Sat Oct 08 2022
5
I wish Spotify would dump Joe Rogan so I could listen to this album.
This is a Random Album Generator.
One album a day.
From the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
Ragged Glory
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
1990
- Album Summary
Ragged Glory is the 18th studio album by Canadian / American singer-songwriter Neil Young, and his sixth album with the band Crazy Horse. It was released by Reprise Records on September 9, 1990. The album revisits the heavy rock style previously explored on Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere and Zuma. The first two tracks, "Country Home" and "White Line" are songs Young and Crazy Horse originally wrote and performed live in the 1970s (the original recording of "White Line", made for an aborted Homegrown album, would finally see release in 2020). "Farmer John" is a cover of a 1960s song, written and performed by R&B duo Don and Dewey and also performed by British Invasion group The Searchers as well as garage band The Premiers. Young revealed that the song "Days that Used to Be" is inspired by Bob Dylan's "My Back Pages". The album features many extended guitar jams, with two songs stretching out to more than ten minutes. The closing track, "Mother Earth (Natural Anthem)", uses the melody of the folk song "The Water Is Wide".
Reviews
Like a review? Give it a thumb up to help us display relevant reviews!
Sort by:
Top
Date
Thu Sep 23 2021
2
Every song sounded pretty much the same!
Fri Feb 05 2021
1
that voice ... i just can't.
Thu Jun 17 2021
1
This man can't sing.
Thu Jun 10 2021
1
One of the few albums I've had to stop because I simply couldn't handle it. The uninspired, noisy, but dull country rock just makes for something I cannot stand. I like Neil Young's songs, such as "Old Man" and "Needle and the Damage Done", but this is literally unbearable. Sorry
Thu Apr 28 2022
1
I'm so sick of Neil Young's bullshit. "You know what we do too much of? Thinking about making good music. Let's just play some stuff in a barn. People will buy that." Screw you, Neil Young. This albums sounds exactly like what it is: a half-assed attempt to milk the wallets of his misguided fans. Every track falls flat. There's no energy in any of these songs. They're flaccid. At the same time, they feel bloated. Every song laboriously plods on for at least a minute longer than it should. "Ragged Glory" is a waste of everyone's time. Doubly so since I had to go hunt the album down on Youtube because Young threw a boomer-tantrum and pulled his shitty music off of Spotify.
Wed Jan 27 2021
4
Young was not generally known as an artist who evoked the past this much, but if he could extend his creative rebirth with music this exhilarating, no one was likely to complain.
Thu Aug 19 2021
2
I always forget that Neil Young had a weird garage rock phase in the 90s… honestly, it always felt like the worst of both worlds for me.
Thu Apr 07 2022
1
I don't know what it is about Neil's voice but it just turns me off. Every song he opens his mouth in gets ruined.
Tue Jul 12 2022
5
It's easy to forget just how insanely good NY's guitar is, but this album really showcases it.
Tue Jan 31 2023
5
A while back, Neil Young teamed up to record "Mirrorball." People have argued about them as his backing band and thought Crazy Horse would have done better. Honestly, I always felt they play too simple, to let Neil roam free with the guitar. He does that a lot here in "Ragged Glory." As I listen to the drums in the first song, "Country Home", I hear that a lot, the same beat over and over, and not much else... it does bother me a little, but the song is just so damn good it doesn't matter. Am I being a little picky? Maybe, it's just that I listen to so many other drummers doing interesting things that drummers doing boom pap boom pap the whole song irks me. Even with that, the album is really damn good, even with the goofiness of "Farmer John". In case people thought he didn't have a sense of humor, right? Strong effort, really enjoyed it. I don't know if I would think of it as a classic, but it has so many great pieces. It creeps up to classic level because of those songs, even with the simple drums and such. Maybe I'm just being too nitpicky. 5 it is.
Thu Dec 09 2021
4
I like this sound, even though Neil Young's voice sounds somewhat out of place to me. The tone of the guitar made me wish I could pick it up and play along.
Thu Dec 23 2021
4
The title of this album describes it perfectly; it's rough around the edges but also glorious. One of Neil Young's best. Mostly raucous rockers, with a beautiful, majestic ballad to close the album. 4 stars.
