Reviews (page 4 of 8)
Nothing special but the instruments were good. I liked “Mansion on the hill” and “Mother earth”
3/6
Over and over
There’s one rule of thumb with songwriting that says you get a burst of inspiration or craft or whatever early on and that might net out to about 30 songs. Some folks - Radiohead - then wisely hang onto this good material and release it slowly over the years, others - Pixies - much faster. But basically they’re tapped out and are coasting on what made their name when they were in their 20s. So it’s rare that anyone in their 40s releases material that is not only as good as that first batch, but even sounds relevant or genre-pushing. That’s what Neil and the Horse did with Ragged Glory (and to a similar extent, Neil’s preceding and subsequent solo albums Freedom and Harvest Moon). There really aren’t too many examples of this unfortunately - Bowie is probably the best example of a literal late in life creative resurgence. Malkmus had been steadily plodding along since Terror Twilight, but seemed to have recovered his fastball on the Hard Quartet album. Britt Daniel, Neko Case, Eric Bachmann, Carl Newman continue honing their craft, but haven’t really connected. Only the shoegazers/adjacent have recently made albums that rival their youth: Slowdive, HUM, Deftones, MBV, although in the case of Swervedriver and Ride it has been diminishing returns. Likewise all - ALL - of the grunge bands that Neil was so important to, not a single one had a late career hit or resurgence. Some of that is due to early death, who knows what Cobain and Staley could’ve contributed, but in the case of Cornell, the final Soundgarden efforts were mostly rote. Ragged Glory probably won’t get too many repeat listens from me, its contemporary value doesn’t do as much for me today, and it mostly sounds like 4 dudes goofing off and calling it something important. But maybe that’s all rock and roll should be.
A bit more country sounding than I thought it would be, at least at the start. I don't know much about Neil Young. I have heard a few tracks of his from other albums and like them well enough but nothing stood out to me here. His voice isn't very good and the music isn't especially interesting so I assume you need to listen to the lyrics closely to get much out of his work.
Me gustó pero creo que prefiero a Neil Young triste y campirano, me faltaron más emociones agridulces
I don’t care what you think. Farmer John is a fucking banger
At this point with Neil Young we are beating a dead Crazy Horse...I don't mind him but nothing about him is so amazing that he should be on this list 6 times! Side rant over... This album is fine, but kind of blah. I love living in the country and all but something about these songs and the way he sings them don't make me feel like he really believes it. And that is honestly the vibe for the album to me, he just feels like he is making generic music. It got better in the second half but I was kind of checked out at that point. Nothing about it is bad or unenjoyable but nothing is really that awesome either. In the 1990s this rock country vibe really started taking off and it seemed he threw in more electronic sounds to join that push, but didn't necessarily love what he wrote.
White Line was pretty good. The rest of the songs were OK. The guitar work is OK. Neil knows how to work a good melody out of the guitar but this album gets pretty samesy after awhile. Also the verse melody on Days That Used to Be sounds alot like Bob Dylan's My Back Pages.
This album wasn’t available on Amazon Music. It’s not the same, but I listened to the only Neil Young album available: Talking To Me he Trees.
Weird one, probably a 3. I appreciate a lot of the sonic stuff at the tail end of tracks but this just feels like well worn territory. Farmer John is incredibly grating
Cool record that doesn’t matter in the slightest. Love you, Neil. With only 9 NY albums on the list, if NY/CR made another one, it would have to be included, I assume; maybe kick out the one Wire or Replacements or Husker. #evenwhenthemusicisgoodtheCuratorstillsucks
“Mow the lawn” kinda music. Super chill, nothing spectacular but just good vibes with every song (except the last song, honestly could have been skipped). This is an album that you can put on and pass a joint around, which before digital music and playlists, you would have had to do in the 90s.
Ye, it's okay
I love Neil and i had a good time with this one, but I don’t think it belongs on the list.
it's ok, but neil has way better stuff.
Quite liked this, solos tend to go on a bit though!
