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An unofficial news blog for Neil Young fans from Thrasher's Wheat with concert and album updates, reviews, analysis, and other Rock & Roll ramblings. Separating the wheat from the chaff since 1996.
Rolling Stone's 50 Best Albums of 2012: #10 - Neil Young and Crazy Horse, 'Psychedelic Pill'
"Psychedelic Pill"
by Neil Young & Crazy Horse
(Click photo to enlarge)
Neil Young and Crazy Horse's 'Psychedelic Pill' #10 is on Rolling Stone's 50 Best Albums of 2012:
Appearing alongside his memoir and the history-lesson covers set Americana, this is as inspiringly strange as anything he's done. It opens with the 27-minute "Driftin' Back," a free-associating timeline that morphs from co ffeehouse folk to charred Crazy Horse jam. Feedback and flashbacks, sentimental and not, flow between inspired moments of old-coot humor ("Gonna get me a hip-hop haircut!"), all peaking with the 16-minute "Walk Like a Giant," a doo-wop noise-metal Sixties lament that goes out stomping. Like a giant, indeed.
Also, Rolling Stone has ranked "Ramada Inn" as 5th best song of 2012.
The latest trademark applications, filed this month, refer to "cases for audio tuners, audio receivers, amplifiers, tape players, compact disc players, MP3 controllers/players, audio mixers, audio speakers in the nature of music studio monitors, microphones, audio speakers, compact discs, audio tapes, portable computers, antennas, phonographic record players, audio recording equipment," according to documents on file with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
One small step closer to Archives Vol. 2?! We shall see...
ps - if you're interested in road testing an early PONO prototype here's a 1961 Lincoln Continental up for auction on eBay Motors.
Some avid car collector has put less than 2,000 on the odometer and has kept it garaged with the rest of his collection. Master mechanic Bruce Ferrario has tuned up the engine, performed all needed maintenance and brought the overall performance and functionality up to Mr Young’s specifications.
Interesting story: I finally got 'Psychedelic Pill' today.
(Thing is, it was considerably more difficult than I thought. I ended up getting my copy from a local book and music store. I'm still very attached to the physical product, rather than mp3s. I was trying to get it through Barnes and Noble. They had it available for order online, but when I tried to find it in-store by entering my postal (zip) code, it was listed as "out of stock" at all stores with a 100 hundred mile radius! (Of course, I wasn't going to drive 100 miles even for Neil Young, but I extended my search that far just out of curiosity.)
And all of this happened to me just today, so it sounds like there are definitely some problems with retail delivery for this item at the moment. The street date was right when Hurricane Sandy hit, so that was crappy timing for sure. Although with online shopping these days, it doesn't seem to be getting in the way of sales, interestingly enough. I just wonder how long before some of the poor people in New York get to hear it. The last I heard, there were people out there still without power. Without iTunes and online stores, I suspect this album wouldn't sell as well. Say what you will about mp3s, but it means that people can buy the album without ever having to leave their house or relying on any kind of courier service.
I know the album's been pretty well-received by the critics and the fans so far, and it looks like it is selling well.)
Anyway, 'Psychedelic Pill' is interesting so far, although I've yet to listen fully. As such, I need some more time before expecting any great reflections. When the first track is twenty-seven minutes long, it takes time to work through things. "Driftin' Back" is a little nuts, it has to be said. I like it musically, especially the introduction--which I thought was a clever, engaging switch-up for Neil. It sounds cool and has its groove. The lyrics are on the bizarre side, although some of the earlier comments had me worried that they would be worse than they are. The form and structure are simple if not simplistic, but to be honest, I find it hard to take issue with "Hey, hey, now, now" without also taking issue with "Hey, hey, my, my."
"Driftin' Back" is evidently meant to drift a little, or at least, I doubt that the title is any coincidence knowing Neil. I get the impression it's also meant to sound like a mantra: "Blocking out my anger". It seems to be about the search for something soulful or spiritually genuine in a world where many things are commercialized, superficial, phony, and purely profit-driven, whether the issue is mp3s or organized religion.
