SOUNDTRACK: NEIL YOUNG-Chrome Dreams II (2007).
I reviewed some live Neil Young releases a little while back, and now I’ve come to this, Neil’s latest release. Since he stopped making his grunge records in the nineties, he’s been releasing a lot of records that are more mellow (aside from Living with War which was clearly a cathartic outburst for him). Silver and Gold (2000) is a very pretty collection of songs, and Greendale (2003) is a fun, meandering story with some rather good songs on it. So, Chrome Dreams II is a really nice change of pace for the man of so many genres.
There’s some back story about why it’s called Chrome Dreams II, and you can read about it here if you want. But I just want to talk about the songs. The record starts off with another fantastic country-tinged ballad “Beautiful Bluebird” as heartwarming a song as Neil writes. But it’s really song three that is the standout track. At over 18 minutes long, “Ordinary People” is a weird piece of music for Neil. It’s a very simple song: verse, chorus, bridge, solos. It rocks pretty hard, almost like the grunge days of yore, but the horns make it seem less grungey and more classic rocky. The verses are little slices of life, the chorus is about how the folks in the choruses are all ordinary people, and the bridge moves to the solos. What is pretty impressive about the song is that it never gets tedious, even for 18 minutes. The solos are pretty interesting, and they get more frenetic as the song goes on, but there’s also solos from the horn section (yup, the song has horns, too). My favorite part of the song is the seemingly tossed off feeling of it. The backing vocals don’t really keep up with the lead vocals, sometimes they’re lazily behind, there’s even some improvs from them. It just sounds like they’re having a lot of fun. And that’s good. Normally I like my 18 minute songs to have multiple parts and time changes, but this one manages to pass by on charm.
The rest of the album contains a mix of pretty ballads and unusual rockers. “Shining Light” is another strong ballad that hearkens back to the seventies for me. And then there’s “Dirty Old Man,” a totally silly song about being, well, a dirty old man. It rocks pretty hard in the way many of Neil’s classic songs do. The album then winds down with a 14 minute song that’s not quite a thrilling as “Ordinary People,” as it’s a lot more soloing. The album ends with a pretty song sung with what seems like a children’s choir, “The Way,” which is cute and never descends into mawkishness.
It’s an album that’s all over the place, and yet those differences really make the set versatile and interesting. It’s a really enjoyable collection. It seems that with every new release, people always talk about how Neil is washed up. It must be hard to live up to the glory days of the classic period. And yet, I find his newer releases to be very enjoyable, too. I can’t help but wonder, if you’re Neil Young, you pretty much have to recognize that your all time classic songs are behind you. I mean, he has songs that people still love that are over 30 years old. So, it’s probably okay to sit on your laurels a bit. He still turns out good solid records every couple of years. So, is it possible he’s saving up another “Like a Hurricane” or “Ohio?” I was delighted with the passionate outpouring of Living with War, and am delighted with Chrome Dreams II. I just can’t help but wonder if it’s even possible to write a song now that lasts 30 years.
[READ: March 14, 2008] The Book of General Ignorance
Why is it that UK covers (the one on the right at the top of the post) are so much more interesting than US covers?
I Just Read About That... 