Tue Mar 29 2022
4
Fun album. I'm familiar with Neil Young but haven't spent a ton of time listening to Neil Young. Definitely something I'd listen to again. There are a lot of bands that I do listen to - Band of Horses, Kings of Leons, Airborne Toxic Event - that suddenly I'm like "...oh, they probably grew up listening to Neil Young"
Tue May 24 2022
4
I enjoy a lot of Neil Young's music and always appreciate his range of musical styles and genres. I am not sure I listened to this album when it was released. As I listened through it, I was not familiar with these songs so I think I had not heard these tracks. I really, really like this album. To state the obvious, the style of this album -- kind of hard rock/garage rock -- has been countless times before and after this album but there is still the unmistakable signature voice to it that is uniquely Neil Young's, and I don't just mean the vocals. This album enjoys the imprimatur of Neil, and I am pleased. I like that it's just Neil and the three members of Crazy Horse. I don't hear overdubs, multi-tracks, etc., and the Wikipedia entry on the album explains why it sounds exactly like it is, which is a four-member rock band recording "live in studio". From the Wikipedia entry: The Ragged Glory sessions took place in April 1990 at Young's Broken Arrow Ranch. The band played a set of songs twice a day for a couple of weeks (never repeating the same songs in a set), then went back, listened and chose the best takes. According to Young, this approach "took 'analysis' out of the game during the sessions, allowing the Horse to not think". I love that.
Thu Oct 20 2022
4
An album I have known and loved for years. Neil Young in his peak grunge sound, just fuzzed out and distorted all over the place. Many songs hold melodic hooks that make you dance and move while the rest of the band makes you bang your head. F*!#In’ Up is fun, while Love to Burn is an extended grungy jam. Farmer John is a real foot stomper. The last three tracks could all be album closers with their anthemic feel. Great set of songs!
Thu Mar 30 2023
1
Wow as someone that considered themselves a fan of Neil Young's older stuff I really do not know what the hell is happening here. I guess they wanted to "go back to the roots" of music and just make garage rock? The problem is that it achieves just that. Not only have I heard garage bands that are just as good as this, I've heard garage bands that are quite a bit better than this. Everything falls flat, the passion seems half-assed. I'm sure this would be fine for a random Saturday with a couple of buddies jamming, but it just really doesn't work for a whole album. The vocals are reeeeeaaaly trying here, they are so strained. It just feels like an old man band at a bar in the middle of nowhere, although I would honestly probably appreciate that more just for the grit and love of the music that I'm assuming those people bring. This just rings hollow to me. Low technicality, low effort, and god if every song didn't just drag on. 1/5 Just okays: Over and over, Days That Used to Be Least favorites: Fucking up, Love to Burn, Farmer John, Mother Earth
Fri Apr 23 2021
5
One of many great NY albums
Thu May 27 2021
5
Neil is the absolute best at making songs that are beautiful heart-rending pop songs, and then playing them with a punk rock spirit. It sounds like they are having great fun.
Wed Feb 17 2021
5
NICEE
Tue May 11 2021
5
"Mother Earth" is very similar to "La balade Nord Irlandaise" from Renaud. You should check it out. I really like the album!
Sun Oct 24 2021
5
I didn't expect to like this album because of Neil Young's vocals, but I liked how he sounds on this album much more than a project like "Harvest". The songs are very catchy and it's a super fun alubm.
Wed Nov 24 2021
5
Nomás por country home se gana las cinco estrellas. Ya lo que venga después está de más.
Thu Dec 09 2021
5
It was good. I like the name Crazy Horse. Neil Young is growing on me. Maybe because I think he's supposed to grow on me.