"Driftin' Back" seems to be an experiment, lyrically in particular, and I'm glad he did it even though it may have its strengths and weaknesses. By the way, I'm not one of those who finds a twenty-seven minute piece to be especially "self-indulgent" or arrogant. Not when Neil is asking us to devote time to an 85-minute album in the first place.
I'm not going to give up on Driftin' Back like some others have, either.
Whatever Poncho or anyone else was aware of at the time, I don't think Neil wrote the lyrics like that by accident. Just like he wrote 'Fork in the Road' (the song) that way on purpose. Driftin' Back sounds like part mantra and, sometimes, part send-up of rap and other overly simplistic popular music. In the latter regard, it vaguely reminds of Cough up the Bucks. It's a little nuts (not least of all on account of its being twenty-seven minutes long), but it has potential. Neil openly states in the lyric that he's blocking out thoughts and letting feelings through, so it's not going to be one of his most prosaic or lyrically ornate numbers.
I made the mistake of leafing through the booklet while Driftin' Back was playing, and in the process saw a bunch of lyrics without the music, some of which didn't seem very impressive on their own. So I wasn't sure 'Psychedelic Pill', the song, was going to be that great based on lyrics alone, but when I heard the song, it clicked. It was all in what they did with it--the music and concept/arrangement. I love the sound. It reminds me a little of 'Opera Star', but at the same time, I think it's one of the most effective psychedelic throwback songs Neil and the Horse have ever done, which is saying something considering the amount of nostalgia for old times that the relatively recent albums ('Ragged Glory' onwards) have displayed. So, stupid me: I prejudiced myself by looking at lyrics I should have known didn't represent a complete piece of music.
'Psychedelic Pill', the title track, is remarkable just because of how well it evokes the sound and feeling of rock music circa 1970. (I"m talking about the first version here, not the bonus alternate mix, which I have yet to give the attention it's due). 'Ramada Inn' also has its appeal.
Overall, I love the musical sound of the album and it seems to have a groove, but based even on the partial impressions I've been able to gather so far, I'm hesitating to call it five stars yet. Four might be fair, but I really have to give the second disc more attention before I'm in any position to judge. So far, I will say it's not making the same immediate impression that on me that 'Le Noise' did.
Then again, my tastes may be odd.
I prefer 'Sleeps with Angels' over 'Ragged Glory', can actually bear to play 'Are You Passionate?' all the way through now and then, and I'm not one of those who's spent the last ten years saying Neil needed to get back together with Crazy Horse.
Thanks, Neil, for reminding this book worm that there's sometimes more to it than words.
Thanks D.I.! We'll just add that we're really loving PP. DB, RI, & WLAG are wonderful jams by the guys. We think we'll be listening to RI for decades to come it seems to have that timeless feel to it.
The Album Review of the Moment on Psychedelic Pill by Neil Young & Crazy Horse will probably take some heat from Bob Dylan fans by suggesting that Tempest is half-asleep compared to Psychedelic Pill.
Well, there: here’s the album for all of those who complained that Neil Young and Crazy Horse’s Americana was made up of covers when it was released back in June. (Of course, the songs were twisted and cranked by Young and company into shapes and forms of their own unique design, but you know how some folks are, eh?) The nine tracks on the new double-disc Psychedelic Pill (eight originals plus an alternate mix of the title track) are all original NY & CH tunes – as NY & CH as it gets. Young has had some brilliant collaborators over the years (the late Ben Keith being one of the best and most unique), but when it comes to simply rolling up the sleeves and getting down to it, drummer Ralph Molina, bassist Billy Talbot, and guitarist Frank Sampedro are Young’s go-to team.
Always have been; always will be.
...
