Here is our Review of the Moment of Neil Young's New Album "Before And After" by Dan S.:
Before and After is an incredibly intimate listening experience.
Neil’s vocals are crystal clear, fragile, and honest. The authenticity of his lyrical delivery is what sets this release apart from anything else he’s ever released. The quality of his vocals reflect the time and place he exists in now. And Its not just his age, but his life experiences that set this record apart from any previous recording.
His delivery is soaked in life lessons that can only be obtained by living it. Nothing here is phoned in or contrived. He’s living each and every single word. This is a remarkable achievement that can only be achieved by someone who has decades of life experiences to draw from, and a few hard lessons learned.
Neil allows us to feel the lyrics from a different perspective than where they lived in earlier incarnations. These are songs that reflect the essence of the artist who has grown wiser through time. He’s experienced the gifts, and struggles of a lifetime. The success, and the loss that comes with longevity. And he’s allowing us the opportunity to witness his growth from his experiences.
For me personally, it’s his delivery of these lyrics that makes this album so powerful. The musical approach is secondary to his interpretation of the lyrics that he wrote when he was much younger (with a couple of exceptions), and hungrier than he is now. Neil has never felt the need to prove himself to anyone, and this album is an excellent example of an artist free to create without being concerned with sales. This record almost feels like a diary entry.
Neil Young has always impressed me with his ability to create something special, by being fearless in his execution. He has created a lot of records that have been both passionate, and transparent. His desire to create something meaningful has always been commendable, and Before and After is a perfect example.
These are my initial impressions of this new record (after just one listen),and I might be completely wrong……..if I am, I’m sure someone will set me straight.
Peace 🙏
Many thanks Dan. Your contributions here are very appreciated. Especially knowing the pain you're suffering with your loss earlier this year.
We hope that music is a healer for you. Carry on and know that our rustie grain community will always be here for you 24/7. Peace to you in the holiday season.
More on Neil Young's new album Before And After:
- INTERVIEWS: Neil Young on New Album "Before And After" | SoCal Sound + The Road Home
- Neil Young Signing Copies of New Album"Before and After"
- REVIEW: "Before and After" by Neil Young | The Flying Scotzman
- VIDEO REVIEW: Neil Young's New Album "Before And After"
- NEIL YOUNG 2023 COASTAL TOUR WRAPUP: Statistics, Links + More
Interestingly, Before and After has garnered a bit more interest in the UK mainstream press than Neil Young’s recent releases such as World Record or Barn and you might wonder why.
ReplyDeleteThe US Slant magazine review which is up on NYA Times Contrarian makes an interesting point, often overlooked when discussing Neil Young’s work, which is that he’s a “conceptual thinker”. According to Wikipedia conceptual art “is art in which the concept(s) or ideas involved in the work are prioritised equally to or more than traditional aesthetic, technical, and material concerns”. Young has been an artist who puts his songs at the service of an overall theme, often discarding some of his greatest songs because they didn’t fit. As a result his true greatness as a songwriter to the general public may have been overlooked to some degree. Which is why Before and After is interesting, as it clearly puts the songs in the service of the album. The theme is the songs. This is especially highlighted by the sequencing and the transitions. Going from one melody straight into another in such an apparently seamless way brings out the true beauty of those melodies. The matching of the melody and the lyrics, which as Randy Newman has pointed out before, don’t always look good on the page but when performed together with that vocal delivery, it’s as though he’s nailed that feeling, that thought, in its most consummate form. You get the feeling that the artist is vindicating himself and rightly so.
Thanks Art! Good points on our favorite “conceptual thinker”.
ReplyDeleteIf you listen to the recent interviews, Neil talks a great deal about the editing/sequencing of the tracks w/ Producer Lou Adler.
If you listen very carefully, each song transition edits are on the same chord/key/note.
Hence the floe between songs sounds seamless. No hiccups, weirdness whatsoever. The edits are so subtle as to be transparent.
indeed, saying NY is a “conceptual thinker”. is quite the understatement.
@ Dan : Thanks for posting your thoughts on BAA on TW. You’re not wrong! I liked what you had to say.
ReplyDeleteI know you love vinyl. I just picked up my 4th rare Mark Lanegan / Screaming Trees LP, Last Words. And you have got me now thinking about Before And After on Vinyl. I haven’t bought any Neil Young vinyl other than the Ditch Trilogy & Peace Traill. I had an experience of the covers falling apart and got turned off to Neil on LP. But this one would be cool. It’s all one song!
See you this summer, we hope! Outlaw Field!
Your Brother Alan in Seattle