Well-Known Member
Good for you, but when you say ranking are you going to rank them in your order of preference or some other means of ranking something ?For a bit of fun, I've decided to pursue the idea of ranking Neil Young’s studio album output since year 2000.
For this exercise I will exclude all the live albums, the soundtrack album Paradox and albums recorded in previous decades that have been finally released in the 21st century – i.e. Hitchhiker and Homegrown.
I think that means there is a list of 17 albums for inclusion. This is because one of the albums (Storytone) was released in two very different formats – the initial release involved songs backed either by an orchestra or by a Big Band. The second version released a few months later was the same set of songs but this time performed solo on acoustic guitar or other instruments.
Since the experiences are very different, I have decided to give each version of Storytone its own individual ranking.
One thing to note is that my list of contenders includes one album that for some reason is not included in the list covered by the Guardian journalist. This is the 2017 album The Visitor where Neil is backed by Promise of the Real.
NeilYoungIsBack
Well-Known Member
Good for you, but when you say ranking are you going to rank them in your order of preference or some other means of ranking something ?
Simply based on my own preferences, in the same vein as the Guardian's list.
I'm not a music critic or anything, just a longstanding fan (since the late 70s). But I am bound to approach the task with a bit of a inbuilt bias towards his older stuff that I've listened to 100s of times in some cases.
It would be great if it provoked a bit of comment and reaction, but it's not intended to wind anyone up.
Just as a reminder, this is the Guardian list covering the ones published since year 2000, in reverse ranked order.
15. Are you Passionate? (2002)
14. Peace Trail (2016)
13. Fork in the Road (2009)
12. Colorado (2019)
11. Storytone (2014)
10. Prairie Wind (2005)
9. Silver & Gold (2000)
8. Greendale (2003)
7. Monsanto Years (2015)
6. Chrome Dreams II (2007)
5. Americana (2012)
4. Psychedelic Pill (2012)
3. A letter home (2014)
2. Living with War (2006)
1. Le Noise (2010)
My list will also include The Visitor which was mistakenly left off the Guardian list.
NeilYoungIsBack
Well-Known Member
I'm going to review these in four batches, starting with what I think are the weakest or least satisfying albums NY has released since 2000.
17. Storytone (Orchestral, 2014). Back in 2014, NY was newly married to Daryl Hannah and felt the need to share his new-found happiness with the world with a bunch of syrupy songs mostly backed with a full blown orchestra or in a few cases with a Big Band. The results are pretty dire, and only really highlighted the reedy and deteriorating qualities of NY's vocals. I think he realised the mistake as a few months later he released the same songs this time as a solo album. (This later album is given a separate ranking somewhere below). The best song on the album is Tumbleweed, but nothing here is recommended listening.
16. Colorado (2019). Neil doesn't saddle up Crazy Horse very often any more, and based on the results of last year's album this is probably a good thing. Poncho Sampedro has apparently retired and his place is taken by another occasional collaborator, Nils Lofgren. TBH it doesn't really feel like a Crazy Horse album, with several of the songs sounding more folky or country. There are a couple of OK tracks (e.g. Help Me Lose My Mind) but the worst is the interminable She Showed Me Love.
15, The Monsanto Years (2015). The first of two studio album collaborations with country rock band The Promise of the Real (there's also a Live album and a Soundtrack album with these guys but they are excluded from consideration here). All the songs focus on the evils of corporate America, with Monsanto and Starbucks in line for most of the flak. Unlike when he wrote Vampire Blues attacking the oil industry back in his heyday there is no subtlety to be found here, and the preachiness is wearisome. The low point is the song People Want to Hear About Love when Neil complains his fans want to listen to songs about relationships not issues. Not at all true Neil, we just want to hear better songs than you've served up here.
14. Are You Passionate (2002). A very strange mish-mash of an album, most filled with syrupy soul tracks that merely shows up Neil's vocal limitations. But there is also Let's Roll, inspired the events of 9/11 and, by far the best track on the album, Goin' Home, an extended rocker the result of a collaboration with Crazy Horse. (Indeed, there was originally going to be another CH song called Gateway of Love, but this was jettisoned for some reason at the last minute - actually after the album artwork had been finished. Live versions of this song are easy to find on You tube and are worth listening to). Some of the soul tracks are actually good songs and might have worked well with a suitably skilled guest vocalist - the sort of thing Paul Weller did with Style Council. But that wasn't to be and the album mostly sucks.
17. Storytone (Orchestral, 2014). Back in 2014, NY was newly married to Daryl Hannah and felt the need to share his new-found happiness with the world with a bunch of syrupy songs mostly backed with a full blown orchestra or in a few cases with a Big Band. The results are pretty dire, and only really highlighted the reedy and deteriorating qualities of NY's vocals. I think he realised the mistake as a few months later he released the same songs this time as a solo album. (This later album is given a separate ranking somewhere below). The best song on the album is Tumbleweed, but nothing here is recommended listening.
16. Colorado (2019). Neil doesn't saddle up Crazy Horse very often any more, and based on the results of last year's album this is probably a good thing. Poncho Sampedro has apparently retired and his place is taken by another occasional collaborator, Nils Lofgren. TBH it doesn't really feel like a Crazy Horse album, with several of the songs sounding more folky or country. There are a couple of OK tracks (e.g. Help Me Lose My Mind) but the worst is the interminable She Showed Me Love.
15, The Monsanto Years (2015). The first of two studio album collaborations with country rock band The Promise of the Real (there's also a Live album and a Soundtrack album with these guys but they are excluded from consideration here). All the songs focus on the evils of corporate America, with Monsanto and Starbucks in line for most of the flak. Unlike when he wrote Vampire Blues attacking the oil industry back in his heyday there is no subtlety to be found here, and the preachiness is wearisome. The low point is the song People Want to Hear About Love when Neil complains his fans want to listen to songs about relationships not issues. Not at all true Neil, we just want to hear better songs than you've served up here.
14. Are You Passionate (2002). A very strange mish-mash of an album, most filled with syrupy soul tracks that merely shows up Neil's vocal limitations. But there is also Let's Roll, inspired the events of 9/11 and, by far the best track on the album, Goin' Home, an extended rocker the result of a collaboration with Crazy Horse. (Indeed, there was originally going to be another CH song called Gateway of Love, but this was jettisoned for some reason at the last minute - actually after the album artwork had been finished. Live versions of this song are easy to find on You tube and are worth listening to). Some of the soul tracks are actually good songs and might have worked well with a suitably skilled guest vocalist - the sort of thing Paul Weller did with Style Council. But that wasn't to be and the album mostly sucks.
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