In “Twisted Road” Young tells us how hearing Bob Dylan’s “Like A Rolling Stone” nailed him right between the ears when he first heard it: “I felt that magic and took it home/Gave it a twist and made it mine/But nothing was as good as the very first time.” As we approach 50 years since the release of that particular Dylan classic, it’s interesting to compare where the two artists are these days. Dylan’s new Tempest album feels like the work of Uncle Bob the entertainer and his hot-shot band, strolling through a set of tunes that feel comfy and easy for him. Young, on the other hand, comes across as engaged, fierce, and intrigued by his own musical muse – playing the hell out of the songs on Psychedelic Pill and knowing just the right players to do it with.
“I want to walk like a giant on the land,” sings Young in the sixteen-and-a-half minute squall-and-roar-fest towards the album’s end.
Mission accomplished.
Thanks Brian! Let's hope that Dylan fans don't get too stirred up by your review. ;)
Today, after much anticipation, "Psychedelic Pill" -- the new album by Neil Young & Crazy Horse is being released.
After spending over a month in the Amazon Top 100 List, the album is now sitting at #1, with Taylor Swift and Rod Stewart following?!
Past, present and future, for sure.
Lots of interesting reviews have been dropping for the last few weeks falling into the usual range of opinions. From "improbable and brilliant" (SPIN Magazine) to "loose and indulgent" (Telegraph).
Like the blues, the albums Young makes with Crazy Horse have almost become a genre unto themselves.
This review captures the essence of " Psychedelic Pill" on American Songwriter By Jim Beviglia:
It doesn’t take a math major to figure out that several songs have to be extremely long to fill out that space; indeed, three tracks combined take up an hour’s worth of listening time. That bit of knowledge will probably send certain Crazy Horse fans into fits of joy at the free-form, rocking possibilities, while fans of Young’s more efficient songwriting are probably smelling the fumes of indulgence in the air.
In "Twisted Road," one of eight new songs sprawled across this turbulent two-CD set, Young recalls, in a brilliantly mixed metaphor, the first time he heard Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone": "Poetry rolling off his tongue/Like Hank Williams chewing bubble gum." And Young tells you what he did with the impact. "I felt that magic and took it home/Gave it a twist and made it mine," he sings over Crazy Horse's rough-country swagger, as if the marvel of that time and his dreams are still close enough to touch.
So are the mess and his dismay.
NEW VIDEO: "Ramada Inn" - Neil Young & Crazy Horse
But because Neil Young – at least when he is hitting on all four
cylinders, and despite all of his hits and misses over the years – has
established such a high artistic standard, his fans just as often place
equally lofty demands on the man. Taken on that level, Psychedelic Pill delivers the goods and then some.
One of the first things that becomes apparent while reading Waging Heavy Peace and listening to Psychedelic Pill at the same time is that they are deeply interwoven and operate together.
Most of the songs on the two-disc set refer to episodes, issues or emotions expressed in his book, as MP3 sound quality, drugs, old friends and the passage of time are all contemplated in what must certainly be the most unassuming and artless collection of lyrics that Young has ever recorded. It may strike one as ironic that Young’s autobiography runs at nearly 500 pages long, while the words he sings on his new record are perfunctory at best. The good news is that it doesn’t matter one bit. Young has obviously said all he has to say for the time being in his book.Psychedelic Pill is a flat-out guitar record, and it’s one of the best ones you’ll ever hear.
The music on Psychedelic Pill has its own groove and tempo that—despite the often harsh and raw timbre of the songs—encourages the listener to relax, wait and feel all of the communicated emotions in an unhurried manner. The record’s sonics are grounded in the language of rock music, but there’s something truly unique in the thick stew that Neil and Crazy Horse have brewed here. Miles Davis in 1970, Jimi Hendrix’s “Moon, Turn the Tides” from Electric Ladyland, Grateful Dead live “Dark Star” from around 1973; it’s hard to think of better comparisons.
