Zuma's Neil Young Top 50 to 1

[Zuma]

Next in my series of 50 to 1 is one of my favourites, the enduring, genre hopping, brilliant yet wilfully erratic Canadian rocker Neil Young who is often considered second to the great Bob Dylan in terms of his influence and song writing from the 60's and still vital and alive today. Please feel free to discuss your thoughts on my selections throughout this thread

Song 50 - Sample & Hold - Trans - 1982

The adventurous Neil Young tries his hand at synthesized Euro pop feeding his voice through a vocoder. Yes the same man who brought you Heart of Gold and Southern Man takes an interesting turn and one panned by the critics but revaluated as well ahead of its time.

Some people love the Trans album but largely it was misunderstood leading to Young actually being sued for "making music unrepresentative of Neil Young". The songs on the album were Neil attempting to use his music as sounds as an interface for communication with his young son who suffers cerebral palsy.

The live shows in Europe were considered by some fans as one of Neil's best live performances and were captured in Live at Berlin which Im sure has now been released to DVD

Having trouble uploading a performance of this song if anyone wouldn't mind doing the honours?

 

[SA HAWK]

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

Subscribed

 

[Zuma]

Song 49 - Prisoner's of Rock and Roll - Life - 1987

One of the few highlights from Neil and Crazy Horses patchy yet never dull mid 80's period was the straight up satirical rocker "Prisoner's of Rock and Roll" where Neil loudly declares "that's why we don't wan't to be good" which I interpret as a finger to "record company clowns" (Geffen Records) and a nod to die hard Crazy Horse fans who understand that Neil and The Horse play like no other band and exist to capture a feeling first and foremost than to churn out commercial product. The song is one of the from the Life and Landing on Water albums that have aged well and is sometimes performed in their live shows. It is one of my favourites from the band that tells it as it is.

 

[Zuma]

Song 48 - Shock and Awe - Living With War - 2006

Neil harboured strong views against America's involvement in the War in Afghanistan and felt compelled to re-form the power trio (Neil, Chad Cromwell & Rick Rosas) that recorded Freedom and Eldorado EP and wrote, recorded and released an album titled "Living With War" inside a couple of weeks. Political opinions aside it is a collection of very moving ballads and blisteringly powerful rockers of which the song "Shock and Awe" hits home hard. This is off the cuff stuff that was recorded at pace yet get the feeling Neil had been thinking about putting pen to paper on the issue for a few years. Neil got CSNY back on the road and toured this album to both praise and criticism. Songs to stir the emotions regardless of what position you took on the situation.



Recording of the song

 

[Mr_Bojangles]

Yeah I'm in.

 

[Zuma]

Song 47 - Don't Cry - Eldorado (EP) - 1988

Rick Rosas and Chad Cromwell (same duo who later played with Neil on the abovementioned song) joined Neil to record an EP in advance of the return to form album "Freedom" . Unknown to alot of people the EP was released without fanfare exclusive to Japan and Australia. "Don't Cry" is a heavy grungy ballad featuring a fiercely passionate falsetto from Neil. This thing rocks ad lumbers and is a forerunner of sorts to many songs that were to come from the younger "grunge" "alt rock" and "hard rock" bands that became popular during the late eighties through to the mid nineties. This song was also recorded for the next album Freedom released in 1989 and was played live around the time of release even on the Australian 1989 tour. Enjoy this track.



and live

 

[Zuma]

Song 46 - Razor Love - Silver & Gold - 2000

A beautifully stunning and tender acoustic love song recorded by Neil for the 2000 album Silver and Gold was arguably the performance of his 1999/2000 solo tours, especially accompanied by players such as Duck Dunn and friends which can be found on the Neil Young 2000 Red Rocks DVD. I always loved the lyric " I got faith in you, It's a razor love that cuts clean through" sit back, close your eyes and enjoy a song that obviously means a great deal to Neil.

 

[Zuma]

Song 45 - She's Always Dancing - Psychadelic Pill - 2012

In 2012 Neil and The Horse captured some of that old school 70's spirit with a brilliant album and this song features the ragged beauty of the quartet. Prominent harmony vocals lead by Poncho, an unmistakable Ralphie drum beat, steadfast bass from Bily an ageless warbling vocal meanderings and scintillating guitar work of Neil Young. The song is very Like a Hurricane-esque and will transport you to another place if you allow yourself to fully immerse and feel the Horse

 

[Grogg]

Subbed.

 

[Power Raid]

still love neil young's work but I am a bit of a fairweather and prefer his most famous stuff

 

[Zuma]

Song 44 - Lotta Love - Comes a Time - 1978

A straight up acoustic and piano love song with an infectious but gorgeous melody this song written by Neil, released on his "Comes a Time" album and performed on the Rust Never Sleeps Tour was taken high up the pop charts in this country and the US by Nicolette Larson. This song gets the nod ahead of another song from this album called "Look out for My Love" Besides the well known and loved Harvest album, Comes a Time is perhaps Neils most accessible album for the casual listener. Enjoy Neil singing his heart out with "Lotta Love"



and the more well known cover version

 

[SA HAWK]

I hope Grey Riders is somewhere in the top 50.