I really like Neil Young and I think the guitar work on here is great. It could be a bit shorter though. Strong 7/10
The guitars here are the star of the album. Everything is messy and loud. Slop rock energy. But eventually, you have to deal with Neil Young's voice, which.. can be a bit of a chore. Spins: 1 Playlist Additions - Country Home - F*!#in' Up - Love to Burn
I don’t begrudge Neil Young’s urge to rock out. But i like his solo work better. His work with Crazy Horse tries too hard and he lets go of some of his nuance & artistry. This is good, but not great. A 3.
Ihan mukavaa kitararokkia, välillä jopa söpön svengaavaa. Mutta aika ohut on tarttumapinta meikäläiselle. Perus keskikolmonen.
Aika mitään sanomatonta ysäri country/rock länkyttelyä, vähän kuin kaurapuuroa. Jos soi niin en lähtis vaihtamaan mutta en kyllä myöskään hakemalla hakisi soittoon. 3/5.
Vähän väsähtäneen kuulosta country rockia(?). Ei oikein lähteny.
It’s no Harvest Moon!
Fun album, but it does get a little repetitive. It’s pretty consistent. The riffs are good, the vocals are too, but the highs are not that high and variety is lacking. Some songs overstay their welcome but not to a ridiculous degree. Enjoyable album, but I can’t say I was impressed by it. 7/10
Man, Neil Young und Garage Rock. Funktioniert ganz gut: klingt ja bei Young eh ganz oft nach mal eben hingesungen. Jetzt nicht ganz so lustig wie das Grunge Album, aber das total debile Father John Cover (ein R&B song den in den 60ern ganz viele Garage Bands gecovert haben) ist natürlich schon Mission Statement. Ich weiß nicht wie lustig Young das immer meint, aber es gefällt mir deutlich besser wenn ich mir Young als kleinen Kanadischen Mittelfinger vorstelle. Trotzdem nicht super.
Just don't like Neil Young. Folky, country, rock. His voice is always grating after a while. Musically not terrible, but just not for me.
Enjoyable listen but probably won’t seek it out again to be honest
Messiness defined Neil Young's best albums, so a loud, ramshackle, messy Neil Young album is automatically going to be enjoyable. But his best albums - even the ones with Crazy Horse - always had a tension between noisy guitar and softer, beautiful moments. This is an hour of guitar solos and fuzzy chords, and it doesn't take long for the songs to blur together a bit. There are some highlights here: "White Line" is a nice short tune and "Love to Burn" has great lyrics. But there's nothing here on the level of "Down by the River" or "Southern Man." There's not even much on the level of "Rockin' in the Free World," though "Mansion on the Hill" has some immediately enjoyable riffs reminiscent of that one. It ends on a song that I find both moving and eye-rollingly on-the-nose. This rocks, but it's a bit too much of the same for an hour of music.
I really enjoyed the opening & closing tracks - but everything else in between was all rather samey chuggy country dad rock.
Solid crazy horse post punk album highlight is love to burn
Interesting how Days That Used To Be sounds quite a bit like the all star live version of My Back Pages
Of all of the Neil Young albums I've gotten so far, this was the most forgettable. Maybe I was too distracted when listening to it, but it ended before I knew it and didn't leave much of an impression except the song "Fuckin' Up" which seemed a little try hard.
Best Song: Mother Earth (Natural Anthem). Sure it might be a bit preachy, but it's a good type of preachy, and shows of some of Neil's honest writing chops. Worst Song: Farmer John. Everything about this song sucks. Neil trying to act like a young rocker when he's already beginning to show the signs of age, the plodding "left foot, right foot" rhythm, but most of all the unpleasant creepiness of the central lyric, "I'm in love with your daughter". Overall: Neil Young sometimes feels like he wants to be a type of musician that isn't within his capabilities. He's got a great voice within a very particular range and tempo, but goddamn if he never wants to sing there. A lot of this is him playing rockstar, and so listening to it just gives the feeling of wishing that this were any of his contemporaries instead of him.
Neil has done a lot better, both before and after this. Is it just me or is this some of the most uninspired drumming ever?
