(Disclaimer: Those looking for a brief description of the album will find what their looking for in the "Review Body" section. The section titled "Track Reviews" is meant only for those who want to read detailed descriptions of the songs, and they do not constitute the essence of this review. Lastly and most importantly, this review is not necessarily written by the point of view of a Neil Young fan.)

Overall Score: 4/5
Best song: “The Loner”
Worst song: “My Last Trip to Tulsa”

Review Body:

Buffalo Springfield finally split, and Neil Young is out for solo-album blood! His contribution to the final BS album was, frankly, disappointing, and I’d imagine that he was biding his time before he could make a REAL album (i.e. one without the presence of Stephen Stills). And he comes out with THIS. An eponymous album! … And … um … it’s quite nice. I guess the only shame was that Young has a voice that threatens to conjure vomit in our children… but it’s not so awful getting used to if you’re willing to take a leap of faith.

Hear some of the songs on it! The opener is a perfectly pleasant instrumental that’s supposed to transport us to the peaceful Wild West, or something. And, for the love of god, everybody in the world has to hear “The Loner.” It’s one of the most gorgeous, creative and understated songs in the world! It’s an odd combination of soft-rock ideals, crunchy guitars and a full orchestra! The melody is gorgeous and it’s quite a deal more modest than those pretentious Moody Blues dudes. Wow! A somewhat overlookable though perfectly nice “If I Could Have Her Tonight” follows, and then there’s the most instrumentally creative track of the album: “I’ve Been Waiting For You!” I’m taken with that song, and so will you!

After that, it’s downhill, unfortunately. “The Old Laughing Woman” never takes off, a minute-long string quartet is pointless, “Here We Are in the Years” is shrug-worthy. HEY! But there’s still the beautifully surreal “What Did You Do to My Life?” tucked away safely in the second half! Hooray! Young lays a real pretentious turd at the end with a 9-minute folk “epic” that goes nowhere and is 100 percent boring. I can’t even listen to that thing the whole way through for fear that my brain would start growing mold.

So, there’s only three gems in the album… but that’s pretty good! I’d say this album is a must-have for any Neil Young fans who have avoided this for any reason. However, if you are a Neil Young newbie, do not get this album just yet. You’ll probably think he sucks.

Track Reviews:

The Emperor of Wyoming B+
The Supreme Being starts his solo career with a cowpoke instrumental that’s quite nice! It has a sweet instrumental theme (which should have been more prevalent in Buffalo Springfield’s final album) and has a sort of pleasant, laid-back quality that’s rather endearing. Musically, it’s professional and polished! Wonderful! Solo Neil Young already sounds better to me than BS!

The Loner A+
I guess it’s not too surprising that Neil Young would come out with a masterpiece so quickly although this is not always celebrated as such. Well it should be! Young’s style of songwriting is perfectly well in place here with a light take on hard-rock. The orchestration is just perfect with the right blend of crunchy guitars and string, orchestral arrangements. The development is the particularly creative aspect of this… especially his idea to break into a cowpoke instrumental not unlike the album opener. This is a very appealing song!

If I Could Have Her Tonight B
Very pleasant! However, nothing about it particularly threatens to steal my sweeties. The melody is so-so and the instrumentation doesn’t strike me with any sort of unusual creativity. In fact, I feel a bit betrayed by the development this time, because it doesn’t seem to particularly go anywhere and Young seems too satisfied with a boring fade-out. It’s main attraction is the calming atmosphere, which is quite fine!

I’ve Been Waiting For You A
When I reviewed David Bowie’s Heathen, I might have been being too hasty when I called Bowie’s version of this ballad better than this. Really, this is a fantastic original! The melody is catchy, and this time the instrumentation is pretty creative. I love the guitar noodling, but whoever was going insane with the panning nob gets a mean slap on the wrist.

The Old Laughing Lady C+
Such a sweet old song! Young delivers a nice, laid back tune and reserved instrumentation. The strings are as quiet as can be, and the acoustic guitar is strumming thoughtfully in the background. Well, that’s boring if you ask me!! A few bits, he starts getting into a jazzy passage, but that doesn’t last long enough. A “soul uprising” toward the end was kind of nice, I’ll say! Still, too little and too late.

String Quartet From Whisky Boot Hill C-
A string quartet, eh? Hardly something Mozart would pen, eh? The development is non-existent and the atmosphere is cheap. Only a minute long so it won’t waste too much of your time!

Here We Are in the Years B-
Not bad! I’m actually very new to Neil Young’s discography (at the moment only listened to his sophomore release at any great length), but I hope he figures out how to get rid of all these dull spots. He’s trying to sound subdued and beautiful, but the result was subdued and empty. A lot of wasted opportunity if you ask me! The instrumentation is certainly interesting, though… the drum-line evolves in such a way to make the proceedings as interesting as possible, and that synthesizer was a neat idea.

What Did You Do To My Life? A
The crunchy guitar is back and so are the infectious melodies! Wonderful! Young’s singing almost like he doesn’t care, but the instrumentation is so polished and creative that it makes this quite an excellent experience! Nice one, Neil!!

I’ve Loved Her So Long B
Sort of boring, and the soulful back-up singers honestly don’t add much. The classical oriented instrumentation is a nice attribute (keeping this album consistent since they’re pretty much all like this)! The melody isn’t that interesting, however, and he repeats it about a dozen times too much. He should have thought of something else other than fadeouts… they do get tiring…

The Last Trip to Tulsa D+
Pretentious twit! This is the real reason Neil Young could never be considered a classic. Nobody needed this bloated 9+-minute song of Young strumming an acoustic guitar, with his annoying whiny voice and singing an entirely uninteresting melody! If you love this song, then … I guess that makes you a *real* Neil Young fan. GO HANG YOURSELF!!!!! HAHHAHHAHHHahriiririr!!!!

Concluding Remarks:

A would-be classic with a few remarkable gems, but the weak spots almost outweigh the bright. OK, he’s just getting warmed up. His follow-up album is fab!


Read more Neil Young reviews by Starcollector!

Neil Young (1969) | Everybody Knows This is Nowhere (1969) | After the Gold Rush (1970) | Harvest (1972) | On the Beach (1974) | Tonight's the Night (1975) | Zuma (1975) | American Stars 'N Bars (1977) | Comes a Time (1978) | Rust Never Sleeps (1979) | Live Rust (1979) | Hawks & Doves (1980) | Re-ac-tor (1981) | Trans (1982) | Everybody's Rockin' (1983) | Old Ways (1985) | Landing On Water (1986) | Life (1987) | This Note's For You (1988) | Freedom (1989) | Ragged Glory (1990) | Weld (1991) | Arc (1991) | Harvest Moon (1992) | Unplugged (1993) | Sleeps With Angels (1994) | Mirror Ball (1995) | Dead Man (1996) | Broken Arrow (1996) | Year of the Horse (1997) | Silver & Gold (2000) | Rock Road Vol. 1 (2000) | Are You Passionate? (2002) | Greendale (2003) | Prairie Wind (2005) | Living With War (2006) | Chrome Dreams II (2007) | Fork in the Road (2009) | Le Noise (2010)

Recommended: Yes