Neil Young News: Best Neil Young Albums

Friday, January 04, 2008

Best Neil Young Albums

Over the years, folks have written in asking about what's our favorite Neil Young album here at Thrasher's Wheat? Or which is the best Neil album? It's a tough call with so many offering up their own greatness.

We're quite partial to Rust Never Sleeps and Tonight's The Night. But those are just two from the 1970's, a period considered to be his artistic peak.

Nevertheless, here is some data for you. Here are the top five Neil Young albums as ranked by fans on the Rust list:

#1 Rust Never Sleeps Album Cover

Rust Never Sleeps (reviews) - Listen to MP3 clips

#2

Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (reviews) - Listen to MP3 clips

#3 Tonight's The Night Album Cover

Tonight's The Night (reviews) - Listen to MP3 clips

#4 ragged_glory_cover

Ragged Glory (reviews) - Listen to MP3 clips

#5 after the goldrush cover

After The Goldrush (reviews) - Listen to MP3 clips

neil-young-heart-of-gold-film-still

Also, see the most up to date statistics on top 5 Neil Young albums (as compiled by Amazon.com).

Also, see the most up to date statistics on top 50 MP3 Neil Young downloads (as compiled by Amazon.com).

Also, see The Essential Neil Young.

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31 Comments:

At 3/17/2008 11:52:00 PM, Anonymous said...: After losing my old vinyl supply of Neil and after years in my own wilderness finally getting back to his music - I can't help but think 'Live at Massey Hall 1971' is a fantastic experience to remind you of the man's greatness.
At 6/27/2008 11:36:00 PM, Jean said...: Oh man, how can anyone pick a favorite Neil Album? That's like asking someone to pick their favorite kid! :)

I do have to say Massey Hall turned me on to some vintage Neil that I had never heard before, and I've been listening to him since 1974!

Most Neil songs bring back different memories for me, and all of his songs speak to my soul.
At 7/02/2008 12:46:00 PM, Man in the Box said...: My top five:

1. Rust Never Sleeps
2. On The Beach
3. Zuma
4. After of the gold rush
5. Harvest.

Saludos from Lima - Perú.
At 7/25/2008 09:29:00 PM, Anonymous said...: You know what I keep coming back to time, and time again for some great Neil Young? My "In Berlin" DVD...It just always blows me away.
At 7/26/2008 08:45:00 AM, Anonymous said...: 1. On the Beach
2. Everybody Knows this is Nowhere
3. Tonight's the Night
4. Time Fades Away
5. Ragged Glory
6. His next album

And, I agree with the comment on the "In Berlin" DVD. I also love watching Neil rocking it out at "Bob-Fest" - his All Along the Watchtower should be ranked up there with the greatest tour de force performances. Also, the Weld DVD is simply fantastic...(if only it were actually available on DVD - I have a bootleg version)
At 8/11/2008 12:06:00 AM, Anonymous said...: 1) Tonight's the Night
2) After the Gold Rush
3) Zuma
4) On the Beach
5) At the Fillmore 1970
At 8/27/2008 06:48:00 PM, Anonymous said...: top 5
1-Rust never Sleeps
2-Tonights the Night
3-On the Beach
4-Everbody know this is nowhere
5-tie between Freedom and Zuma
At 10/17/2008 05:57:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Roy from Norway says:
1) On the Beach
2) Evrybody knows......
3) Harvest
4) Zuma
5) Live Rust
At 10/30/2008 05:28:00 PM, rontufft said...: Man, this is impossible. I'm a limey BIG Neil fan... love the guy.
Okay, heres my take on this...

1. Tonights the Night.
2. Live Rust
3. Zuma
4. On the Beach
5. El Dorado (an EP) so I'll have 1 more go.
5a. Time fades away
At 11/07/2008 11:35:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Being the self-indulgent jerk that I am, I could never stop at five. How about ten?

1. Rust Never Sleeps
2. Tonights The Night
3. Sleeps With Angels
4. Ragged Glory
5. Freedom
6. After The Goldrush
7. Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
8. Comes A Time
9. Live Rust (Vinyl Version)
10 Greendale... Yes I know a much lambasted album, but the more I listen to it, the better it sounds to me.
At 11/14/2008 12:54:00 PM, Rui Lobo said...: Massey Hall is a divine record / performance and is the best single disc one can have from Neil.

Goldrush, Harvest, Rust, of course, deserve to remain classics.

