BARN by Neil Young & Crazy Horse: Official Release Today - NOW STREAMING On NYA + NEW VIDEO
by Neil Young & Crazy Horse
BARN Track List:
1. Song of the Seasons
2. Heading West
3. Change Ain’t Never Gonna
4. Canerican
5. Shape of You
6. They Might Be Lost
7. Human Race
8. Tumblin’ Thru the Years
9. Welcome Back
10. Don’t Forget Love
Neil Young is interviewed in a new Rolling Stone article "Neil Young Has a Lot More To Give." In the interview by ANGIE MARTOCCIO, Neil Young discusses ‘Barn,’ his new album with Crazy Horse; 50th anniversary plans for ‘Harvest’; upcoming ‘Archives 3’; and more.
Neil Young / Crazy Horse - Shape Of You (Official Music Video)
Animation by Micah Nelson
Crazy Horse, 2021
Also, check NPR's "World Cafe" interview with Neil Young, who gives a track by track breakdown. (Thanks Tony "Hambone" in the UK!)
More on first impressions of BARN -- the upcoming album by Neil Young & Crazy Horse. And even more "First Impressions: Barn by Neil Young & Crazy Horse | Old Grey Cat.
"may be a window to your soul" - ny
"Welcome Back" - Neil Young & Crazy Horse (Official Music Video)
Labels: #CrazyHorse4HOF, album, archives, crazy horse, interview, neil young, nya, song, track
by thrasher@PermaLink: 12/10/2021 08:15:00 AM
69 comments
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69 Comments:
I am VERY worried because so far I have not received my download code and my CD shipping mail info.
I have just written to neilyoungarchives.com/contact asking for info
I count on you to peace my worried mind
Roberto
Just cancelled my Greedy Hand order as my order was packing and had been for a few days (memories of archives vol 2). It's available elsewhere, Amazon have it and they are cheaper. Hopefully it's on its way.
Alright, you all the download mail has arrived, the download is complete and the High Res is waiting for the weekend to play on PONO.
Let the CD arrive, by the way..
Neverthess, today's program on Screen two is outstanding! I'll not spoil it but watch and PLAY IT LOUD
I'm going to put my head on the block here.....I'm of an age where any new release by any of my favourite artists equates to a guaranteed sale of whatever they're selling, partly because I'm a male completest (and I think that fault is hard wired into a lot of us!), partly because I've lost touch with the music scene and aren't aware of many newer artists so buying a new release seems even more special, and partly because I want to support my favourite artists.
However, even I have recently started to question just how many more solo shows from the early 70's of Neil's do I really need?...and how many more "lost" albums (demos) are going to be pitched to me as "essential"?...I'll buy them of course....but I'd kind of forgotten that periodically Neil releases actual NEW material. That's a failing on my part of course as I've been of the opinion in recent years that Neil's new stuff is not that great (my opinion) and the old stuff from the archives is therefore even more important. But, I honestly think that this new album is his freshest, most interesting, and I believe in the long term his most rewarding album since chrome dreams 2, and I fully expect people to have differing opinions on that. But I honestly think that. It's first impressions of course, but I've not been so intigued, beguiled and smitten with a Neil album for a long long time.
I'm so "intigued" with it that I meant to say "intrigued".......
Old Black, I could not agree more. Barn is the real thing, all the way through.
Just finished my first run through of hi-res through the Hi Fi. Honestly it was as if Neil and the Horse were in the room playing just for us. The sound was so fresh and intimate.
As for the songs themselves, my first thought is that Neil has crafted a modern folk album, with contemplations on life, the land and love. No preaching here, the Children of Destiny are now simply part of the Human Race - for good or ill, others are lost and Ten Men are still Workin'.
And at the centre there's the challenge from Welcome Back - here's a new song that claims to be old - how do we respond? To say it's not as good as the real old songs from years ago, or embrace it as a reaffirmation of everything we love about Neil but 'still allow changes to be made'?
I'm with Abner here - this is real,
Tony "Hambone" in the UK
Enjoying Neil on XM radio today even though they play songs from Deja Vu that don’t include Neil, but that’s modern day radio. No one home, just you and a computer on autopilot.
This new album is yet another example of just how relevant Neil still is. He’s really never not been relevant throughout his entire career actually, but it’s just that for some of his fans he’s either ahead of them or still behind them. If that makes sense. I still believe that every single album he has released in the last 21 years is every bit as relevant as anything he released in the decades of the late twentieth century. Please feel free to disagree, but stand by my statement.
Peace 🙏
….. but “I” stand by my statement. 🤪🤯😱
Peace 🙏
It's quite a pleasant listen. Great to see Neil still making music. Personally, I don't think the songs are up to much. Nothing too bad ( Shape of You is actually pretty bad) but not too good either. I actually thought Colorado was a far better record. His voice was also quite a bit stronger then.
Dan Swan, I stand with your statement too! I am forty now and I first listened to Neil in 1995, when I was fourteen. I didn't know him, it was by "accident", as I was listening to the Strawberry Statement OST that my aunt had in her records. I listened to Helpless and Down by the River and I was instantly hooked, it was a revelation, that kind of revelation which can occur to someone who just got into his teen years. Profound, moving, self shaping.
I tried to find any of his records I could. It wasn't easy, it was still pre-internet in my country and the record stores had only some of his records, quite often an obscure one (e.g. Lucky Thirteen!) while some of the classic ones (e.g. After the Goldrush) were nowhere to be found. However it was also the time that they would bring any new album he was getting out.
In that way, I delved into Neil's music in a "parallel" way, listening to classic Neil and current-then-Neil at the same time, whatever album it was, wherever I was finding it. What I wanted was to listen to anything I could, anything he had ever written or being writing.