Havent ever listened to much of Neil Young solo, or with Crazy Horse or part of CSNY. I can dig this album, but his voice is a little too whiney when he's solo singing and no one is backing him. Maybe I'll check out some of his other stuff. Mother Earth's lyrics are still so fitting today, cuz its message is ignored by too many
Look, it's Neil Young so it's always gonna be good, but this really isn't Crazy Horses' best by a long shot
okkkk, def for background listening. Not something I’d really pay attention to or feel to. Still good though!! I quite enjoy his voice and the INSTRUMENTALS?? really good. I love the instrument usage mixed with his voice, i think it does a really good job at that. I’m thinking a 7/10 !!
Not my fav by Neil Young.
thumbs up
OK
I am normally not a Neil Young fan, but this is fun. It feels heavier, which is a lotta fun. The vocal style really works with these songs and the solos are fun!! Actual rating...3.5. Liked Songs: "Country Home" , "White Line" , "F*!#in' Up" , "Over and Over" , "Love to Burn" , "Love And Only Love"
I don't like Neil Young's voice at all, but Crazy Horse is pretty good 2.75
I really enjoyed the opening & closing tracks - but everything else in between was all rather samey chuggy country dad rock.
If I could edit Young's 90s albums into a playlist - and I can - I feel I'd make an excellent album out of it. 'Ragged Glory's contribution would be relatively minimal. Peppered throughout are some nice little refrains, and CSNY-style harmonies. 'White Line' captures all of that very well. And its unified and sudden ending feel like a great polished moment amongst the sprawl. There are some later album highlights in 'Mansion on the Hill' and 'Days That Used to Be' which actually navigate through different passages and have some great hooks rather than purely strums, the latter feeling rather Dylanesque. It does feel like the start of a new 90s sound and carries a certain inherent import because of that. Glimmers of great tunes are here, but over an LP it's hard to sustain. Even harder to sustain when he tries to repeat this formula time and again over the next 35 years. I'm sorry Neil I love you, you know that, which is why I'm allowing a three.
Pretty good
It’s fine. I have no idea how this made it, and I’m a huge Neil Young fan. Certainly a lesser effort by him, but it’s fine.
i love neil but not all neil is created equally
Compared to Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, it's definitely not as good. Neil forgot how to sing in this one and many of the songs were too bloated, alongside some proper shit ones like Farmer John and that last track. But I do like this sort of American country-garage rock, and there were some bits and songs that I enjoyed, like Fuckin' Up.
I enjoyed this better than I thought I would.
As it’s Christmas Eve, I don’t have much time to sit down and write a review like I usually do. However, that may be somewhat appropriate for this album—it’s good, there’s no duds, but it didn’t make me feel much, nor did I listen to it and really feel a sense of artistry. That could be because I had to listen to it in segments, though. It does have a lot I like about Neil Young—the stripped-back feel, the mature songwriting—and most of the songs were genuinely catchy. It’s also extremely interesting to see the Godfather of Grunge make a 90’s album, especially given the last track: a plea for people to save the earth for the sake of future generations. In a way, this album is almost like him stepping back and letting the next generation of musicians and their political and cultural concerns take center stage. In giving this album a three because I don’t feel like it held anything special. However, I will say that I didn’t listen to it incredibly intently, so my general apathy towards it could be because of that.
3.5 stars. It was fine, I like Neil Young as an artist but just wasn't super memorable. Didn't find any tracks that get your attention (in a good way, or a bad way).
=The Beatles
Big Neil fan here but this one remains a tough listen for me. Not one of his best albums but since it's Neil even that is better than most.
This is my third Crazy Horse record and fourth Neil record overall. It's a decent listen but none of the longer cuts are as epic as Cowgirl zin the Sand or Powderfinger so for me this is less essential than the other two records on the list. I've already been served On The Beach by the generator which I adore so there's only really the slightly whiny mostly acoustic stuff left, which makes me feel it'll be downhill from here in terms of my ratings for this artist.
For an aging rocker's album I've heard worse efforts
Bring back folk Neil young I want folk Neil young
# Album Name: Ragged Glory # Artist: Neil Young # Rating: 3/5 # Comments: Wasnt bad. Didnt grip me though. Maybe a few more listens? # Top Tunes: No # Would I listen to it again? Ill give it another shot maybe
Favourite song: Country Home Least favourite song: Mansion on the Hill Would I listen again? Yes Rating /10: 6.8
Solid rock. Neil's voice doesn't quite clock for me.