 

[Zuma]

Song 43 - No Wonder - Prairie Wind - 2005

A vintage acoustic guitar riff begins one of Neil's dynamic songs featuring a number of bluesy country tempo changes that build and kick the dust up making this a very engaging song you won't soon forget. Great production on this song reminiscent of some of the grandiose numbers from the Harvest album. Many fans considered this album as a Harvest 3 of sorts, it certainly is a strong effort recorded after Neil's recovery from a brain aneurysm and certainly has an underlying theme of life on the prairie, reflection and mortality also a Chris Rock and Willie Nelson name-check in there.

"Tick, Tock, The Clock on the Wall, No Wonder Were Loosing Time"

 

[Zuma]

Song 42 - Shots - Re-act-or - 1981

Perhaps the loudest thing Neil and Crazy Horse recorded blasts of distortion, ringing gun shot sound effects, ferocious drumming and Neil's piercing guitar beautifully contrasted with distant howl of Neil's impassioned reading of lyrics, written back in 1978, set to one of Young's underrated melodies.

The Reactor album is one of several bizarre yet interesting Young releases during the 80's and perhaps my favorite of his 80's records mostly due to Neil and Crazy Horses play as hard and as loud as they can attitude.

Its a fun record too with songs such as "Opera Star" which nearly made this top 50 but withheld due to the stoned out of his mind bizzare lyrics, same going for "Surfer Joe, Moe and the Sleaze", "TBone" and "Get Back On It" If your up for a laugh and love loud crude not giving a damn Neil Young then track this album, have a few beers and play it LOUD.

 

[Zuma]

[QUOTE="SA HAWK, post: 40755915, member: 29312]I hope Grey Riders is somewhere in the top 50.[/QUOTE]
performed in 1985 with the IH's

 

[Power Raid]

a good review so far

keep it up

 

[Zuma]

Song 41 - I Am A Child - Last Time Around - 1968

From the Buffalo Springfield's final studio album comes Neil's sweet and heartfelt ode to the child in all of us marked the beginning of his singer/songwriter acoustic style which dominated his early 70's recordings. The lyrics are endearing and enduring:

I am a child, I'll last a while.
You can't conceive
of the pleasure in my smile.
You hold my hand,
rough up my hair,
It's lots of fun
to have you there.

God gave to you,
now, you give to me,
I'd like to know
what you learned.
The sky is blue
and so is the sea.
What is the color,
when black is burned?
What is the color?

You are a man, you understand.
You pick me up
and you lay me down again.
You make the rules,
you say what's fair,
It's lots of fun
to have you there.

God gave to you,
now, you give to me,
I'd like to know
what you learned.
The sky is blue
and so is the sea.
What is the color,
when black is burned?
What is the color?

I am a child, I'll last a while.
You can't conceive
of the pleasure in my smile.

 

[Reppie]

Legend.

 

[Zuma]

Song 40 - Bandit - Greendale - 2003

a deep cut from Neil's "concept" album Greendale (which was toured and performed in Australia) Bandit finds Uncle Neil as if sitting around a campfire a few beers in, acoustic strings tuned right down and whispering words of wisdom to a young nephew finding his way in the world. The song alternates between an ageing whisper to Neil's still beautiful and melodic warble "some day, you'll find, everything your looking for"

 

[Zuma]

Song 39 - Words (Between the Lines Of Aaaage) - Harvest - 1972

A haunting country rock waltz would describe this intense cut from Neil's ever popular Harvest album. "I'm sitting here hoping this water will boil" Words with its slow burning sound of impending doom is often performed in Neil's Non Crazy Horse set list and still sounds as ominous today as it did back then. Neil is playing a Gretsch White Falcon on this track and some of the best drumming on a Neil song IMHO is featured.

 

[wally funk]

Words... Definitely one of my absolute faves

 

[Zuma]

Song 38 - Birds - After The Goldrush - 1970

Birds is a not so well known, often overlooked but gorgeous piano ballad from Neil's After The Goldrush album. A strong melody sung with his sweet and youthful tenor voice is always a joy to listen to.



and more recently live

 

[Zuma]

Song 37 - Mr Soul - Buffalo Springfield Again - 1967

Neil's first big hit driven by a "Satisfation" like riff is his most released song of his career. Written immediately after being treated for a seizure disorder it sounds like his take on fame and female attention at the time. The song has interestingly been reinterpreted for his "Trans" album in an electro synth styling and more successfully with drop D tuning and harmonica for his early 90's unplugged album and live performances.

original performance in 67


unplugged


recent buffalo performance, got his teeth and frown going

 

[Zuma]

Song 36 - ****in Up - Ragged Glory - 1990

Neil's anthem to self loathing and in my opinion Neil's definitive "grunge" offering. It's big, its bad, its heavy and it was not out of place in 1990 on the eve of a new wave of kids playing angry, desperate and distorted music. A bad ass riff and primal drum beat along with some bad ass lyrics and frenetic guitar soloing made this song a popular one in the set list with the F bomb and all, I've experienced it, that thundering riff and drums coursing through my body. Enjoy the video, Neil and the Horse never looked cooler.