So, I listened together to Harvest and TTN and also Lucky Thirteen. I listened to Zuma and Broken Arrow & YOTH that were then out (I was 16...), I listened to RNS along with SWA, TNFY and Trans, EKTIN with S&G, OTB with AYP, Ragged Glory with Greendale and so on.
By 2005 I had finally gotten hold of all Neil's discography till then and then continued with anything new that would get released.
In that way, Neil's work exists in a kind of synchronicity for me, a continuum. I can't feel for the talk about a golden,classic age in the 70s and some mediocre modern releases. All were that "one song" for me, that "one album" that was expanding and still expands with Barn.
I used to say that Neil plays the music that I would play if i could, he is the sound of my inner voice. His work has shaped me in the same way that a teen or a young adult is shaped by classic literature or a profound philosophical work that is eye opening.
I have listened over a thousand times to cowgirl in the sand or down by the river. I have listened over a thousand times to terrorist suicide hand gliders or stand tall, wolf moon or milky way.
And they "all sound the same to me": vital, authentic, defining and beautiful in every way beauty can be conceived.
So, I don't see a divide between the works of the past and the works of the present. I was then 14 and now 40. I have changed and so did Neil. However this didn't make the distance grow. On the contrary, it kept us in the same trajectory as life is changing. I have the same anticipation for any new release as I had back then when I found by accident the holy grail of On the Beach in a stack in a record store that was going out of business.
I know that every and each time I get a new Neil Young album, he - like one of my best friends I ever had or like a distant uncle - will offer me courage, consolation, beauty and he will even joke with me - as best & old friends always do!
So Dan Swan, I stand with your statement!
PS. Thrasher and Thrashette, hey! I am reading your blog over a decade, but it's the first time I post. A big thanks is just a small word for all the great work you have done!
Dear posters, I have enjoyed immensely your contributions and your thoughts through the years!
I am back to Barn now, extremely happy that Neil has started already recording his next album!
# Delta Delta
Now that's an interesting angle spelled out in a new way. Especially non-anglo-fans can relate to that. Maybe as instead of declaring how long we go back in listening to Neil Young records or attending his concerts, we should define a stage of entry into the NY orbit which in my case would be a Live Rust album on cassette with just sides 3 and 4 on it in 1980. And I worked my way through the catalogue in a very similar way to Delta-Delta, not so much because the records were not available but because I couldn't afford buying records or a record player.
# Dionys
Thanks for the kind words! Υou are so right about the importance of the stage of entry.
I now realise that when I first listened to Neil Young (1995, mirror ball - broken arrow era), he was already recording for 26 years and since then exactly another 26 years have passed (and many more will hopefully come!).
So, my personal point of entry was truly a kind of "in media res" entry, to borrow the literary theory's term.
In that way, I have not a linear perception of his work (like the older listeners have) but rather a "syncretic", that allows me to enjoy all the same Cortez the Killer or Welcome Back, I Believe in You and Plastic Flowers.
In a way, his songs, older and newer, existed simultaneously for me as I was exploring his discography both backwards and forwards. And in that way unique bonds and connections have been formed between the songs, whether they are the "golden era" ones or the newest ones, that sometimes fans easily dismiss.
(like reading a book by Cortazar or Calvino, where the linear progression is not a prequisite for enjoyment or even evaluation - if I remember correctly, you are a literature professor, Dionys)
Yes, I surely understand that they come from different eras, but this parallel reading (or rather listening!) reveals to me a deeper affinity, a strong underlying core that remains so authentic now as it was when Neil was in his twenties or thirties.
So, please, people, don't be harsh about Neil's new albums. They are good, they are really good. I know people whose point of entry was Are you Passionate or Americana or even The Visitor. And they love these albums for what they are, great albums in themselves, and at the same time entrances to the whole body of Neil's work.
I am so glad he keeps recording. And Barn already has taken its special place in my heart.
PS. Dionys, i appreciate the deciphering of Δ.Δ.! 🙂
My (real) first name is of Greek origin (God of wine and exstacy) and starts with that letter.:-)
And again, I believe I understand where you come from. That's no little thing in times of the internet and it's multiple sources of misunderstanding.
Dionys, you are right :) Dimitris here, nice to meet you!
And yes, thrashers wheat is such a community of real and deep understanding in the wild sea of the internet. I am grateful it exists and indebted for all the things I 've learned through the conversations here.
"They might be lost". What an evocative song this is!
...and from Saloniki. I recall great holidays and archeological adventures all over Macedonia, especially on the Kassandra and Sithonia peninsulas. Thasos and Samothrake used to be such beautiful islands. It was on a Greek island where I listened to a perfect imitation of Four Way Street's acoustic sides played and sung by an Austrian guitar quartett (another one of these entries). I sure hope that there will be a time when I can travel there again.
πότε θα ξαναϊδωθούμε? I don't know whether our friends in Greece, Italy, Spain, and other Mediterranean countries really know how sorely we are missing unrestrictewd travelling. (I don't forget the difficulties that creates in other respects, though)
To both Dimitris & Dionys: You both have amazing points of view on the rich history of Neil’s discography, and I’m so grateful that you understand what I was feeling. I don’t see separate periods of Neil’s catalog, I only see the journey as a whole experience. Different chapters of the same book. The fact that I began my journey with ‘Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere’ is irrelevant, but you have offered a unique perspective to why I feel his music is every bit as relevant now as it was then. And your individual experiences are just as important as mine. Perhaps your thoughts will illuminate others who seem to be stuck in time. Thank you both so much for sharing here, you have brightened up my day immensely knowing there are kindred spirits everywhere.
Peace 🙏
I really like this exchange between Dimitris/Dionys/Don, the really interesting and fun. I started my Neil journey when I was 18 and drunk, someone took off the Grateful Dead (much to my displeasure) and put on After the Gold Rush. I had heard it before but never really HEARD it, etc..........