Enjoyable garage jam tracks from Neil Young
A bit boring, innit?
I didn't listen to the whole thing, it wasn't for me. Boomer shit.
Name bekannt, Musik ist melodisch, gittaren und die Stimme die den Lead hat
Tonight I hung out with a really good friend who is moving away from Toronto to Halifax. I’m gonna miss him a lot. If he was Ragged Glory and I never saw Ragged Glory again, I probably wouldn’t care all that much. 3 stars
Some decent tunes on here but quite a bit of “jamming” I think! It’s ok but not going to be on my repeat playlist I fear.
Good at points, boring at others
A bit random, right? I guess Neil probably has a resurgence in popularity in the late 80's with the hit "Rockin' in the Free World". He and Crazy Horse do keep with the times with a bit of an Alt-Rock influence, but other than that it's just ok. I think Neil's next album Harvest Moon is much better, though. Key tracks: Mansion on the Hill
I appreciate the spirit of this album even though its perhaps not my cup of tea. The songs sound kind of samey and the songwriting isnt my favorite. The guitar rips, though; loud sounds, cool riffs and those planet-shattering, laconic solos.
This is a fun record, but Neil Young has always required a special mood from me. This would probably be considered Neil’s “Psycho Circus” (KISS’s 1998 attention seeking album), only there’s at least a few good songs on it. His music is even more relevant today with the rise of modern country and red dirt music adding an element of grunge into their Americana. Started out kind of rolling my eyes, ended up in the groove. Despite my NY reticence, I did see Himself a Crazy Horse play Isleta Amphitheater years ago, and it was glorious. They burned that place down! Will I continue to explore NY’s music? Yes. Will it need to be when I’m in a special mood? Also yes.
3/5
I didn't know Neil Young wrote songs that could sound like this
I kind of liked the heavy sound of the band, but it always comes back to Neil Young's voice, which I don't much care for. Seemed like a solid album, but not great.
I like Neil Young. This was a fun, energetic album. I liked the extended jam sessions. I enjoyed a major of the songs. My least favorite was Farmer John. Favorite songs: Days That Used To Be, Love to Burn, and Country Home
Music it good but I’ve never enjoyed Neal’s vocals. 🤷♂️
Longest 10-song album ever. Pretty good, but some of the songs really don't need to be that long.
This gets a 3, but I really wanted to give it a 2. I don't care for Neil Young, he can't sing, songs are boring, I don't get his appeal and it's grandpa rock, folk or whatever. Just nothing. I appreciate the band and the music, I respect that this gave us grunge, and some of the songs that went too long were actually a benefit to the whole thing since they Neil Young stopped and the music could wash away his presence. I am dreading more Neil Young on this list, it is unfathomable that he has 6 albums here. Actually, I just might skip them and listen to some of the glaring omissions this list has on the day his albums come up.
good
Knee jerk is 4 but I think I’m mostly stunned this sounds good and was recorded late in his career. Also cool I’ve never heard this. Country rock? Great vibes. Not quite Dad rock, but close. That classic Young harmony working well. Prob won’t come back so gonna go 3. I could be wrong.
7/10
Definitely like Harvest Moon better. Some of the songs sound recycled. But it’s got that fuzz he likes
I like it, but I prefer his gentler stuff
COOL
Ok
Okay so I normally like Neil Young, but this garage rock phase he had is not great. A lot of the songs on this album are way too long and boring, and it kinda just melts together. Just another album where I didn’t really enjoy it but I didn’t necessarily hate it either. Meh.
I generally like Neil Young and I get what they’re going for here, but it just sounds like divorced, middle-aged dad music.
Whenever a Niel Young album is put on, the question at the back of my mind is which Niel Young is going to show up this time? Ragged Glory get the Crazy Horse guys to plug in and wallow in the electric guitars, feedback and all F*!#in Up is the stand out track from a collection that is not among the albums I reach for when I want to get my Niel on It's ok, but I prefer Niel's acoustic stuff
This was a fine album. I wouldn’t have thought I’d like Neil Young’s music so much, but it’s better than I thought. Each album I’ve listened to has something interesting and engaging for me. There were parts where the vocals were a little rough, but I guess that’s part of the charm. 3.5/5
Decent. I didn't really like Farmer John. The rest was okay.