It's almost impossible to not be cynical about rock stars working the myth one more time; it's what they do when they reach a certain age. The thing is, even when Young deploys a chord sequence we've heard from him before, or sings a melody that echoes something he wrote in the '80s, the jagged, relentlessly fierce Crazy Horse is there to inject new backbone and spirit into the mix. The band doesn't just redeem Young's mawkish moments — it transforms them. They won't let this guy phone anything in, or rest on any laurels. He might prattle on like an old crank about the sound quality of digital files, as he does in one tune here. But it hardly matters, because when the singing stops and Young falls into step with the Crazy Horse ethos, the music positively erupts.
If you’ve ingested enough psychedelic pills yourself, you’re well aware
of the phenomenon of the flashback, that brief and disorienting instant
when you have no idea if you’re five or 25. And Psychedelic Pill
is flashback city, Young lyrically calling back to nuggets of thought
from decades ago, sounding vaguely amazed by how vivid they still feel.
The album has lyrics about hearing “Like A Rolling Stone” for the first
time, about playing the same venue where he once saw Roy Orbison, about
the province where he was born. And when he and Crazy Horse launch off
on one of their extended instrumental journeys, which they do often,
there’s an air of sense-memory about it all.
Young’s generous solos here
don’t blaze or soar or shiver. His guitars and those of Frank “Poncho”
Sampedro murmur back and forth, having quiet conversations that they’re
not sure they want us to overhear. The vocal harmonies bring a sighing,
comfortable awe that’s not quite as expected. Even on “Driftin’ Back,”
that 27-minute opener, where Young occasionally steps to the mic and
issues another old-man complaint, the complaints aren’t the real point
of the song. The real point is in the stretching-into-infinity
instrumental passages, and in the quieter bits where Young and his
friends just repeat the song’s title softly to themselves. And I’ve
found that the best way to listen to the album is to unstick myself from
time, to let all those currents of guitar and voice carry me to a place
deeper inside my own head.
Thankfully, the album's final epic, "Walk Like a Giant", scrawls a
jagged line through that cuddly history with a single chord change,
coming immediately after an immensely dopey verse about how Neil and his
friends were gonna save the world. In fact, "Walk Like a Giant", is
easily the best studio Crazy Horse performance since Ragged Glory.
Once again, the formula is unchanged-- it even swipes pretty heavily
from the "Hey Hey My My" riff-- but between the verses the Horse is
whipped until it foams at the mouth. Everything great about Neil Young,
electric guitarist, is on full display, his singular tone veering from
feral growls and feedback to blistering fury while the other three egg
him on with subtle, perennially underrated counterpoint.
Despite
the patience required to get there, the track underlines the greatest
trick of Neil Young's long career: thathis most self-indulgent mode can
also be his most crowd-pleasing. At this point, the "these old guys
still know how to rock!" angle for Crazy Horse is itself old enough to
collect Social Security. But there's enough life and fuck-you attitude
left in Psychedelic Pill to remind a listener that "it's better
to burn out than to fade away" wasn't necessarily about dying young, so
long as you avoided phoning it in. If circling the wagons is what it
takes to keep Neil Young's fire raging, then just be happy he lets us
pay to watch.
Bring on the self indulgence and revel in its ragged glory!
And while Pill probably isn't
destined to be held in the same regard as such stone ‘70s classics as Zuma or Rust Never Sleeps (and its concert counterpart Live Rust), it's easily as tunefully unhinged as 1990's Ragged Glory and as sonically immediate
as 1994's Sleeps With Angels; it's as
pure a distillation of the band as one could hope for in 2012.
And -- maybe as expected -- folks like their psychedelic pills in large doses.
(Click photo to enlarge)
Here are the results from our exclusive TW Shakey Poll: 46% prefer the big "Psychedelic Pill" dosage, 42% prefer the small dosage, and 11% don't care.
Which brings us to our Comment of the Moment:
Change the album's title to WALK LIKE GIANT. That has more meaning than anything.