More recent songs I can relate to: "Glass Incident" being a metaphorical song about a broken relationship, "Carnival", especially after walking up and down the boardwalks of Coney Island with Ferlinghetti in mind in 2017, "Terrorist Suicide Hanggliders" and "Shut it Down" being so prophetic (not only in hindsight). These songs speak to me and Robert Christgau might be a very prominent critic but he never spoke to or for me.
And I always listen to music in a non-linear sequence: Plant's Honeydrippers Vol.1, a German picking style guitar duo (Guitarissimo), and - after having heard of Robbie Shakespeare's passing away - I looked for that old Black Uhuru record, that I bought after having seen the band on the Hopi reservation's cultural center in 1987 in Arizona, couldn't find it (I suspect my son...)instead looked for collaborations of the Dunbar, Robertson rhythmn section with Dylan. My "Barn" (order with GH) has not arrived in Munich yet, so late at night I might play Anouar Brahem, Arabian lute music (Oud):"Le Voyage de Sahar" Very much recommended, you listen to the musical footsteps of a person crossing the Sahara desert, think: migrant on the way to Europe.
That's the Sly & Robbie (not Robertson) rhythmn section, of course, but that reminds me of Joanne Shenandoah (passed away recently as well), who sang with Robbie Robertson's Red Road Ensemble and also had a certain Neil Young as a guest recording with her, one of the few things Young I do not have: "Eagle Cries". How's that for a carousel of time?
#Dionys
Διόνυσε, θα είναι μεγάλη μας χαρά να σε ξαναδούμε στα μέρη μας με την πρώτη ευκαιρία! [= Dionys, it will be a great joy for us to see you again here first change you get]. Although all these places you mentioned are rapidly changing. After a decade of economic crisis that deteriorated the country in many levels, the *new* developmental policies rely heavily on a vulgar and aggressive version of the tourist “industry”, which destroys the character of all these places and has a huge footprint on the social fabric as well as on the environment (and here, I have Neil in mind…).
#Dan
As a long-time reader here (and finally a talker), I have always enjoyed your comments and your insights – and your passion, of course!
#Abner Snopes,
thanks! Whether sober, whether drunk, whether happy or sad, there is always an appropriate song in Neil’s catalogue!
#Dionys [2]
Well, Lawrence Ferlinghetti is one of my favorite poets! Coney Island of the Mind and also Americus! And he had been a friend and publisher in the USA of my most favorite greek poet, the magnificent Nanos Valaoritis. And Anouar Brahem and especially “Le Voyage de Sahar”… Great music and very apt your connotations with the current migration flows and all this human drama and pain.
I will look up the other artists you mentioned.
When my father died in May 2009, I read James Dickey's "Coming Down From My Father" over and over again and listened, for some strange and unknown reason (even and especially for me), to Emperor of Wyoming over and over again (now I am thinking of Ragged Glory and my old yellow lab bird dog, circa 1990)
sorry, the great Dickey poem is "The Hospital Window"
I am sorry to say that I am irritated by the pseudo-intellectual nature of some of these comments, trying to turn Neil's music, and more importantly the individuals' involvement with it, into some kind of higher art form. It is unnecessarily pretentious in my view. And says more about the self-importance of the correspondents than the music.
Barn is an excellent example of NY and CH at their best. But, it is only 42 minutes long and some of the songs sound as if they could be the start of an extended jam that fades away and stops before it really really gets going.
For a sensible reaction to the album try this from The Guardian in the UK.
'The band will sound ragged, as if they have tumbled half-asleep into the studio; Young’s guitar solos will sound like forked lightning; there will be volume, but also the restraint that comes from not indulging in millions of overdubs. And so it proves. Barn – titled for its recording location (“Barn, high in the Rockies) – sounds much as you’d expect, although that’s a tribute to the ensemble’s reliability rather than a complaint about repetition.
Sometimes the old sounds are recontextualised in slightly different ways: on the brilliant Heading West, Young’s burning, acidic lead guitar is backed by rolling piano rather than yet more guitars and married to a melody that would shine on one of his classic albums. That’s one of a pair of tracks on which he’s fretting away at the past, and at movement; the other, Canerican, sees him recalling how “I was born in Canada, came south to join a band” and how that has shaped his identity.
Barn highlights both the strengths and weaknesses of this set-up: They Might Be Lost barely feels like a song, just the same chords Young has been strumming all his adult life, yet it manages to be eternal and deeply moving. Equally – and this is a little like complaining fire is too hot – one can’t help but feel some of these songs sound as though they were being written as they were recorded. But that Crazy Horse sound? Well, they could more or less be playing Crazy Frog and it would still sound great.'
In my view probably their best outing since Psychedelic Pill(where two tracks together outlast the whole of Barn). But it is great to hear them back together again.
You know what Julia? I have spent my entire adult life in research and writing and I have to draw the line with your particular insult. Pseudo-intellectual? How about people sharing some ideas and thoughts without worrying about some actual pseudo intellectual making truly annoying remarks. we are just enjoying company and memories of music and some good ideas. Half-formed or whatever, just time away from idiot judges like you. Tell me when you want to hear some Kant on the sublime.
I would not call Dionys a "pseudo-intellectual" either. He sounds like the real thing to me. And I know how to judge.
Just listened through on vinyl for the first time. Still need a good listen through again that's completely uninterrupted (sometimes difficult with two young kids!) but I was really liking what I heard.
I am enjoying the dialogue above regarding when you first started listening to Neil Young and it is really interesting to analyze in my opinion. For someone who's been around for awhile, Neil's music is bound to have reached people at different times or eras of their lives. For me, I'm a relative newcomer. I first saw him live on The Monsanto Years tour and started buying his records shortly before that. For me, the live album Earth was an incredible gateway into his past, "re-discovering for the first time" songs like After the Gold Rush, albums like On the Beach, grungey moments like Hippie Dream and all that Neil had represented in regards to our complicated relationship with Mother Earth over the years. A lot of diehards don't like the album Earth or care much for Neil's work with Lukas Nelson, but for me they were revelatory and transformative. I started listening to Lukas Nelson's solo stuff and dug deeper into Willie Nelson's and John Prine's discographies as well. (I might owe Kurt Vile and Sturgill Simpson more for Prine but still, Vile came to my attention through the NY Archives I'm pretty sure!).