3.0
My second Neil Young this week and 5th overall, not counting CSN&Y or any of his other bands. Surely I have to be getting to the end of his albums? I was kind of surprised that this album is on the list, it didn't seem like it was particularly great or important from what I can recall. Maybe because this is him like 30 years into his career and it just interesting to compare? The cover is hilariously 90s. If you don't like Neil Young, particularly his voice, you'll hate this album. I generally like NY, but this was not his best effort. It starts off a little too country rock for me. Sort of continues that way but has it's ups and downs. The guitars on this record are great - tone is amazing, great playing, really raw and gritty. That was the highlight of the album for me. There are a few songs on this record I really like and I feel like it gets better as it goes until the very end. As with a couple others of his, this one gets a 3.5/5 but rounding down to 3 because it's just not good enough to round up. I'm not gonna run out and buy this one as soon as I see it.
It's actually pretty cool. I'm not a huge Neil Young fan, but the band is tight and the guitar sounds are sweet.
I like that Fuckin Up song. It speaks to me lyrically since I'm always fucking up.
Føle eg står i garasjen te ein 50år gammal mann som har invitert kompisene sine te ein bandsesh. Eg elske jo neil young, det gjør eg! Mye deilig gitar og trummer her. Men savne någe fengende. Savne noen beatswitches og någen catchy lines. Mother earth var veldig hippy. Beste sang: Love and only love
Alright. ★★★
Folket Country-rock med Grunget distortion. Lidt for meget Country til at fange mig.
Makes me wonder how many Neil Young albums are on this list because this one isn’t even in the top 5
a little ragged but a decent Neil Young album. He has better and it doesn't really belong on the list but whatever.
A ver, si esta bien. Pero es un tostón. Suena a tus colegas del barrio que son muy roqueros a los 50 años y ensayan en el local del barrio.
Not at the absolute top of Neil's discography (that would be After the Gold Rush and Harvest), but a great listen nonetheless.
sick classic rock in the 90s
I don't love Neil Young's voice, but I like the sound. "Country Home" was OK. I like "F*!#in' Up". "Over and Over" has some nice harmonies. There's some ripping guitar on "Mansion on the Hill". This album was OK. I like it, but it's too long and I didn't think it was very interesting. A lot of similar sounding regular ol' songs. 6/10
I wasn't super familiar with a lot of these songs, but there are some good ones here. "Fuckin Up" was a good one, and "Over and Over" is a great jam song. "Love to Burn" is great. Farmer John is a little plodding, and some of the other tracks are just average. 3/5
I have never been a big Neil Young fan, despite Pearl Jam's worship of him (and my one-time worship of them.) I don't DISlike his music, and I like him in interviews, but his stuff just doesn't do much for me. I know "Fuckin' Up" off this album because of Pearl Jam. "Days That Used to Be" sounds awfully familiar, lol. This is OK. I would give this 2.5 but rounding up for PJ/Dylan.
Better than Neil's solo work.
The album's OK. I don't really like his voice though.
I ussually enjoy Neil Young, but this one did not do too much for me. I can not place why exactly just did not grab me that much. It has a sort of dead middle that just faded and did not hold my attention. Might need to give this another go when I am in a different headspace.
I tend to enjoy Neil Young, and this is rather similar to his 2006 Living with War album, which I like very much. This lacks the overtly political nature and associated fury of Living with War, and is worse for the lack of those things. It also falls victim to the curse of the CD format and is 20 minutes too long. And meanders a bit too much as a result. I enjoy the sound, but as an album it’s not quite what I’m looking for to add to a regular rotation.
Love me some Neil Young but this felt very vanilla.