When i first heard that song, the first simple lyrics, Walk like a giant.....floating like a leaf...but back to wanting to walk like a giant ..... had more impact on me than anything Neil in 10 + years. Perfect. Made sense. Didn't even have to get deeper than that basic idea. Anything more was extra. And doing it with CH made it to another level. After that I said if Neil never records again,he hit the high mark again. I'm satisfied.
2 weeks later after a heavy hike in Hawaii( walking like a giant), I was diagnosed with a bunch of cancer. Boy did those lyrics fit then. From walking like a Giant to Floating like a leaf....but of course I will continue to try and get back to walking like a giant !!! I had major surgery 6 days ago. Been home 3 days. I dont even know how I am typing this.
I listened to walk like a giant every day in the hospital. I have a long way to go but I will walk like a giant if its the last thing I do. Thanks Neil for the great song ! Inspiration beyong all my 42 years of listening to your music. Never stop trying to walk like a gaint. Never baby ! You get it, as you always have. This is the essence of life, even without my complication.
I feel great considering. Mentally strong.
Ready to fight. Long way to go. I even asked the doctor how could i have been so sick and hike like that and then be this weak and sick ?
It was all in my spirit for life i guess.
Walk like a giant as the title with a pic of Neil and the guys hiking in volcano region of Mauii ! That would do it for me. I intend to shortly pre-order the vinyl, cd and blu-ray. It may take me months or years to walk like a giant again, but there is no doubt I will.
Cant wait for the official release.
Thanks Neil and CH for a great one !
Thanks pal. All the best and a speedy recovery back to walking like a giant. And you will my friend. Your spirit is strong and the spirits are with you. Be well.
ALBUM ART COVER: "Psychedelic Pill" by Neil Young & Crazy Horse
"Psychedelic Pill"
by Neil Young & Crazy Horse
(Click photo to enlarge)
Here's the album art cover for "Psychedelic Pill" by Neil Young & Crazy Horse.
Kinda trippy, eh?
If you enlarge artwork and look very closely, you can see various characters making up each letter of the album name. That should provide us with lots of fun until release. Also, look very, very closely at the pill in the center. You'll see a familiar logo. :)
The album is to be released on October 30th and is now up on Amazon.com for pre-orders.
"Psychedelic Pill" was produced by Neil Young with John Hanlon and Mark Humphreys and will be released as a double-CD, a triple-LP vinyl edition and Blu-Ray. Also, full-length videos for each of the songs are being produced for Blu-Ray edition.
So we'll have an 8 song double CD?! 4 songs per disc ... sounds like we're getting some long songs... especially the album opener "Driftin' Back" at over 27:00 minutes.
Disc One:
1 Driftin' Back (27:36)
2 Psychedelic Pill (3:26)
3 Ramada Inn (16:49)
4 Born In Ontario (3:49)
Disc Two:
1 Twisted Road (3:28)
2 She's Always Dancing (8:33)
3 For The Love Of Man (4:13)
4 Walk Like A Giant (16:27)
TRACK LISTING: Psychedelic Pill by Neil Young & Crazy Horse
A Psychedelic Pill
(NOTE: This is not the album cover)
(Click photo to enlarge)
The tracklisting for the upcoming Neil Young & Crazy Horse album "Psychedelic Pill" is now up on Amazon.com.
Disc: 1
1. Driftin Back
2. Psychedelic Pill
3. Ramada Inn
4. Born In Ontario
Disc: 2
1. Twisted Road
2. She's Always Dancing
3. For The Love Of Man
4. Walk Like A Giant
5. Psychedelic Pill (Bonus Track Alternate Mix)
So an 8 song double CD?! Sounds like we're getting some long songs. "Driftin Back" is reportedly over 26 minutes.
The Amazon.com listing has a Oct 30th release date for the CD but no artwork as of yet.
