🎸
When this album came out, it got ravaged for being too "on-the-nose" but I feel it still holds up, both in terms of songwriting and production, as one of Neil's most interesting—and perhaps even more relevant now...
Neil's voice isn't all that it was, but he's got company. Crunchy guitars, horn section and a beautiful choir in every single song. Catchy hooks and an openly anti-war theme. I really don't understand how anyone who likes Neil Young could not love this album!
Feb 3, 2025
Related Recs
While I'm on the topic of the CSNY boys, I have to shout out my favorite later Neil Young record, Sleeps with Angels.
I'm more of a Neil Young fan than I have any right to be. I think it's cool that he is considered the godfather of grunge. It isn't just about his early work with Crazy Horse on Everybody Knows This is Nowhere, though those guitars do feel very grimy. It's a genuine feeling he cultivated on After The Gold Rush, after the hazy, marijuana Laurel Canyon fever dream ended- this question of, where do I go from here? It's a feeling he continued to noodle with on "On The Beach" a couple of albums later on, confronting his love hate relationship with fame, his audience, and that good old artist question of "what the hell do I have to say that make these people like me!" (I went to the radio interview/But I ended up alone at the microphone).
Abridging the history is hard with Neil, but for brevity's sake- here we are, '94. This album is directly influenced by the death of Kurt Cobain, who referenced Neil by name in his suicide note, striking a chord with the aging rocker.
Sleeps with Angels is a reaction to grunge while also being steeped in it, but there are no distorted guitars. There's a wistful, dreamlike atmosphere. It's pretty heavy despite it all. I also think the cover is amazing.
Fav tracks: Driveby, Change Your Mind (15 minute rocker!!), Safeway Cart, Blue Eden.
I hope you enjoy.
May 23, 2025
To me this is Young’s peak, with the best versions of some of his studio classics, folky anthems and heavy-as-lead killer tracks, you really can’t go wrong
Live Rust packs the heat
Feb 10, 2025
anti-war music is just something else. can’t imagine how it felt when it mattered the most
May 1, 2025
Top Recs from @Nando
Honestly, I hate picking favorites when it comes to music. But I'm literally listening to this one right now, and really, there's not a month I haven't heard this album in the last 20 years. And when I listen, it's always the whole thing. How perfect is this album? Just perfect. Is it for you? If you have any room in your heart for perfect pop structures, clean—yet oh so heartfelt—execution and that perfect mix of bitter and sweet. If you like jangly guitars, harmonies and the best qualities of 90s radio, please give it a shot.
Jan 10, 2025
When it's cold and dark outside, I feel like I want to revisit what I already know. I listen to a lot of bands I love and kinda fall in love all over again. Thanks to Spotify's Discover Weekly I'm exposed to a lot of things that blow my mind regularly, so I don't get in a rut. Mordicai Jones is one of these bands* that came out of nowhere, and blew my mind. How isn't this a famous song?
*it's not a real band, in fact, but a project from Link Wray, eternally underrated guitar legend, always ahead of his time
Jan 10, 2025