Reprise, 1970
Acquired: Love Garden Shotgun Room, Used, 2008
Price: $1
I don't know why, but I've never really given Neil Young a shot until very, VERY recently. Mostly, I just thought he sounded like an old woman and yeah, his melodies are great, his guitar solos are wicked, and that cover of “Cortez the Killer” that Built to Spill does led me to seek out Zuma, but yeah, something never grabbed me. Something still doesn't grab me. But I do enjoy listening to his records, and anytime he comes on the radio it's a pleasant surprise. And I love Magnolia Electric Co., who have clearly been VERY influenced by Mr. Young (why, just read any music review of that band and his name is sure to pop up). Ok, so what I know now is that I should listen to more Neil Young because I really don't, and this is necessary. At the store today, I was looking for the greatest hits collection we had, but I remember I hard-sold it to someone for some reason, all “oh, Neil Young is great” and now I realize I could have spent so much more time with that CD! Honestly, the only song I don't like here is the cover, “Oh, Lonesome Me,” which just pales in comparison to Young's own songwriting on this record, so it makes sense. I was wondering why it sounded corny. But “Don't Let it Bring You Down” follows up and that track fucking slays. Basically, this is like some shitty band I found, signed to my major label, and have ignored for a while but eventually, they'll start paying off and I'll be rolling in cash. In this case, Cash is understanding why people love Neil Young and loving him myself because, yeah, this is pretty good. And my favorite parti s how “Only Love Can Break Your Heart” should sound cheesy and lame but it's so fucking affecting it breaks my heart a little. And you contrast that with the pseudo-southern rock of “When You Dance I Can Really Love” it really makes this album kind of epic.
No comments:
Post a Comment