Anyway, we all have our likes, dislikes, ages and opinions... different entry points and so on. In my opinion, as a relative newcomer to Neil's music, Barn is almost the perfect mix of his best sounds and genres, with just a few imperfections that leave us wondering what if.. For example, why didn't they jam out just a little bit more to really put some length into a couple of these tunes, like Change Your Mind or half of Psychedelic Pill. This one kind of reminds me of Broken Arrow with even a bit of Tonight's the Night mood and aura, with just a sprinkling of that sort of Harvest-y western feel he's been coming back to over and over the years. I'm going to give it another listen once my kids are asleep and hope I like it even more the next time around!
Hope everyone keeps on listening and rockin'!
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I first heard Rust Never Sleeps in 1987 or early ‘88. I was 19. A professor I knew at SDSU lent me Time Fades Away. Found Trans in bargain bin at school store. I got into Neil as the Bluenotes toured. A buddy lent me Shocking Pinks on pink vinyl! I liked it all. The more I heard, the more I liked. Decade, Everybody Knows… since 1990 I have bought all of his albums, usually the day they came out. Each album is different, but part of a greater whole.
The album you don’t like is somebody else’s favorite, perhaps. Go easy on the undervaluation of Neil’s Art. Judge not.
@Abner - Thanks for standing up for your TW friends. You are one of the regulars who is paying attention and bring the positive vibe on a regular basis. And this in spite of a troubled world!
TW is our place of refuge, a bunch of like minded Hard Core Neil Young fans. Don’t piss on the carpet! I will also endeavor to be a positive voice.
We are diverse; some are PhD’s, some are MRI Techs, weather experts, weather victims, hunters, gatherers. Some are mathematicians. Some are carpenter’s wives.
@Dan, I enjoy your positive posts and agree with you on NY’s relevance. You always are kind and relate to opinions and thank people for saying things that may not be popular among us.
The journey of NY album appreciation, what a wonderful thing it is, and the whole thing being a part of the bigger picture of the dream we share as NY fanatics. We got into the NY Library, and it is good stuff!
Thank you all for your posts. I got my Ben Keith Christmas album ready to play. Johnny Cash and Neil Young are both on it, and other greats.
I think Colorado leads to Barn. I see a close relationship. I prefer Barn by a few degrees. NYCH is in a Roll. It’s wonderful these guys are doing it. Thanks guys!
Alan in Seattle
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@Julia
I appreciate your comments on Barn. I have not received my copy yet, and I do not have a good sound system tied to my computer, so I'll wait for the real thing.
In the meantime I write these little remarks and I understand that your limited perspective makes you insist on the rule to stick to the matter i.e. Neil Young issues.
"Pseudo-intellectual", however, is an ad hominem pseudo-argument, a killer phrase. We do this commenting because we like to and we read these comments because we want to read them. You and I we don't have to prove anything to anybody. Regarding my comments: I have been reading this blog for long time and came to the conclusion that it is more anglo-centric (not individuals) than is becoming when dealing with the music and art of Neil Young. Being one of these myself I insist on communicating with the other voices represented here and appreciate their perspective. And also: would you keep in mind please that English is not my first language, if I were to draw blank in my language the way you chose to do there would be little left of your remarks. But why should I?
# To Julia and to others
I am really sorry if my posts sounded convoluted, pseudo-intellectual or loaded with terms. English are not my mother tongue and as such I am not sure I can convey the exact meaning and feeling I intend. Moreover, I use them mainly in studies, in reading english bibliography, than in my day-to-day conversations, so I am afraid my expression is rather peculiar and un-natural.
Having said that, I personally detest pseudo-intellectualism and this is another reason I deeply love Neil Young and I cannot agree with the constant criticism over his lyrics. I like his use of ordinary language which nevertheless creates a deep and ambiguous feeling. I like his recent use of what has been criticized as “sloganeering” because it gives me a sense of urgency in his songs. I like that when he wants to say “I love you” in a song he says “I love you” (recent example of this is the “Shape of You”, that I find it so sweet and lovely, a handmade gift to offer to his wife). There is nothing phony in Neil Young’s world.
On the other hand, Bob Dylan, for example, is a nobel prize winner and I admire the intellectuality of his songs. However I can not identify with them. There is always some unbridged distance. With Neil it is not this way. There is immediacy, there is always the feeling that he is here, with me, in the room. And this is not only because of his “raw” style of recording but because of his words, as well. I feel like it is always two people talking, without any pretention, willing genuinely to understand each other.
Having said this, the reason that I posted here after all these years as a reader, is that I am weary and somehow sad about all the bad criticism that follows every new Neil’s album.
I ‘ve read the Guardian review and many others. Most of them find that something is missing, that Neil is getting “lazy” in his songwriting, that Neil should focus in the past and the archive releases than getting distracted with recording and songwriting.
Personally, I am grateful that he still bothers to create and that he still cares – for music and for everything else. After all, he is quite old now, he has given and keeps giving more than enough, while he could have retired long ago.
So, I can not understand why people are so easy to judge and dismiss his newest works, even at the very fist moment they are out.
I am grateful for every new song he records, even if it is a “sketch”. Because I get exactly the same feeling as when I was 14, in 1995, listening to “Helpless” for the first time and feeling that my young life was changed for ever.
And I am sure that in the future, when I hopefully reach his age, I will look back at “the old good days” reminiscing the anticipation I was feeling each time a new Neil Young album was out and the way each new song became part of my life, from the first listen to the hundredth and more.