Thu Feb 17 2022
5
90s high point in the career of Neil Young accompanied by Crazy Horse…
Mon Apr 11 2022
5
I know I have this CD somewhere or somebody has my CD of this somewhere. I am a big fan of this album and his previous one, "Freedom", sort of his comeback from somewhat less-than-critically-acclaimed 80's albums. By the way, I've never dug into his 80's albums to refute or back those reviews. Not a big fan of "This Note's for You" though. His 6th album with Crazy Horse. Recorded over a two week period with sets of songs being played twice a day (sets never repeated) with the best takes put on the album. Critics called this album "garage" and that recording approach is pretty "garage". Well, it sounds raw and like Neil basically said "Let' Er Rip, Boys." And they did. All songs are pretty much straight-forwarded rockers. "Mansion on the Hill" was the only song I remember being played on rock radio. The first two songs, "Country Home" and "White Line" were written back in the 70's. "F*!#in' Up" or " Fuckin' Up" is my favorite rocker on the album with those sloppy Crazy Horse backing vocals and a song covered by a lot of other bands. Don't know why he just didn't spell out fuckin on the album. Maybe, Tipper Gore fear at the time? Neil goes "Cowgirl in the Sand" on two 10-minute epic jams, "Love to Burn" and "Love and Only Love." This album was a welcome relief on this Friday!
Sat Apr 23 2022
5
Gloriously sloppy.
Fri May 06 2022
5
rocking. free.
Mon Jul 04 2022
5
Awesome album from start to finish. Classic sound for a 1990 album. Missing a big hit but it doesn't really need it
Mon Aug 08 2022
5
I’m thankful for my country home, gives me peace of mind, somewhere I can walk along and leave myself behind..crunchy guitars..the 2nd best NY & Crazy Horse album after Everybody Knows This is Nowhere. love it!
Thu Sep 08 2022
5
Certified friggen rock dog. What an absolute demon guitar player. I love 90s Neil, he is the embodiment of looking good doing it. Crazy Horse can harmonize too. Also gotta mention the drummer absolutely riding that bell - can't help but air drum the fuck out of it.
Tue Sep 27 2022
5
Wasn't available on Spotify
Tue Oct 18 2022
5
Great album to listen!
Thu Oct 20 2022
5
Ah Neil, it's incongruous to me how that weedy, shaky, high pitched whine is so powerful, sublime and musical
Mon Nov 07 2022
5
A essência que confirma toda potência do grunge.
Fri Nov 25 2022
5
cool
Tue Dec 13 2022
5
I still can't get over the fact that Neil Young released this a year before grunge broke. Such a good dirty sound sounding album especially F'ing Up. I wish I had paid more attention to it when it was first released
Sat Dec 17 2022
5
El retorn de Neil Young als '90 va ser encara millor que l'adéu als '80 amb el també increïble 'Freedom'. Fent de padrí del grunge abans que els mateixos grups de Seattle ho sapiguessin, va reunir a Crazy Horse, va treure les guitarres i recuperar la improvisació, va juntar uns temes amb cert toc nostàlgic, i va donar lluny a una nova obra mestra, a l'hora que inaugurava la seva quarta década com un dels noms més grans a l'Olimp del rock
Sat Dec 24 2022
5
Maybe the last truly great Neil Young album? I have not heard most of its >90s output so could be very wrong here - in any case great album!
Sat Dec 24 2022
5
AAAAAAAAAAAAAABSOLUTELY CAAAAAAAAAAAAALICKKED WITH THIS JAM
Sun Dec 25 2022
5
Du bon rock comme neil young et crazy horse savent si bien le faire 5
Tue Feb 14 2023
5
Am I a real Neil Young fan if I consider this, a later (mid) career with no hits, among his best? Do I give a fuck? No. the guitars rule. The songs are fine. The guitar rules, did i say that? The horse is wild. This is excellent music.
Sun Feb 26 2023
5
9/10. I put this off for a while because it's always annoying to have to leave Spotify, and I didn't like the last Neil young + Crazy Horse album I had. But now that I finally got around to it I really enjoyed this album.
Fri Mar 10 2023
5
Didn’t listen to this one because it’s not on Spotify but 5 stars BECAUSE it’s not on Spotify and it’s nice when celebrities have values and stick to them
Wed Apr 05 2023
5
Neil Young definitely went electric for this one.
Fri May 26 2023
5
Rockin Neil Young. The crazy horse stuff is always the best
Wed Jun 28 2023
5
Tive que ouvir no youtube porque o album nao estava disponivel no Spofity mas valeu a pena, realmente curti!