Maybe my expectations were too high, but I was surprised to not connect with this album…
some great tunes for sure but relatively mid as far as Neil goes
An undoubtedly talented rock musician, but this album was a bit slow for me
Neil Young is a boomer. Born in ‘45, stepping out in ‘69, world at his feet in ‘71. At some point Scorsese had to edit concert footage to remove the rock of cocaine dangling from Neil’s nose. Pure, joyous Boomerlore. This record is easily Neil’s most Boomer record. For a start, the format is a totally uncompromising commitment to the idea of doing precisely whatever I fucking want to do, thank you. Here is a collection of 10-minute plus, jammed out tunes with often questionable vocal performances. No overdubs (not like that sell out “Powderfinger”), no apologies. Then there’s the lyrical themes. We hear Neil bragging about his extensive rural real estate portfolio at least twice (“Country Home”, “Mansion on the Hill”); we get yet more of the familiar “On the road” tropes that you might have thought would be long out of his system by the time he’d turned 45 (or actually, no; Boomers invented the midlife crisis after all); and finally there’s the closing “Natural Anthem” which manages to both genuinely move me and summon a memory of the summer of love hippies sent up in that Simpsons episode about corporatised organic comestibles. Pure Boomerlore. What a shame it is, then, that so many in Neil Young’s generation managed, by virtue of their personal selfishness and individualism, to make traits like artistic integrity, the patient pursuit of one’s pleasures and actually giving a fuck about the planet seem so deeply unfashionable. This Boomer isn’t like the others. We’d do well to remember that.
If you like that grunge sound this is your type of LP. A few good cuts in here Love to Burn Mansion on The Hill F***in Up. It's missing that big long guitar song with great lyrics like Cortez The Killer Southern Nan or Like a Hurricane.
Good solid Neil Young
not bad
There’s some pages of the Neil Young Catalogue I have listened to over and over and over, and some I’ve neglected entirely. A lot of the 90s stuff is the latter, although I know it’s known as a peak not a valley. I think this is the second 90s Neil on the list, so I’m getting there. Musically this is good. The band sounds good. He rewrites Rockin in the Free World a few times, but that’s fine because that’s what he does. I like the long jammy songs. But also Neil Young sure is Nostalgic in the 90s, in a really unpleasant, on the nose, boomer sort of way. I can’t stand that!
Another Neil Young & Crazy Horse album? Really 2? This list will always amaze me. Nothing really special here at all but nothing bad either. Favorite Songs: Over and Over + Love and Only Love
Gimme an open road and some Neil Young and that's a pretty good time. He's not winning any voice contests but his guitar lyrics are silky smooth. fave song: Mansion on the Hill
Ragged Glory is full of the "what's that song again?" type of songs you pick up over the din of a gritty dive and all of your friends just shrug their shoulders and passively remark how awful the singing is. Young's attempt at a garage rock style album falls flat with many of the songs merely coming across as ideas that never developed beyond the demo phase. It's a shame becuase "Mansion On the Hill" and "Love and Only Love" prove that there was potential, and if they had combined the occasional Neil Young guitar brilliance with less drunk sounding vocals, it could have been great. "Farmer John" was a particularly low low-point that you could absolutely convince me was partially sung by that guy we can all remember in a bar audience who should have been cut off two beers ago. Zero polish, disappointingly lacklustre.
A couple of weird discordant songs but overall pretty solid.
it's almost good (decent rock music) but Neil Young's voice is so annoying sometimes
At first I was iffy, but as the album progressed I began to like it more and more. Some of the vocals aren’t my thing but the instrumentals are a vibe.
good
3.5
Solid. Not really for me, but I found it pleasant enough. Other than Father John, which was difficult to get through (im sure many disagree but I can’t understand why), this was an easy listen
In a state of shock and awe currently because I didn’t think I’d like this album as much as I do
now _this_ is dad rock
Neil calls it ragged, and he ain't lying. This is garage rock as religion, with Crazy Horse preaching the gospel of distortion over a spread of five-minute-plus fuzzbaths that mostly mistake length for depth. Sure, there's charm in the slop—the Horse has always been more feel than finesse—but too often the jams drift past the point of inspiration into sheer indulgence. Still, even Neil noodling is Neil noodling, and when he locks in, the magic flickers: “White Line” rolls like country-rock done right, “F*!#in’ Up” stumbles into the boozy transcendence of Tonight’s the Night, and “Mansion on the Hill” sounds like it could’ve snuck onto Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere without too many raised eyebrows. Call it a glorious mess or just a mess—either way, it’s unmistakably him.
It was ok
Overall it was decent. Not my favorite Neil Young work, but still pretty good. Not sure I'll return to this one but it was enjoyable enough.