Psychedelic Pill will be released in October. It was recorded right after Americana at Audio Casa Blanca. A double-CD and triple-vinyl will be released because of the lengths of many of the songs, some of which were previewed in Crazy Horse's live performances earlier this month. In the spirit of Americana's release, full length videos for each of the songs will be available and previewed. A recommended high resolution 24/192 full fidelity version of the album Psychedelic Pill will be released on Blu-ray and will include all the videos. The low resolution iTunes downloads will also be accompanied by videos. Thanks for listening.
How ironic is it with all of the controversy that 'Americana' generated among the faithful, whether good or bad, that it came and went and now here we are already talking about the upcoming record.
The process of recording and delivering a record to the marketplace today is so different then in the past with the technology thats available which seems to work well for an artist such as Neil who can get his art out to us on a whim like a snapshot of where he's at during that moment in time. I can recall people writing how disappointed they were with Neil for releasing an album of covers. 100 year old folk songs none the less. Neil was "washed up" they said. I mean, after waiting 8 yrs for a Crazy Horse record this was the best he could offer? Now just a few months later here we are talking about the upcoming 'Psychedelic Pill' and Americana has come and gone without any of the songs even included in the set list of the concerts, except for 'Jesus Chariot' once or twice. 'Living With War' came and went as did 'Greendale', but I think when the dust settles, Americana is going to go down as a blip in Neil's catalog.
I really do believe that Neil's greatest work is yet to come but most of us won't recognize it when it arrives because were looking for a repeat of Zuma or EKTIN or RNS's, even though when those arrived they were different then anything he had done previously.
It's just a dilemma of being a reluctant to change fan of an ever evolving artist.
Psychedelic Pill: What Will The Magic Ingredients Be?
A Psychedelic Pill (Click photo to enlarge)
So now that we know the title of the new Neil Young & Crazy Horse album is "Psychedelic Pill" based on interview comments by Poncho in Rolling Stone, there's been much speculation on what the album will contain.
Here are some ramblings on what may be on the forthcoming CD.
There was a BBC Interview where Neil mentions this might be a double CD. One song, the longest, is 26 min long. Then there are 3 other "quite long" songs and a bunch more of "normal length". There will be a lot of excursions.
Poncho also mentions that the new sessions kicked off with a "2 chord jam" that lasted "almost 30 minutes" which started as a "sketch" and Neil went back in and "filled in the gaps". Following this, Neil came in with more realized songs. He also mentioned that "Walk Like A Giant" was recorded in 1 take and then they went back for overdubs. The result surprised everyone in terms of it's "hugeness".
Then there was the "Horseback" Jam Which was about 17minutes long before they broke into an equally long Cortez.
One might assume that the songs we are getting live are about as long or longer than their studio versions (with the feedback codas, etc). That tends to happen a lot. And they are clearly more than "2 chord Jams".
So I am guessing we have the following long songs on PP:
1) The 26 minute 2-chord Jam song that Neil filled in. 2) Walk Like A Giant 3) Ramada Inn 4) ??? Maybe Neil did something with the Horseback Jam and turned it into a song. Or perhaps there is something else here.
Then:
5) Ontario 6) Twisted Road 7) For the Love of Man 8) Psychedelic Pill
One can't even guess what else may have been recorded during these sessions.
"For the Love of Man" was recorded for LeNoise, I believe. "Twisted Road" may have been, as well. So Maybe Neil will put "You Never Call" and "Leia" on PP.
Figure if he can go back for "I Wonder Why" he could also pull other very personal songs out from his past.
Hard to believe we could be getting another Crazy Horse CD in about 2 months time. Can't wait until the real info starts rolling in. Meanwhile, I wonder if the lads are getting in any more studio time...Hopefully this is another fertile and creative period for Neil!
Until then, I have a great taping of Red Rocks 8/6 I am listening to in the car right now thanks to RideMyLlama!
LRR
Thanks Lone Red Rider! Sounds like some good hunches. A double album would be such a trip. It would be like 3 Crazy Horses albums in one year. Lucky us.
for pre-orders.
>> Pre-Order on Amazon.com << 
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