I love when Julia pops up for a comment here...well done, Julia I have to agree with you but I tend to be an asshole online so who knows...I now enjoy scrolling straight past the Alan in Seattle Show comments to read others' thoughts...I miss Mr. Henry
'Welcome Back' is worth the price for Barn by itself; it is easily the coolest Neil track to me in many years...Nils adds so much depth...and 'They Might be Lost' is a mysterious song that I haven't figured out & probably never will - a great piece of art with some of the same Neil chord progressions he's used on so many other songs
Others on the album - not so much...so many songs seem like rough sketches that were just written & we all know that's how Neil has been recording for years now - it is what it is
Yes I am thankful he's still here & recording...
Song of the Seasons is a fine song for sure
I can't help but think Briggs would cringe at some of the music & titles though...'Canerican'? sheesh...just bad...Neil 'got his man'? ok great - Biden is a real honest politician & a great guy doing great things (sarc.)
But since we may not ever see another full NY&CH tour again, I will try to revel in the new album tracks that move me along with the ones on Colorado - they almost seem like the same sessions in some ways - Barn perhaps more subtle on the production...
Here's a snippet by a German language newspaper from Luxembourg based on a very positive review by dpa (the leading German press agency):
Mit „Human Race“ ist Young bei seinem derzeitigen Lieblingsthema angelangt. Von einer sägenden Gitarre unterlegt, übt der vielfach für den Umweltschutz engagierte Songwriter beißende Fortschrittskritik. „Wohin retten sich die Kinder vor Feuer und Fluten“, heißt es unter anderem – Schlagzeug und Bass wummern wie Dampfhämmer. Der hymnische Song verklingt wie ein Donnergrollen. Leugnern des Klimawandels zeigen Young und seine Mitstreiter hier nicht belehrend den Zeigefinger, sondern eher wütend den Mittelfinger.
With "Human Race" Young is arriving at his present day's favourite topic. Based on a sawing guitar the environmentally multi-involved song-writer bitingly criticises progress. "Where will all the children gonna run and hide (the children of the fire and the flood). The hymnical song fades out like thunder rolling. They do not patronizingly call out climate change deniers, Young and his cohorts show them the middle finger.
Höhepunkt eines an Glanzpunkten reichen Albums ist das mehr als acht Minuten lange „Welcome Back“, in dem es heißt: „Ich werde dir jetzt ein altes Lied vorsingen/Eines, das du schon einmal gehört hast/Es könnte ein Fenster zu deiner Seele sein.“ Ein episches Lied voller Sehnsüchte, das unter die Haut geht.
Highlight of an album with many flashpoints is the more than 8 minute long "Welcome Back", starting with "I'll sing you a song now One that you heard before It might be a window to your soul." It's an epic song, full of longing and desires, going under your skin.
The wording of this review and especially the selection of quotations tell a lot about where the writer is coming from and how he feels that these songs speak to him. This review might not reach the intellectual travel altitude of a Guardian item, but I thought it worth the effort to translate it for you (no polish added).
And as an afterthought that must too be told: I can read and understand the Dutch text on the "Tonight's the Night" inner sleeve...
I can't believe Psychedelic Pill was less than ten years ago. It seems like a LOT longer than that since NY's last decent album. It sounds like genius now compared to all the stuff he's done since. I'm sure glad he keeps releasing his amazing old "lost" demo albums and shows from the 70's or I'd forget all about him and he's my favourite artist of all time. I first really heard him doing the song at the 9/11 tribute and couldn't believe there was someone that could play and sing John Lennon's best song even better than him. Lazy is an understatement for his new albums. He doesn't bother to write songs or even try to sing right anymore. He just whines and reminisces about the world while he and his friends noodle around fruitlessly looking for new chords. This has been your mandatory "all his new stuff sucks" posting with my self-important pseudo-intellectual story about how I got into the most brilliant musician of the last 50 years. ;-]
@mrtew: I'm with you - or to ask with Howe Gelb, "hard core Neil Young fan" and "NY fanatic" for decades, most of you probably know:
"Had I been following the wrong Canadian all these years?" - Howe Gelb 2016 (https://www.tucsonweekly.com/tucson/people-who-died-leonard-cohen-by-howe-gelb/Content?oid=7366236)
"Before I read her book [Sylvie Simmons' biography on Leonard Cohen, I'm Your Man], I had assumed he [Leonard Cohen] was a man who didn't care much about making albums since it seemed he made so relatively few compared to someone like Neil Young. Once I read Sylvie's book it was all revealed how much he cared. He cared way more than the average indie rocker. He would spend years finalizing his lyrics."
But doubt is part of belief (hopefully)
@ Δ.Δ. - welcome and thanks for the comments! Always nice to have a lurker surface and share.
Hopefully that will encourage more. Sort of curious as to what might have brought you out here?
Inquiring in hopes that more folks might open up and share their stories as well.
We know that only a very tiny % of readers actually comment. Like less than 1%. We actually do value diversity of opinion, contrary to what some might think. We know that "shy" folks don't particular care to battle over their opinions. Totally get that. We do ask folks to argue their positions "gently". No need for scorched earth "pseudo-intellectual" arguments/counter-arguments (No disrespect intended to anyone on that)
We'd have to say that age has mellowed most of us. :)
So this note's for you!
hope everyone is finding something to enjoy on BARN.
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I love Barn! Wonderful CD. Never expected Neil to make another song like Human Race. Could have been on Rust never sleep like that. Best song in years. Love it. All of the three rock songs are fine! Worth my euros already. It's just a pitty that Canerican is short and stops when the solo starts... The other songs are generally good. A few a little bit less, but otherwise great to get back into the NY & CH atmosphere. Rumor has it that Neil wants to go back in the barn for the next series of songs. Bring it on. Greetings from Hans Dekker from the Netherlands.
