A news blog for Neil Young fans from Thrasher's Wheat with concert and album updates, reviews, analysis, and other Rock & Roll ramblings. Separating the wheat from the chaff since 1996.
From the upcoming Chrome Dreams II, four new videos have been posted on Neil's MySpace.com page.
by Thrasher @ PermaLink: 10/09/2007 03:48:00 PM
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said...
First listen, but Spirit Road and The Way sounds as classic NY.
said...
Really like "The Way." Kind of reminds me of "Till the Morning Comes."
said...
no good. you need a producer
said...
As someone who rememebers the affects of listening to many Neil records when they were first released, starting with Everybody knows this is nowhere......... there's nothing here to get excited about. I remember the first listen of On the Beach and I remember running home with tonights the night..... first listens of Zuma.....Comes a Time......Living with War.....there was something exciting happening.I was blown away by many first listens of new Neil records........
BUT this aint much.
Nothing to get excited about.
Listened to each song 5-10 times, and the affect doesnt match what I am used to over almost 40 years of first listens.
Oh well, next one will be a great one, I hope !
Ben said...
Odd that you were impressed with LWW but not this. Oh well, to each his own.
said...
Yes, I liked LWW. I still have it in my car and still give a listen every week or 2.
Theres only a few Neil albums that I have been bummed about, so I always hope for something that affects me.......and what I've heard so far on CD2 doesnt affect me, musicaly or lyricly.
RDR said...
The Way is a little too overblown for me. The choir is so terribly unnecessary, it hurts what is otherwise a pretty good song.
Spirit Road is grunge Neil, in the style of Broken Arrow and Ragged Glory. It's a great song, and safely assures us that Neil's artistic side ain't dead yet. Great little bits of soloing, great lyrics, great melody and harmonies.
Dirty Old Man is reminiscent obviously of Piece of Crap and is a pretty fun quick rocker, with some surprisingly decent lyrics.
The Believer sounds like Are You Passionate? rehash and is an uncharacteristically bad song. Sorry Neil, R&B ain't and never will be your thing. What disturbs me is that is seems surprisingly toss-offish, something Neil is not really known for. I have yet to hear the rest of the album obviously and hopefully The Believer will simply be the odd bad song out as occurs here and there in Neil's albums (Through My Sails in Zuma, Till The Morning Comes in After the Gold Rush, He Was The King in Prairie Wind, etc)
said...
WOW MAN LISTEN TO "THE BELIEVER"
KILLER!!
said...
some sites are stating that the album is due out October 16,others are saying Oct. 23rd....what's the deal here?when is it out?
check out the descriptions for the new videos..
"A collection of photos from Neil Young's collection of rusted cars backed by the song "The Way" from his album 'Chrome Dreams II' - coming October 23rd."
said...
to rdr: on first or second listen, "the believer" does in fact seem a bit weak or trite. i am curious to hear it in the context of the whole work of CD2. i agree that most NY records have a weak link or two but they are not the songs you mentioned. especially Thru My Sails which just might be the strongest closing track that NY has offered us so far.
said...
Just took a listen to "Spirit Road" -- I didn't wanna listen to anything else, I want to have a lot of suprises when CDII is sent my way in two weeks! But man, as always, I really don't know what you nay-sayers are smoking! First ticket prices, now this! I thought "SR" rocked hard! Pretty little melody, some nice little solos and some faboulous bass runs! Classic Neil! I'm now on my third time listening to it. Rock on.
said...
I really liked "Dirty Old Man" 'cause it makes me think of some of the characters from Ordinary People.
I do agree with the one poster who said that "The Believer" sounds like some of Are You Passionate?
And "The Way" with a childrens choir or something is totally out there, but we've all become used to expecting the unexpected so I think it's cool.
Those old cars in the video though... wow, I guess Neil was right about rust never sleeping...
Good Morning Ape said...
Guys, I don't know if I've missed something on this whole Chrome Dreams II thing, but I have a question:
What musicians is he using this time? I certainly am imagening old Ralph on the drums here, am I wrong?
Erik
said...
Carson said : "But man, as always, I really don't know what you nay-sayers are smoking! First ticket prices, now this!"
Hey Carson, you dont need to accuse anyone of smoking anything just because you dont like their opinion. Quite honestly,I dont need to be fucked up on anything to know that $ 186 tickets arent normal or reasonable and I don't need to be fucked up on anything to listen to these new songs and think that this is real garbage compared to what Neil has done over the years. Others have commented that this song sounds like that song and that song sounds like this song etc....
Sounds like forced writting to me.Sounds like he wrote them all in 5 minutes. This is the kind of stuff anyone with a guitar and a pen can write......and never get listened too. Worst Neil I have heard since Everybodys Rockin.
If it has come to this, I would prefer Neil never release another CD of new material and just get on with releasing the piles of archived material we are all waiting for.
Quite honestly, if Neils first 2 or 3 albums were like this back in '69,'70,71..... his career would have been over and nobody today would knw who Neil young was.
These new songs suck real bad.
said...
Dude, I really like Spirit Road, so far, it always takes a few listens, I like the guitar tone and the live studio recorded feel, not overproduced, pretty sweet!
said...
Dirty old Man sounds like a Demo, if it was produced, it would be a killer song.
said...
Anyone notice the bucket hat Neil is selling on his website for $ 25 ? C'mon Neil, this is absurd already. I know Neil from the 60's, 70's and 80's would not have had the balls to try and squeeze $ 25 out of his fans for a $ 3 hat with Neil Young written on it.