Among the less talked about, I very much like Zuma (for its rawness), Old Ways (country), Freedom (it was rare 5-star Rolling Stone magazine review) and Silver & Gold (acoustic).
At 11/28/2008 09:49:00 AM, Iain from T.O. said...: 1a) After the Goldrush
1b) Rust never Sleeps
3) Tonight's the Night
4) Freedom
5) Everybody Knows this is Nowhere
At 1/06/2009 11:06:00 PM, Anonymous said...: In no particular order:

Year of the Horse
Sleeps With Angels
Tonight's the Night
On the Beach
Time Fades Away

Also been listening to RE*AC*TOR lately - turn it up loud!
At 1/11/2009 05:57:00 PM, Mike Pulley said...: 1. After the Goldrush--
it's tight, polished, perfected--it has a timeless quality and nostalgic feeling about it that's unique in rock-and-roll--It's right up there with the similar quality albums by the Band (Music at Big Pink) and Dylan (Basement Tapes). The guitars--both acoustic and electric--are scintillating and electrifying.

2. Harvest--One of his great concept albums--a treasure trove of unique, creative songs--the diversity of the songs is part of the concept--the harvest basket is full of all the diverse wonder of creation.

3. Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere--Go to it for the never-die hits and more amazing classic guitar work--all of the music on this album has a haunting power that never seems to wear out--I still continue to be amazed by it decade after decade and listen after listen

4. Prairie Wind--Perhaps no one has been paying attention, but I'm convinced that this is the more recent late Young masterpiece--a mature, sophisticated, polished presence, and a diverse collection of phenomenal songs--a handful of these songs are as good as anything Young has written--the title track itself is extraordinary--even better is the DVD concert of this album peformed in the Grand Ole' Oprey building

5. A massive tie between about 12 other albums--Some of my other favorites in no particular order (Rust Never Sleeps, his first album, Tonight's the Night, Zuma, Comes a Time, Freedom, Live at Massey Hall, Hawks and Doves, etc.)
At 1/25/2009 09:54:00 AM, Anonymous said...: A lot of you guys seem to think Neils career ended when the seventies did. I am in my thirties and grew up with Neils 90's grunge period. Believe me this guy has produced powerful music throughout his career. His 90's work is just as important as the stuff he did in the 70's. I hated his greatest hits because it seemed to end in 1979, ignoring the powerful work he has done since.

My top Five.
1. Sleeps With Angels.
Power, emotion, anger, loss, love. Its an incredibly emotionally intense album and probably because of Cobains death means more to Generation X than the baby boomers.
2. Everybody Knows.....
The first album with Crazy Horse is phenomenal. Incredible rhythm section and the guitars set the template for rock for the next thirty years. If I personally ever feel I am drifting away from the source of music I play this album.
3. Tonights the Night
Music does not get darker than this. The dirty side of California, the dark side of living on the beach with all the temptations that surround LA.
4. Greendale
A phenomenal piece of work, risky by nature Neil gambled with this one and it paid off. The album can make me cry. Bandit is one of Neils greatest songs but the whole concept is a brave look at Bush''s America.
5. Rust Never Sleeps
Neil does acoustic better than anyone and he does Rock and Roll better than anyone. This album combined the best of both into a great piece of vinyl.

Other great albums
Neil Young - the first album is haunting, emotionally so mature for such a young man.
Silver and Gold - Underrated, a great album about love and family values.
Living with War - 'Don't need no more lies' enough said!
At 4/15/2009 08:03:00 PM, Anonymous said...: I really like the previous "Anonymous" post (1/25): he's absolutely right in that Neil has kept on producing great music right through his career. It didn't end in 1979 and I'm sure it hasn't ended as of 2009 (regardless of mixed feelings about Fork in the Road.) In fact, Neil has released so much good music in the recent years that I could compile a top five list of the last decade or so alone. I've decided to split it two ways: best of classic Neil, and Best of (what I'll call) "post-Classic Neil."

Best of classic Neil:
. After the Goldrush
. tie between Rust Never Sleeps and Everybody Knows this is Nowhere
. Harvest
. Neil Young
. American Stars 'n' Bars

Best of Post-Classic Neil (what I've really been looking forward to doing):
. Sleeps with Angels
. Chrome Dreams II
. Silver and Gold
. Living with War
. Trans
At 6/06/2009 01:47:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Im 31 and have been slowly building up my back catalogue of NY records. Started (like most my age) with the classics like Harvest and After the Gold Rush but I must say at the moment my favourite 5 are:

Harvest
After the Gold Rush
Prairie Wind
On the Beach
Harvest Moon

As you will work out I prefer the mellow, acoustic stuff to the more rockier late 70s-80s stuff.
At 6/06/2009 09:55:00 PM, ashley said...: Greetings from Australia

Here is my 5

Everybody Knows this is knowhere
Zuma
On the Beach
Broken Arrow (Slip Away - what a song )
Greendale
At 6/07/2009 11:10:00 AM, Anonymous said...: 1) Tonight's The Night
2) On The Beach
3) Zuma
4) Harvest
5) After The Gold Rush
At 9/01/2009 06:32:00 PM, D.I. Kertis said...: Personally, whenever this subject comes up on a Neil Young board, I split into two sections: Best of Classic Neil and Best of Post-Classic Neil. "Classic Neil" is material up to 1979--the albums that usually fill everyone else's lists in spite of the many excellent albums released since, particularly in the '90s and '00s--and "Post Classic" is everything from 1980 on, discounting Archives releases as I consider this a separate part of Neil's catalogue. In addition, my selections are subject to alteration fairly often-- choosing favorites is difficult and sometimes my mood dictates which albums I prefer.

