Neil Young Albums ReviewsIn 2004 Rustie, Mike "Expecting 2 Fly" Cordova posted a series of articles on his experience listening to all of Neil Young's albums in chronological order. Here is one in the series. For a complete listing, see Albums in Order reviews.
Date: Sun, 28 Nov 2004 14:51:36 -0800 (PST) Neil Young was having problems with his record company. Everybody’s Rockin’ had come out in the middle of 1993 and as far as I could tell for a while, all was well between Neil and Geffen, his new label since Trans. I remember walking into record stores seeing big cardboard cutouts of Neil with guitar-in-hand in his Pink suit promoting ER. Sure, Neil’s latest records were departures from his previous work, but this was the guy who followed up Harvest with TFA and had put out TTN which was a departure from anything before or since in his catalog. Surely Geffen records understood that, right?
Well, it turned out to be wrong. I read in the press that Neil Young had been sued by his record company for making music uncharacteristic of Neil Young. (seems silly just to type it.) Neil, in turn, had taken his music in another direction, toward country. I remember he had even gone as far as saying he would be a country artist for the rest of his career. Neil and Geffen were embroiled in a conflict and it would be two long years between ER and the next record, Old Ways.
Fortunately, I was able experience some very satisfying moments in the interim. One of the best concert experiences of my life occurred on Oct 24, 1984. Neil Young and the International Harvesters played in Costa Mesa, California near where I was living at the time and the evening I spent watching and hearing them play some great, great music with lots and lots of terrific new material like Silver And Gold (only the second time ever played and not to be released on an album for 16 years) and Amber Jean about his new baby and Too Far Gone (okay, it wasn’t exactly new and I didn’t exactly connect that I had seen this one performed at my very first concert in ’76 as well until many years later) and California Sunset which was just perfect to hear in California and Old Hillbilly Band (I used the version from this show on ABD 2000 specifically because I wanted a memory of that great concert in that collection.) Neil was talkative and friendly to the audience and having a great time with the band. His voice was great, the band was tight, I had a pretty good seat; it was a golden concert experience for me. If Neil Young was going to be a country artist for the rest of his career, right after that show I would have told you that that was all right by me. My memories of this show were bolstered when PBS television broadcast, and I recorded, an Austin City Limits performance by Neil and the IH. In many ways, it showcased very well the vibe of the concert I had attended. And for the first time, I had advance versions of songs that would appear on the next album which finally came out in mid 1985.
Old Ways is a good album, no doubt about it. It definitely has a good genuine country feel to it and the appearances of Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson definitely add credibility to the country aspects of the record. I like the record, but it didn’t quite capture the feel and the intimacy of the live performances I had experienced in concert and on television. Live music is better, indeed. Take California Sunset; I love hearing it on the Austin City Limits performance. This very same performance was used on the album, but they mixed it differently and something in that process made it sound to me more distant. There are some great attributes this album possesses though. Neil Young’s voice in the mid 80’s was just about as good as it could be. It was expressive and strong in a way not previously heard. Once An Angel is beautifully sung, for example. Misfits was a sort of misfit on the album, but it’s a great song. Wayward Wind is one of Neil’s best covers IMHO. I thought Back To The Country was great live, but I that boingy sounding thingy in the studio kind of ruins the album version for me. That said, I still love the album and it definitely provides us with a musical portrait of where Neil Young was at musically in the early mid-eighties.
I very much enjoyed listening to Old Ways today.
Mike - Expecting To Fly
From: Mike Cordova
To: rust@rustlist.org
Subject: Albums in order: Old Ways
For more of Expecting To Fly's reviews, see the Albums in Order series.
Neil Young Archives - Thrasher's Wheat