Abner Snopes is a remarkably revealing choice of name.
I simply expressed my view about what I consider to be the pretentiousness and self regarding nature of some of the comments that have seemingly increased while Thrasher and Thrashette have been on their unlooked for sabbatical.
Abner Snopes considers me to be an idiotic judge, whilst Dionys thinks I have a limited perspective because of my comments. Both perhaps reveal more of their true natures with those comments than they intended.
Like Jonathan I normally scroll past Alan in Seattle, Abner and Dionys who tend to monopolise the comments section.
I look forward to reading Flying Scotsman's comments about Barn if he chooses to post any, and also other well informed assessments. What I don't need or want to read are casual references to poets, Arabian lute music or that a commentator can read Dutch. But he feels the need to let us all know.
I am enjoying the album greatly. And in the future I shall withdraw from commenting since it clearly upsets Abner and I am worried about my Barn.
Your barn is your limit. I am absolutely ok with that.
The monopolist commenter
(who commented during the sabbatical when nobody did so, for days)
I’m with Neil. All Biden needed to do was get Trump the hell out of there and that’s more than enough for me to call him “my man!”
Barn has some real "Barn Burners" on it.
The regular commenters on TW were glad to help keep TW alive during sabbatical since it nourishes our souls.
Amazing we only hear from 1% of fans who hit TW. If you have something positive to say, many people would like to read it.
But if you're a negative creep on line, self knowledge is key; at least you know you are one. You weren't missed except by Trolls.
Got something to add to the TW experience?
The majority of TW visitors are good people, I would estimate. Neil's music inherently appeals to people who are not sociopaths. Neil has a heart and he puts it out there for us. Its a challenge to us all to have hearts as open, strong, and positive as Neil's.
Happy Holidays. May your Barn be full of cheer. Santa Claus got off easy this year with Neil doing a lot of the heavy lifting.
Alan in Seattle, since 1998.
Dear Thrasher,
yes, I ‘ve been a lurker here since the late 2000s. When I first got an internet connection, the first Neil-themed site I found was hyperrust.org (ancient history, I guess!), where I was scrolling for hours trying to learn the chords of the songs or reading the database with the interviews, the songs analysis etc. Then, hyperrust went defunct and when I was searching something in google, thrasherswheat kept popping in my results.
That’s how I met you! And I got instantly impressed by the wealth of information, your passion, the heated and informing conversations in the comments. Your posts as well as all the “comments of the moment” have been so much enlighting for me, offering new angles of appreciating Neil’s music. I could name many commenters that I enjoyed reading immensely through the years, but it would be such a long list!
Anyway, I feel a little worried that my first posts here may have been the trigger for a confrontation – in no way was this my intention.
Rather, I wanted to share my joy for the new album and just ask for some constraint in harsh or hurried criticism. You see, me and other younger listeners hold dear the newer works, the 21st century albums which have been crucial to our formative years and vital in a rather “inauthentic” contemporary music scene.
Moreover I still remember the initial bad reviews for albums like Greendale or Are you Passionate, Storytone, Peace Trail etc. while now Greendale has the status of a classic or Peace Trail is re-appreciated.
And I ‘m writing all this because I understand that Neil sometimes reads us (as his note in the Archives today shows). And I can understand how crucial is for the creator of an art piece to know if he was able “to open that window to our souls”, to see if the connection between the artist and his audience works.
So I wanted – indirectly – to tell him that once again he reached my soul.
# The Barn
As for the Barn, the real subject matter after all!, I have already listened to it many times – albeit half of it, as I want to make it last and have the opportunity to delve into each and every song without hurry.
So, let me share my thoughts – for what it’s worth – about the first song
“Songs of the Seasons”: what a sweet and powerful in its frailness song! Some people have mentioned that it resembles “When I watch you sleeping” and maybe this was my first impression too – as “Almost Always” from The Visitor may have been resembling “Unknown Legend”. However, I think that this is a new and charming trope of Neil’s songwriting. At first some of the new songs feel all too familiar. Nevertheless, upon repeated listening they start to come to their separate existence as if they are walking out of their wombs.
Nowdays, when I listen to Almost Always I just don’t see anymore “Unknown Legend” in it, in the same way that two brothers or sisters are so similar at birth but they become so different in adult life, remaining close relatives at the same time.
This mixture of familiarity and newness is in my opinion a new kind of sublime Neil’s new music offers.
Put in another way, Neil is 76 and this means that he has seen so many times the change of the seasons, year after year. Initially this seems so mundane or trite to make a song of it. However exactly this fact, this all too taken for granted familiarity is in a way exceptional – it is simply not possible for a young person to have it. And this exceptionality of the familiar opens the way for a new, more profound connection with nature, with humanity with the condition of our existence. And this is the special weight of this beautiful song.
Finally, some people mention that the lyrics are not well edited, that there are too many words in places that don’t fit in the melodic phrases. However, the ten seconds between 4.40 to 4.50 [Upon the road, the horses gait / In the rhythm that I feel somehow / In the melody I play] almost bring me to tears in their beauty. The sentence “in the melody I play” seems to not be fitting, to cascade to the next musical phrase. However, all the magic is here, in this “overflow” of the song and the voice.
It’s the same way that nature “overflows” in the song’s video (and “Heading West” ’s also).
How can someone describe these things? How can we describe the mystery of life? Words alone are not enough, neither is music. It needs a sum greater than its parts and this is what I so often find in Neil’s music.
So I've listened to Barn a couple of times, and truthfully I'm pretty underwhelmed. Not saying it's bad or anything, it's better than Colorado and The Visitor for sure, but anyone who says that this ranks up there with the best of Neil and the Horse are wearing some seriously rose tinted sunglasses.