Honestly not much to say, just a random, somewhat forgettable Americana album
Det var annorlunda från det som jag brukar lyssna på så om jag inte gjort detta skulle jag förmodligen inte hört detta alls. Ändå helt okej för att inte vara min preferens! :))
One of the grungier Neil Young & Crazy Horse albums, which is a genre I'm not over the moon about. It still has plenty of good moments, even if it has a number of overlong songs that outstay their welcome.
I imagine if South Park wanted to stereotype country music, this would be it.
It sounded ok but repetitive and nothing stood out
I think I'm hitting Neil Young fatigue on this list. He's really good, but I'm not sure he needs as many albums as he has on this list. This album is nothing special. I can understand why it was a big deal and critically acclaimed when it came out, but it doesn't hold up. Neil Young starts to become a parody of himself over the last couple songs. The album as a whole is overly long, and the songs are trite for the most part. There are some gems here, and "Over and Over Again," despite being a bit too long, is objectively good and saves the album. I think this album is an example of something that was successful and influential during it's time but does not hold up as one of the best in retrospect.
6.9/10
Sometimes I get excited about an album still. Its raw, even for Neil Young. A precursor to Grunge maybe? It was good, not great.
All of the songs sounded like they were about to turn into rocking in the free world whoch isnt really a bad thing as thats a good song but. Also how on earth has this man made 40 albums Thats insane
good guitar but nothing super special to me
I absolutely love a bunch of Young’s earlier albums, but never tried any of his more recent stuff. I guess I was afraid he would have lost the magic over time. Unfortunately that might be true - nothing in this album is as, but nothing had the spark that makes his other albums repeat listens for me. Days That Used to Be was pretty good though
I knew that one of Neil Young's nicknames was "The Godfather of Grunge", had never heard music from him that was anywhere close to grunge. The guy who sings "Harvest Moon"? Who sings "Helpless"? The Godfather of Grunge? Colour me intrigued Now here's a grungy Neil Young album, and I have to say it's pretty damn good. Grunge is a hit and miss genre for me (really dislike Nirvana, really like Pearl Jam). This is one of the better grunge albums I've listened to though. It really has the vibe of a live recording, rather than something polished to within an inch of its life in the studio. I think that really adds an authenticity to the album - it sounds like the band were really feeling it when they recorded. This especially comes through on the extended instrumental jams on some tracks, reminiscent of "Everybody Knows This is Nowhere". It's like listening in on the band just vibing, and I really like that feeling. Ultimately though, this style of music is just not enough up my alley to get more than 3 stars (but I'd give it 4 if you caught me on the right day)
it's no harvest lets be real but Mother Earth slaps
Good stuff as always, but doesn't quite capture the live sound
Nice to listen to musicians just jam, with no real urgency to wrap up a song or keep it structured tightly. Sounds like dudes in a room, making music together. This is a compliment.
Neil Young doesn't really miss. It's not my favorite of his albums but the jam with Crazy Horse is great. 7/10
first listen band great still don't like neil's voice or style
Pre-listening thoughts: holy shit more Neil Young. Like actually how much more can there be Post/during listening thoughts: yeah this isn't as good as Harvest. It's OKAY. But I know you can do better, Neil. It's just so generic. Like it's so classic rock in a way I don't love from Neil Young. I like when he leans folk. 5/10 DID I NEED TO HEAR THIS BEFORE I DIE: no Fav tracks: Fuckin up Least fav tracks: the 10 minute song of evil
Better than the classic heart of gold stuff
Another decent one from Neil. He's not my style but very good at what he does. I get the love
Some good riffs but poor by Young standards
Pretty boring record. Knew mansion on the hill. Next song reminded me of a John mellencamp song. Hoped for more considering his legacy.
To be honest I expected more from a Neil Young album given how much I have enjoyed a lot of his other albums, but to give credit where credit is due, expanding into a grunge leaning sound from what he has done in the past isn't something that many people would be able to pull off.
Sort of a middle of the road Neil Young album for me.
Better than I expected. Not bad, but generally loud, mid-tempo rock is not something I gravitate towards. It does not hit me the way Harvest or After the Gold Rush does.