So: Classic Neil:

1. After the Goldrush
2. Harvest
3. Rust Never Sleeps
4. Everybody Knows this is Nowhere
5. On the Beach

*Honorable mentions to Neil Young and American Stars 'n' Bars*

Best of Post-Classic Neil (which is where it gets interesting, at least for me)

1. Sleeps with Angels
2. Chrome Dreams II
3. Greendale
4. Trans
5. Silver and Gold

*Honorable mentions: Life, Living with War*

I'm guessing not too many people will agree...
At 10/25/2009 03:01:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Hi there!

I'm from germany, 32 years old and my english isn't really good. But I'm a huge Neil Young fan, so I felt to share my Top 5 Albums here (which is difficult):

My favourite Album is Zuma. I think it's a timeless piece of music. I love every song on the album. Dangerbird is a real highlight on the album for me. But hey, it's all 1 song! (and it feels so good)

2nd would be Freedom. I really like how the whole album is build. Again I love every song on this album. Don't Cry needs to be R-rated tho, look at those guitar solos. :)

3rd is Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere. Just fantastic stuff here. Every song's a killer.

4th ... Weld. Great versions of songs like Cortez The Killer, Powderfinger, Love To Burn...

5th :( Dam, only 1 album left to mention. OK, it's After The Goldrush then.

Peace, a guy from germany
At 11/12/2009 05:46:00 PM, Anonymous said...: 1. Everboy's Rockin'
2. Landing on the Water
3. Are You Passionate?
4. Freedom
5. On The Beach

The worst is Dead Man.
At 11/16/2009 04:12:00 PM, The Loner said...: I'll give it a try:
1. After the Gold Rush. As stated before this has a unique feeling to it
2.Harvest. Another obvios choice
3. Weld. Better than Live Rust? I do not know.
4. On the Beach
5. Freedom
Up there any other day: Sleeps with Angels, Zuma, Living With War, Freedom, Tonight's the Night, Comes a Time etc.etc.
At 1/14/2010 06:26:00 AM, Casper said...: I cant help to think 'Where is WELD?'. The live album where the horse just cuts everything down, and Neils sound on these recordings...unbelievable. And some of my favorite horse-songs are on Weld. So here is my list:

1. Ragged glory
2. Broken Arrow
3. Weld
4. On the beach
5. Greendale(live acoustic version)

But then again, it could change...arg...cant choose...
At 1/23/2010 06:50:00 AM, Steve from Bremerhaven said...: Here are my Top 5:

1. Broken arrow
2. Sleeps with angels
3. Mirrorball
4. On the beach
5. Rust never sleeps
At 2/13/2010 11:04:00 PM, Anonymous said...: I like so many different songs, from so many different Neil Young albums difficult to pick 5

#1 Harvest & After the Goldrush (sorry it's a tie)
#2 Time Fades Away
#3 Rust Never Sleeps
#4 Everybody Knows this is Nowhere
#5 Live at Massey Hall

janee ☼
At 2/14/2010 09:47:00 PM, Anonymous said...: The Loner:

Top 5 Neil Young albums???

Impossible to do:

There's Time Fades Away - the most emotional album for me

Harvest or Harvest Moon or Silver and Gold - pick 'em

Everyone Knows this is Nowhere

The bootleg: Live at the United Palace Theater or Live Rust or Weld or Massy Hall????
At 2/26/2010 02:50:00 AM, Anonymous said...: 1) Tonight's The Night

2) Everybody knows this is nowhere

3) on the beach

4) rust never sleeps

5) zuma

And ive always enjoyed live at canterbury house
At 3/05/2010 09:19:00 AM, mikekoz68 said...: His music is so diverse, it's hardto pick overall favourites.
1. Harvest
2. After the Goldrush
3. Tonight's the Night

1. Weld
2. Ragged Glory
3. Freedom

1. Zuma
2. This Note's for you
3. Everybody's rocking
At 3/28/2010 12:57:00 PM, Zack said...: Looking at how many people love Zuma, I can't understand why it's not in the top 5! Aren't Danger Bird, Barstool blues and Cortez all on there? Ok let's just say it should be in the official top 5.

Here's five that I'm going to listen to today:
Weld (all three discs- gotta love the Arc noisefest)
Greendale (DVD)
Ragged Glory
Broken Arrow
Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (for that 60s-70s vibe).

Zack of the plains.

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Friday, January 04, 2008

Best Neil Young Albums

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