Musically, everything is fine. I've been on here saying that I love to hear the Horse BURN, and we get a little of that, but not much. However, the songs are still good on a basic musical level. Nils definitely brings a lot to the table with his versatility. Songs like "Heading West", "Human Race", and "Welcome Back" have the classic Horse sound. The rest seem pretty mellow, but for the most part well put together. "Welcome Back" is definitely the highlight, and the one song that could be a Horse classic. Hey, these guys are all over 70, so expecting them to BURN these days might asking too much. Overall though, the album sounds fine.
However......
Sorry, but Neil REALLY needs to sharpen up his lyrics. This has been a problem for awhile now, and it's not getting better. There were 3 different times on my first listen of the album where I guessed the lyrics before Neil ever sang them, and that's not a good thing. Neil's lyrics used to touch me in such a personal way, it felt he was speaking directly to me, I know you guys know what I'm talking about. Now it feels like I'm being lectured to, and that's not why I listen to Neil. I mean, the world has been shaken to it's core in the last couple of years, and not a peep about the pandemic and the insane worldwide reaction to it on this new record. Very surprising, and very disappointing. I was hoping for something else besides the now usual climate change beef. My God, by the end of "Don't Forget Love" I had a headache. Not something I've experienced too much listening to Neil. Bob Dylan released an album last year chock full of incredible lyrics, maybe Neil should give that record a listen, and put some more effort into his lyrics.
Right after I listened to Barn, I listened to Psychedelic Pill. The difference is staggering, and it's not a Nils vs Poncho kind of thing. You could tell Neil put a lot of effort into his words on Psychedelic Pill, I don't get that at all on Barn.
Overall though, it's great to hear any new material from Neil and The Horse. Just wish I wasn't wishing it was an album of all instrumentals. Overall I give it a 3 out of 5.
To Everyone Here…. Especially Jonathan & Julia :
I feel that it’s important to encourage everyone to embrace and celebrate opposing and conflicting perspectives on everything ( not just Neil Young). We all have our own unique perspectives, tastes, beliefs, and ideals, so it would be unrealistic to think that we can all agree on anything. We can all choose exactly how we respond to one another….it’s a choice. So I would like to encourage everyone to stop and think carefully about what bothered you concerning someone else’s opinion. I think we can all agree that everyone is entitled to their opinion, so why allow it to offend or anger you? Try listening to those with opposing views and make an attempt to understand why they feel that way, and ask relevant questions as opposed to going on the offensive. You can choose to attack, or you can choose to understand. The only way we as a species are ever going to evolve to a higher plain is to start listening and asking questions instead of attacking each other.
At least think about it…… please.
Peace 🙏
P. S. I personally welcome anyone who has something to add to the conversation. Positive or Negative… all are welcome.
But the Welcome Back lyrics are all about the pandemic, the shut-downs, the more or less voluntary withdrawal from personal social interaction, the frustrations in front of a computer screen doing video-calls where you cannot look into the eyes of the others. In this part of the world that's a very common experience during the pandemic. During the shut-downs our parks and forests were flooded with people, who did see no other place to go.
Dear Everyone,
I am apologizing to Julia, right now. My post was defensive and stupid. I also re-read some of my other posts and they do sound a bit pretentious. Julia, your points are important.
I come from a family of builders, I am a first generation college student and the (of course) only person in my family, or extended family, with a PhD. It is very hard to hear the comment "pseudo-intellectual" which is why I responded in such a defensive manner.
Abner Snopes does speak to the same resentments and Julia then has another point, a very strong point, although no one needs to worry about their barn. I have written several essays on economic/political and social resentment in the United States. I suppose I feel the same resentments at times as I struggle to maintain my own course of research and writing.
Remember in our clumsy attempts to connect on this strange modality, that we are on similar but often distorted paths. Alan in Seattle can never be "passed over" or forgotten because he is the anchor. When we stray from each other, from resentment or so many other reasons, we destroy the possibility of understanding.
Julia, I apologize.
You may be right about the lyrics to Welcome Back. I'll give it a re-listen soon. That's the one song that I really would listen to most anyways.
Abner, your gracious apology is readily accepted. Thank you.
Let's listen to Neil
@ P&L Dr. - thanks for flagging the NYA posting.
Most humbly, we say -- once again -- we're stunned and speechless here by Neil's words:
A Message From Neil Young To "Thrasher and grains"
@ Julia - your comments, like so many others, are valued here. again, diversity is encouraged, all in the spirit of what we now refer to as the Rusties & Grains communities.
peace & love to all in this holiday season
take care of one another
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Us regular Grains would not stand out if other fans posted more. Thrasher seems glad to have us posting. We have tried to help keep the blog active during his forced sabbatical. We have a passion for Neil Young music and we talk about it.
Neil Young likes TW, as seen in his 10/12/21 NYA post. Neil Young reads the blog(!). Perhaps keep that in mind with your posts. What would you say about him and his Art if you were aware he was reading your comments?
As Neil Young does on NYA, Thrasher & Dan welcome diverse & even contrary commentary. I say TW is a Blog for Neil Young fans, "Hard Core" or not. But in my mind, it makes no sense for a Fan to disparage Neil Young's last 10 years or whatever on TW.
Neil is a shape-shifter plugged into the Muse under the full Moon. He flirts with Magic when he tells his band to play what they feel. He doesn't want them to learn the new song. Let's Roll (tape)! He is having success with this method.
@Abner, I am humbled by the gravity of your kind compliment. And I always enjoy reading your insights and thoughts on Neil Young and other things.
@Dionys : Thank you for posting during those lonely days when blogging was felled by a tree. You are a valuable member of the discussion. Keep sharing your thoughts on this Neil Young topic and other things on this fragile planet we inhabit.
@DD: It has been refreshing and great reading your posts. You have more to say and we all want to hear it. Keep posting.
Still raining, still Alan in Seattle
Well, if Neil is checking out this thread, may I humbly ask.....
Hey Big Guy, tighten up those lyrics, my man!