Fri Jun 30 2023
5
Ragged glory - Neil Young The guitar on the first track: S U P E R B. Feels like a concert (and on reading, I find it sort of was). Oh the warm and soothing sounds of Neil Young. He constantly evolved, (he has done so much over the decades - I love his “Harvest Moon” version). Apparently this album was another renewal. It certainly sounds like wonderful jam session among friends (the internet explains they recorded all their “sets” across 2 weeks, and chose the best version of each song). They capture a polished yet “live” and natural feeling very well. It works, and you feel invited to be right there. Quirky, homemade, and real. Just go with it. Let it work. And I love how they sound somehow celebratory and carefree... "it gives me peace of mind, and leave myself behind" Apparently they call this ‘garage rock’ A full throated 5 from me.
Fri Jun 30 2023
5
I wasn’t sure I needed another Neil Young album after just listening to On The Beach, but this was pretty different and I enjoyed it more. Lots of good jams!
Thu Jul 20 2023
5
I Never listened to this record but it is like the others which came before it. Just great rock music
Thu Aug 24 2023
5
Great anarchic album. Neil expressing his true self.
Sat Mar 27 2021
4
This is pretty good, better than other Neil Young I've heard. Just good country rock. I think I gotta give it a 4 hey. I'll listen to this again for sure.
Tue Jun 01 2021
4
A bit too straightforward and stereotypical, but still pretty good.
Fri Jan 29 2021
4
Music was catchy, but that voice got old
Sun Feb 07 2021
4
Wow! Amazing!
Sun Apr 25 2021
4
thoroughly enjoyed
Thu Jul 22 2021
4
I liked old Neil Young, but this in particular feels so unique! Love the garage-rock passion and vibe. Doesn't quite hit a 5, but a strong 4.5 in my eyes.
Wed Apr 14 2021
4
This is my favorite Neil album so far. Inventing garage rock? Neat.
Thu Jun 17 2021
4
Rock de Neil Young.
Thu Apr 15 2021
4
Fucking smacks like the hits are super toit and did you know that this album actually invented grunge
Mon May 24 2021
4
Well there’s no doubt this band knows how to jam. Crazy Horse is a band that’s just not made for the studio so they somehow figured out how to make a studio album with a sound that is very raw and sounds live. This includes many songs ending with guitar feedback. No gentle fade outs here. There’s not a lot of variety in the songs although I guess if you want some ballads, Neil has many other LPs that will scratch this itch.
Wed Mar 17 2021
4
Worse 4, the songs later in the album seemed to me a bit on the same note. Anyway, good rock album from late "80s".
Mon Apr 12 2021
4
pretty standard good songs
Sun Jun 27 2021
4
Not my favorite Neil Young album (my favorite is After The Gold Rush) but this is still pretty solid and worth a listen.
Tue Jul 20 2021
4
Driven more by electric guitar than the admittedly little Neil Young I have listened to. I really enjoyed most of the songs.
Tue May 11 2021
4
Done.
Fri Jun 25 2021
4
About what you'd expect from ol Neil
Mon Aug 16 2021
4
well-calibrated rock. not too gritty, full of passion
Wed Sep 29 2021
4
I rather like Neil Young and I quite like some of his hits. But this album is really just exactly what you'd expect if you imagine Neil Young's filler material recorded garage rock style. No more, no less. There's nothing bad on here and it's better background music than a large part of the albums on this list, but not worth re-listening to either. And there's definitely no gold such as After The Gold Rush or Heart Of Gold on this one.
Thu Sep 30 2021
4
I feel like Neil Young's voice should annoy me, but it's oddly endearing. He's whiny and a little off-key, but somehow that makes the songs better. There's a real folksy, subway-busker kinda vibe that I appreciate. I also liked how the album built. The first few songs feature an acoustic guitar with real "treble-y" effects, then in the middle there were songs with nice, clean acoustic songs. Towards the end, he moved to a clean electric and then a dirty, punk-like electric on Sedan Delivery and the reprise of Hey Hey, My My. I'm not sure if this was on purpose or not, but I dug it.
Wed Oct 27 2021
4
The second album of Neil Young's "comeback" period is a garage rock classic, how could it not be when he's playing with Crazy Horse? I hadn't listened to this in a few years and my takeaway this time is that it's fun!