What's next ? Neil Young socks for
$ 30 a pair ?
Disapointing to see this kind of stuff happening. This IS a sell out to commercialism. I expect better from Neil.
http://neilyoung.shop.musictoday.com/Product.aspx?cp=735_12093&pc=NYCH06
Zak Claxton said...
I needed to take a couple of listens to the stuff on Chrome Dreams II. Some stuff grabbed me right away, and others didn't.
But then, that same thing happened with albums like "On The Beach" and "Zuma", that I now think of as classic.
Anyway, I'm going to give it some time to sink in.
For Erik: here's the main personnel on this record:
Neil Young - acoustic and electric guitars, banjo, harmonica, grand piano, pump organ, Hammond B-3 organ, vibes, percussion, vocal
Ben Keith - pedal steel guitar, lap slide guitar, dobro, electric guitar, Hammond B-3 organ, vocal
Rick Rosas - bass, vocal
Ralph Molina - drums, percussion, vocal
On "Ordinary People":
Neil Young - electric guitar, vocal
Joe Canuck - vocal
Frank “Poncho” Sampedro - guitar
Rick Rosas - bass
Chad Cromwell - drums
Ben Keith - alto saxophone
Steve Lawrence - tenor saxophone, keyboards
Larry Cragg - baritone saxophone
Claude Cailliet - trombone
John Fumo - trumpet
Tom Bray - trumpet (solo)
said...
The comments here are, as usual, interesting. But I'm curious about the negativity and cynicism of some of the remarks. By now, I've read these same tired comments (Neil is a sell-out, Pegi sucks, Neil's recent music is uninspired, ticket prices are too high, etc.) literally dozens of times. I don't doubt that these are sincere sentiments, but what good does it do to repeat the same ideas over and over again? More to the point, why can't these people let other fans make their own judgments as to whether Neil has lost his priorities and/or whether his new music is any good? What purpose does it serve to criticize an entire album before it has even been released, other than to ruin someone else's experience with the music? That's just cynical bullshit, no matter what you think about the First Amendment and the social ethics of ticket prices, bucket hats, etc.
said...
It's not as bad as some of the comments make these songs out to be. I think the weakest of the songs is "The Way". It almost sounds like Yoko Ono singing back up (AHHHHH!). For some reason, it sounded like a Rutles song.
I think its a good effort and the songs are gonna grow on me. I think part of my luke-warm reaction is with respect to Neil's voice (especially on the Way). It seems to have lost a lot of the plantive tone in the upper registers. We lose the resilience in the vocal cords as we age. I would like to see him dropping these songs down a couple of steps and use his chest and middle voice.
said...
problem is that Neils songs never had to grow on me in the past.......... they just hit me like a hurricane.If I gotta keep tryin to like the songs, waiting for them to grow on me, then it becomes forced.
Dont get me wrong, I love Neils music for almost 40 years and I forked over big $ for a few shows(even though I think the prices are absurd)because he has been a great write and performer for a longgggggg time and if I dont go, I feel like I'm missing something.But I'm just tryin to be honest with myself and keepin it real !
said...
the guy's 62 friggin years old!!! give him a break! For those who think he's gonna grace us with another Hurricane or Powderfinger....YOU are the ones smoking something. Take it for what it is, and be thankfull he still loves what he does and obviously doesn't give two shits about what the "people" think he ought to do. THAT has never changed, thank God....and THAT is what keeps him from EVER selling out. Keep it up Neil, you're doing great my friend. And you're still invoking some serious feelings amongst your listeners. Well done.
said...
These aare some pretty arty videos, I must say.They have a psychedelic feel all the shades of rust. Maybe I'm over analyzing this but maybe this is Neil's way of paying tribute to his loyal fans on Rust?
said...
Yeah, you are over analyzing it. It was a stupid comment actually. Neil has no warm feelings for 'rusties' - he actually thinks they are quite anal from comments he's made over the years...
said...
Nice taste of CD2. Can't wait to hear that other long song, Hidden Road, or something like that.
jr
said...
duude...
said...
when i lived in colordao there was a self contained compond called 'the way'..
http://www.theway.org/WITW.htm
the lyrics seemd to fit,its kinda a cult group,trying to get young people to join or 'come back home'
i wonder...
Good Morning Ape said...
Thanks Zak Claxton for the information! Does anyone know why Billy Talbot isn't playing on this record?
Erik
said...
I'm not sure why everybody is complaining, to me those four tracks sound the most cohesive I've heard Neil put together in a long time - Dirty Old Man & Spirit Road could be classic Crazy Horse. I will run to the store immediately as soon as the record is out....
said...
Yeah, the release date was changed to Oct.23rd - not sure why.. maybe, in typical NY style, he wants to play a few concerts while the material has not yet been released; however, given all the ways we get to preview nearly the entire album that hardly seems relevant.
said...
Ordinary People is a really great NY song.
I believe in creativity and almost no one else has shown that much of it in popular music like NY has done in his everlasting experimental journey.
RESPECT for everyone who is looking for new directions and isn't affraid to make mistakes.
Can't wait to hear the new CD !!
MOJO magazine review ***** (5 stars)
said...
the drums sound like shite
said...
I've been with Neil since Hawks and Doves. That was my first record that i bought at the store that came out new. And this record sounds right up there. It really is good.
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