@ Richie Cruz : Neil Young is not known for doing what people tell him to do. Why bother?
David Geffen tried to tell Neil not to play country music. Neil said, "I'll turn into George Jones."
Have a great day y'all.
Neil is so wrong with his climate change ideology lyric crap. Cannot hear that bullshit any longer. Should better sing about issues that he is aware of. How can one not realize all that panic is about to create control States. Greetings from Germany, which had the coolest summer and winter since 40 years and a flood in my hometown a third as high as in 1790. Sorry for all the Tornados in the US, but that is weather not climate
I can't stand it and why do I bother? Because I can't stand it. The fact that Germany had a cool summer and floods does not amount to anything like evidence in climate science. And then the comment gets wrapped around politics (as it actually has to be for the plain reason that climate change HAS BECOME a political issue). The above comment is really offensive as it mentions the tornadoes. This is an example of strongly "anomalous" weather (look up the word in a dictionary). A tornado that lasted 200 miles? In the meantime READ A GOOD BOOK ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE, something written by a SCIENTIST, preferably a CLIMATOLOGIST
Dammit, I expect Neil to do as I say!!!
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@ Unknown
Big Oil tells you what to think and you believe it? Denial puts you in the uneducated category.
Yes, the warm Atlantic current is halting, due to Global Warming, therefore Germany and
Europe will be having very cold conditions as the ice melts, as they would have in the past were it not for the warm Atlantic current.
Bigger floods due to increased moisture in the air because it is warmer, due to Global Warming.
Superstorms and 1000 year storms, all the time. Droughts.
It seems like you know nothing about Global Warming. As unprecedented tornados kill more than ever in places they had not been seen. This is the result of Global Warming.
Why should Neil sing about it? It’s only the End of the World. It’s only the humans, only nature, only the living things on Earth. Surely there is something more important to talk about.
Be the Grain. Alan in Seattle
What Alan said
More artic outbreaks in the midwest because global warming is weakening the vortex often. The temperature here is predicted to hit 70 on Wednesday, the warmest day ever recorded in December (in Iowa). If one looks over the last ten years, high temp and cold temp records broken consistently. I am trying to find out right now- can't find it yet- but I think a 200 mile tornado path is unprecedented in United States climatological history. Alan, thanks for those points about Germany and the atlantic current.
Ups and downs of temperature (as well of the oceans) are as old as the crucifiction. Comes and goes. Greenland was green once, the glaciers in my skiing area totally disappeard before 200 years ago. If water level increased as poles melt why do I have to drain my water pipe in Winter to avoid damage? When icebergs are melting the water level decreases. Thats for sure. Most of it is unter water. I do not believe anything but my good old school.
See no constant for that. Last years was pretty hot. Next years let's see. Ups and downs of temperature (as well of the oceans) are as old as the crucifiction. Comes and goes. Greenland was green once, the glaciers in my skiing area totally disappeard before 200 years ago. If water level increased as poles melt why do I have to drain my water pipe in Winter to avoid damage? When icebergs are melting the water level decreases. Thats for sure. Most of it is unter water. I do not believe anything but my good old school.
The Right wing are now all pivoting to “We can’t AFFORD to save the planet.” Because Denial is too stupid even for them at this late hour. Yes, even the Republicans have abandoned Denial. The scientific consensus is unanimous. Very clearly the Denial was just posturing until the Science was realized by the masses and the evidence was overwhelming except for the few who are determined to never see, & doing no real thinking about it at all.
What is scary is that 95% of real scientists have been drastically underestimating their Climate Predictions. They played down the nearness of the catastrophe. Climate change is causing huge problems in Agriculture, water supplies, superstorm disasters . We are near the tipping points in the ocean to have mass extinction. We are literally in the onset of mass extinction on Earth.
You can stick your head in the sand, but in the near future, Global Warming will come to you very soon again. And you will have much colder winters, and heat, flooding, superstorms, etc. We all will, except for the West, Mid West, & Southwest where drought will be terminal. Trump is a planet wrecker idiot but the Democrats won’t save us either. Too many Pipelines allowed already. It sucks to be right about this stuff.
It will take mass protests, & hundreds of thousands in the streets to change Government.
There is no other planet to escape to. Might as well try to save the one we are on. Be the Rain, be the grain. Alan in Seattle
More on Ocean extinction: The world's oceans have been absorbing a lot of heat and a lot of carbon from CO2 for over a century post fossil fuel mass popularity. But the ocean was moving a lot of that warmer water to deeper environs through the decades of increasing carbon. Unfortunately, carbonic acid forms at a certain Ph and krill, the basis for the entire ocean food chain, cannot form their exoskeleton in acidic water. Never mind the heat waves cooking billions of creatures alive this past summer in Canada, the entire ocean is suffering from overfishing also. This is a bad combination. Eat that Maine Lobster while you can, limited time offer.
By the time everyone finally gets over their denial, the water wars will be well under way. The status quo will give way to empty faucets and water shortages in the Southwest. The Midwest is in drought, they can't grow food for their livestock. Price of steaks will be going way up.
The Pentagon has acknowledged years ago that Global Warming is a "security threat to the US." The Pentagon knows it, everybody knows it. Let's stop playing games. You can stop protesting against the "Hoax" now. I wish it was, but no....
I am happy that Neil Young is still an Environmental Activist. Thanks for the great new songs, Neil!
Who's gonna save the Human Race?
Those who deny climate change deny our presence on this Earth.
Alan is right. Finally, I am hearing a bit more focus on big agriculture and climate change. There have been several recent news stories on methane from agriculture. With 48 million feeder pigs to slaughter last year, Iowa is emitting enormous amounts of methane, which is even worse than CO2 (in the short run). Nitrates and ammonia from fertilizer are ending up in the Gulf of Mexico, about 20% of the pollution causing the dead-zone is from Iowa and Big Ag.
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