Fri Nov 12 2021
4
This was pretty cool - I can’t believe it’s from 1990! Worth another listen
Fri Dec 03 2021
4
Yes! I know Neil Young can be polarizing, but I'm firmly in the camp that he's a musical pioneer and crazy genius. He's one of the few rockers left who always did and still continues to sing about something. The music with a message can be preachy, but not Young. He's brilliant at being inspired and translating that inspiration to us in a song. This record has a much lighter, sweeter, comfortable vibe than some of Young's other work, especially that with CSN, but I loved it.
Fri Dec 17 2021
4
Crazy Horse is never a bad thing
Thu Jan 06 2022
4
Not a big fan of his voice, but the music is good.
Thu Jan 27 2022
4
Les plus courtes sont les meilleures, littérallement. Prefs: Country Home, Fuckin' Up, Farmer John, Mansion on the Hill, Love and Only Love, Mother Earth (Natural Anthem) Moins pref: Over and Over
Mon Feb 07 2022
4
Годно.
Wed Mar 16 2022
4
Not that familiar with Neil Young (Crazy Horse or not) but I've always enjoyed him. This sounds exactly like I'd imagine without many surprises.
Wed Mar 16 2022
4
Love the guitar tone. Which is fortunate since It's there for the entire hour. :) Favorite tracks: Love to Burn, Country Home, Mansion on the Hill
Thu Jan 27 2022
4
Big Neil Young fan, bought this when it came out. The songs are decent but the that garage crunchy sound is great on it. Coming out in the end of the 80s is what I think makes it unique at the time.
Tue Apr 05 2022
4
Better than I thought.
Tue Apr 19 2022
4
This was some great classic rock which is saying a lot for it being 1990. Songs were a little long but couple the music with the album cover and this felt like a huge long jam sesh between Diamond and Crazy Horse. And I'm down for that.
Tue Apr 19 2022
4
Excellent album, up there with Everybody Knows This is Nowhere. A lot of the fuzz grunge and a bit of the guitar odyssey.
Thu Apr 21 2022
4
I have a lot of time for Neil Young, and it's always nice to hear someone put out music this good a couple of decades into their career. Damn good album.
Tue Apr 26 2022
4
A fine, fine album. Go in the garage with your band mates, record some tracks, pick the best take, make a record. Can there be anything finer? Did the neighbours bang on the walls and complain? I doubt it, when the tracks are so compelling and absorbing.
Mon May 02 2022
4
Well, Neil Young's got guts for sticking it to Joe Rogan with the Spotify debacle. Especially because it mainly hurts him a lot more than it will upset streaming on Spotify. And I appreciate that all it took to find this album was a quick Google search and a full YouTube playlist is available. It's a great album, too; as you'd expect from a Neil Young album the vocals are strong but the real star is the searing melody lines and the FANTASTIC guitar on every song. This isn't quite at the level of "Rust Never Sleeps" for me but it's still quite good. Absolutely worth a listen and worthy of being on this list. One of my favorite discoveries from these albums. Fave track: "F***in up"
Mon Mar 28 2022
4
This is a pretty great album.
Tue May 10 2022
4
Musically, this is really well done, just about as good as anything Neil Young and Crazy Horse ever did together. It has a fun, rough edged, garage-y vibe and Young's guitar is blistering as ever. As good as it sounds, the lyrics are fairly toothless and mostly forgettable. I know I'm officially turning into your most annoying teacher when I say this, but I know Neil Young can write better songs than this. I guess he has other albums for that. Fave Songs: White Line, Love and Only Love, Country Home, Love to Burn, Over and Over This album was not available on Spotify, but can be found in full on YouTube. 4 4 3 3 4 3 3 3 5 3
Wed May 11 2022
4
Very, very good, a clear influence on loads of bands I love. Full of energy and attitude, and fills the gap between garage rock and grunge perfectly. Some songs are a little bit "older gent trying to sound like his younger self", but that's no bad thing. Not on Spotify, but that meant I saw the videos for the songs that have them. Joe Rogan still sucks!!
Wed May 18 2022
4
Frábært albúm, gott bílskúrsrokk.
