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Neil Young: where to start ?


warioblast

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Honestly, the "Greatest Hits" CD is a very good overview of all the MOST essential stuff, you can't much go wrong with it.

 

Depending on what particular songs you like, what styles of his catch you best, you can follow recommendations from there.

 

Alternatively, get both Ragged Glory and Harvest Moon. Two excellent albums, showing both main sides of what Neil is.

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After the Gold Rush (my favorite chill Neil Young album)

Rust Never Sleeps (my personal favorite album of his)

Tonight's the Night (for beautifully drunk mourning and catharsis)

Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (a must have)

Harvest and Comes a Time are great if you are into country-flavored stuff.

Ragged Glory is the same song (sound wise) for the whole album pretty much, but it's a great sound.

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I usually don't take such an elitist approach, but I'd say to fully appreciate Young is to see him on two adjacent dates on tour where on one date, he goes full on aggressive {censored} the whole time and you completely believe it, then on the next one he never plays an electric and you completely believe it.

 

As a passive concert-goer, I'm sure a lot of folks didn't quite know what to make of him. As a fellow musician, at first you're pissed off, then you realize the genius involved of, not only being able to fully pull that off, but having such a wide body of work, that you can play four total hours, not repeating every single song in the same order.

 

I'd say Harvest and Rust Never Sleeps would have to be the two 'must haves' though I don't know how one could ignore After The Gold Rush and Zuma.

 

I'm sure I'm in the minority, but I really like Harvest Moon as well. It wasn't one that I instantly loved, but... well... it really grew on me and, compilation albums aside, I'm not entirely sure it wouldn't be the one Neil Young disc I'd take with me to the proverbial desert island.

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Sometimes it's distorted - NY

 

I started to write a big long note about the duality of Neil, but it was just impossible.

 

To really capture Neil Young, choose one or more from each grouping, but make sure to get one from each

 

A) Comes A Time, Harvest Moon, After the Gold Rush, Unplugged, Massey Hall

 

B) Ragged Glory, Rust Never Sleeps, Re*Ac*Tor, Weld

 

C) On The Beach, Tonight's The Night

 

D) Everybody Knows this is Nowhere, Filmore East

 

E) Live Rust

 

F) This Note's For You, Everybody's Rockin', Trans

 

G) Pick a Buffalo Springfield album

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I usually don't take such an elitist approach, but I'd say to fully appreciate Young is to see him on two adjacent dates on tour where on one date, he goes full on aggressive {censored} the whole time and you completely believe it, then on the next one he never plays an electric and you completely believe it.


As a passive concert-goer, I'm sure a lot of folks didn't quite know what to make of him. As a fellow musician, at first you're pissed off, then you realize the genius involved of, not only being able to fully pull that off, but having such a wide body of work, that you can play four total hours, not repeating every single song in the same order.


 

 

I've seen him on three different tours, once with Crazy Horse for the Weld tour, once with Booker T and the MGs as his back up band, and once solo for a pre -Harvest Moon tour. His work with Crazy Horse is why I became a fan, but that solo show of his is one of the best shows I've seen. The stage was set with many different acoustics, a banjo and a dobro or two. He'd wander around between songs, decide on a song, pick up a guitar and start singing. Fantastic show.

 

...and no love for Greendale? Guess I'm in the minority here, but that's one of my favorites from him. No great singles off of it, but the album as a whole is pretty damn good. I prefer it to LeNoise by a long shot...

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