Label: Warner Brothers
Released: Aug 19, 2003 |
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| Greendale (Bonus DVD) |  |
| > Neil Young & Crazy Horse |
by Zack Durand |
Neil Young will never see the revitalization of his career in the twilight of his days, in the way that Johnny Cash had seen, and the way that Loretta Lynn is seeing. One reason is that you don't see it happen in rock n' roll, yes while Johnny Cash was rock n' roll, he wasn't pure, he was a country guy through and through. Another reason is that Neil Young never really went away, he has always been respected, and modern rock music has always seemed to be in some fashion to be influenced by his work. In recent weeks, for example, Conor Oberst, yes that guy with two number one singles, said that Neil Young would be the one man he would like to meet, and James Mercer singer from The Shins, did a cover of Harvest at a solo accoustic show a month back. It could also be that ever since Neil was 19 he has been writing songs about being too old.
So here Neil Young is, a well respected musician, that somehow avoided becoming a mockery of himself, like so many other rock n' roll "legends" do, ahem Aerosmith. Now would Neil Young be the kind of guy to just sit back and let those royalty checks roll in, nope he takes a chance at f'in it all up by releasing this story book album. Greendale is a story about a small California town that is torn apart by dude shooting a cop. Neil masterfully plays both sides of the story, showing that hurt and loss affects the relatives of the criminal as much as the hero. Most importantly the music here is as honest as it was ever done.
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