Tue May 24 2022
4
One of Neil's loudest , and one of his best
Thu Jun 02 2022
4
A strong Neil Young album. I especially dig some of the longer feedback-heavy jams. I enjoy Neil Young in country-folk mode but I like him even more in hard rock mode. His voice can be pretty but he doesn’t have a conventionally good singing voice. That unconventional voice works well though with the loose and unpolished guitar work on these songs. Crazy Horse is a great backing band and they sound awesome here. Highlights: “Country Home,” “F*!#in’ Up,” “Over and Over,” “Love and Only Love”
Thu Jun 02 2022
4
This is a live album without all the obnoxious fan noise and the need to play the radio hits. It is distortion in its natural form, enjoying the moment. You don't have to say "I wish I had been there" because you are there if you turn it up and give in to the buzzing in your ear.
Tue Jun 21 2022
4
OMG The Godfather of grunge!! I still don’t really get that title. I know the man has recorded 237 albums, but I’ve listened to a lot of them and… never once did I find myself going, “Oh yeah, Alice In Chains.” Nope. Sorry, 1990s media. And thank goodness, because Mr. Young is so much more than that. There aren’t a ton of musicians who would make me pause if I had to pick between one of their acoustic or one of their electric albums, but Neil’s on that list. Goddamn those guitar tones. At times it just sounds like a pretty good bar band, but then they hit you with some of those fuzzed out leads where they just hold a single note or two and it makes me want to buy a new guitar. And then sometimes they do the opposite with an acoustic and it *still* makes me want to buy a guitar. So this album. It’s a weird one. I thought for sure “Rocking in the Free World” was on here, but instead we get a bunch of songs that are kind of in that ballpark but not quite. I liked a lot of them (“Fuckin’ Up”, “Love and Only Love”) and didn’t quite care for others (“Farmer John”). I’d say most of the songs here could be shorter, but doing so would mean losing some of those guitar moments I love. One of the best guitar bits is in the very last tune, which sounds like some sort of beautifully distorted take on “Amazing Grace.” But then the band starts singing those awfully-on-the-nose lyrics about mama earth and I kinda cringe. Still, even in the seas of cheese, I never once don’t believe Young and co. aren’t being earnest. He always is! Every single song. I don’t know how he hasn’t got tired of his own shit after all these years, but god bless him.
Tue Jun 21 2022
4
Ragged Glory is a great title for this album. I love the story behind how it was recorded - it sounds a bit like a live record, like it has that energy. There are a couple of stand out songs here, like Fuckin' Up, Over and Over, and Mansion on the Hill. But I can get behind pretty much all of this. Still, when it falters, it falls all the way into the background. But I think I'll put this one on again, so I'll give it the big four.
Thu Jul 14 2022
4
It seems as though about once a decade, Neil Young brings Crazy Horse back around to do some excellent full-band stuff. Well, the year is 1990 and the boys haven't done anything since Re·ac·tor in 1981, so let's get the band back together! Young and the Horse make deceptively simple hard rock here. They're all playing together in the studio, tight as can be, jamming away. They would practice and record their sets, go through the playback and choose the best take for each song to go on the album. It's the perfect "dudes rock" album, in that it rocks and doesn't do more than it needs to. Although I preferred the live energy and pacing of Rust Never Sleeps, this album, I feel, is on par in terms of sonic quality. Neil Young can really rock with the rest of them.
Sat Aug 06 2022
4
Really good listen, a lot livelier and upbeat up to other NY releases I’ve listened to previously
Sun Aug 28 2022
4
So this gets categorised as garage or grunge. But it has more than a twang of country in it with those lazy riffs. Then we hit Days That Used To Be and Love And Only Love. Both of those songs could have been released on Everybody...in 1969. Whatever you classify it as it's a whole lot of fun. Special shout out to the feedback finishes which just add the cherry to the top of this delicious confection. I love the fact that a renegade like Young has remained relevant, popular, and cranky for nearly 60 years. Meanwhile the band are obviously having so much fun. All this from an album I knew nothing about.
Tue Sep 06 2022
4
Interesante viaje por un folk moderno y pesado
Wed Sep 07 2022
4
Love to burn, white line, fuckin line, over & over , love and only love !