Neil Young Neil Young Genres:Country, Folk, Pop, Rock, Classic Rock His self-titled 1968 self-titled solo album, following his exit from Buffalo Springfield, bridged what was and what would be. Though his only album not to chart-'The Loner'- its most memorable track-Neil Young marked the l... more »aunching point of an illustrious solo career.« less
His self-titled 1968 self-titled solo album, following his exit from Buffalo Springfield, bridged what was and what would be. Though his only album not to chart-'The Loner'- its most memorable track-Neil Young marked the launching point of an illustrious solo career.
Bertrand Stclair | new york, new york United States | 03/12/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Everything others have said about this album is true: it is an excellent album from Neil's phase when he still sought memorable, original melodies and sounds. All I can add is that what may pass for slightly quaint conceits now (although no less listenable for that), such as opening the album with an instrumental, countrified thing, or letting Jack Nitzsche go to town on String Quartet From Whiskey Boot Hill with a contemporary (read: occasionally atonal) chamber music interlude, was innovative at the time of its creation, and made everyone feel like there was still hope for the progress of rock.
Now on to my little annoying thing. The good news is that this remaster is truly a remaster, a warm, "round"-sounding one well worth the money, unlike the myriad remasters where you sit dumbfounded and wonder where the difference with the previous release is, and where your money has gone. The one teensy thing that bothers me is that the loudness levels don't seem to be equal from song to song. Right off the bat, you'll want to hear The Emperor of Wyoming louder than The Loner, which follows it. Granted, the first one is soft and leans toward violins, the second is a pretty hard rocker with a typical Neil-fuzzed electric guitar and the killer 60's organ; they are naturally different-sounding songs, but I'd have thought that was precisely what remasters were for: to find the best possible balance for all songs on the album (among other things).
I don't know if this is the case for all four in this initial series of remasters: I started at the beginning, we'll see where this leads, but I do hope the levels are more consistent on the remaining albums."
Best Since Buffalo Springfield
T. A. Stephenson | Nashville "Music City USA" | 04/26/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Neil Youg left the SPRINGFIELD (B.S. ruled the west coast music scene) to start a trend of members leaving their previous bands to go solo.
In my opinion this disc still holds up better than any of the schmaltzy matieral that came later in his career.
If you're a Mr. Young fan, listen to his best! T.A. Stephenson"
Tough to go wrong with early Neil Young....
Dan L. Manes | United States; Cleveland , Ohio | 04/27/2010
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Neil's an established artist, so i'm not going to spend a whole long while blabbering on and on about this album. To put it simply, if you like(not even love) Neil Young, than you should own this album. It doesn't have a weak track throughout and is great late sixties, Young at his finest.
Don't hesitate to grab, especially the newly remastered version. It sounds great!"
A halting debut
Philip Bradshaw | toronto canada | 06/16/2010
(3 out of 5 stars)
"I am sitting in a comfy chair about to embark upon my reviewing journey of the music of Neil Young. I have sorted the records and CDs into chronological order. I see in front me 10 of the former and 16 of the latter. I am not counting the DVDs or the Springfield or the CSNY recordings. Notwithstanding the foregoing I consider myself more of a casual fan, rather than a devoted one (I was a devoted fan, inter alia, of Del Shannon, Procol Harum and Steely Dan). I mention the foregoing simply because it appears to me that for many artists the vast majority of the reviewers appear to be the diehards, people for whom the depositing of a bad review is positively painful!
Neil Young is an earnest, yet hesitant beginning to Young's solo career. It is primarily a folk album, and as a lover of the genre, I have no problem with that. I think that side one is consistently stronger than the flip side. It contains the LP's best song, The Loner - definitely not a folk song. I find side two nice but innocuous.
All-in-all I much preferred Young's contributions to the Buffalo Springfield albums. Other than The Loner there is nothing here to compare with Clancy, Flying on the Ground, Burned, Out of My Mind, Mr. Soul and Expecting to Fly. By the same token I think that the gentle folk approach found on this debut was more successful on the later Harvest and After the Goldrush.