I'm typically a big Neil Young fan, but this one didn't stick out to me like the other albums. I liked the tone and guitar work, but the songs didn't do it for me.
The guitar work was pretty good, but nothing stood out much beyond that
This album sounds like a dad band playing in the garage, but yet, it's also very enjoyable. A very good dad band in a well equipped garage with the orange glow of tubes illuminating the space. Nothing stood out as awesome, though.
This is mid for me. Neil Young’s guitar playing and songwriting are great, but the straight-ahead rock’n’roll largely bores me. Also, his voice is going here, even at only 50 years old or so.
Had some Tom Petty & the heartbreakers and Nirvana vibes, which was surprising, but I doubt I'd return to this now that I'm living that dorky dad lifestyle. 3.5
Not sure if I have said this about Neil Young but he sounds like he is singing at his max volume while also using his inside voice. Not my kind of music but I can appreciate that it is well orchestrated. 5/10
I really like 70's Neil Young when he was by himself and cynical and wasn't prone to playing 10 minute jam sessions. He's a mixed bag of work for me. I like some stuff, hate other. This album is more on the mildly dislike. Some of it is decent, but some is too long and boring. 2.75/5 = 3 stars.
I listened in the car while stuck in construction traffic. 90 plus degrees outside and lots of sunshine. This felt like an outdoor concert with relaxed vibes. Thanks NY & Crazy Horse.
Neil boldly combines the folk jam noodling with the weird alternative rock budding in the late 80s early 90s to create an album that is decent but should probably never be done again. The band's instrumentation is both too good and not catchy enough for garage rock and every song overstays its welcome.
#616. I didn't hate this album necessarily, but i certainly didn't love it. Neil Young is entirely too pretentious and self important, and everything he does is too "look at me." A lot of these songs and the album in general would have benefited from being significantly shorter. 3/5: and I think thats being really generous, honestly
I'm getting the feeling that if you've heard one Neil Young album, you've heard them all. This doesn't seem particularly fresh. A full minute of guitar distortion to end F*!#in' Up is stupid. This is Better Than Ezra's favorite album. Tomorrow is a long, long time if you're a memory is a great line. Mother Earth (Natural Anthem) is not a strong close lyrically or musically.
Neil Young is a legend. This album is not. I mean, it’s ok….but not like, great.
This was a fun enough listen but I feel like the list is over-indexing in Neil Young that sounds exactly like this. I’d 90s young really that essential? The long songs are a bit too meandering for me.
Quality addition to a legendary catalog. Enjoy the garage-ness. Best consumed with a garage beer. Likely a Hamm's or a PBR, but like, in an unironical way.
Not bad but not my favorite Neil Young work. Don’t really intend to revisit
The songs are very catchy and it's a super fun alubm.
Music is decent but vocals are awful.
Når skal vi få et Neil Young album jeg ❤️
Ikke Neils beste, men en god plate
Det er bittelitt seigt
Ikke den sterkeste, men bra jamming. Bra lyd på gittarn!
I’m more of an early Neil Young solo fan rather than his Crazy Horse stuff. Although I do believe Rust Never Sleeps is on this list and that is ace. But this is not a bad album. Where it scores best is Young’s guitar work. Really like his extended solo’s but must admit his singing does tend to grate after a while. Whilst he has an instantly recognisable voice it is advisable not to prolong your listening session when he’s singing. 3/5 2/6/25
¿Que Neil Young no sabe cantar? Pues no. ¿Que Crazy Horse son técnicamente mediocres? Pues sí. ¿Que todas las canciones suenan igual? Pues también. ¿Que es un álbum súper divertido? Vaya que sí. No es el álbum más maravilloso del mundo, pero cumple lo que promete. Es el álbum que confirma el regreso de Neil Young a sus orígenes después de casi una década de música infumable. Un álbum que suena a pura década de los 70, entretenido, enérgico y sin muchas pretensiones, en el que cada músico lo da todo sin meterse en el estilo de los demás. Uno de esos álbumes perfectos para poner mientras conduces. Tres estrellitas, aunque, si nos ponemos estrictos, no sea merecedor de formar parte de esta lista.
3.3
Decent newish stuff from NY & CH. But still a lot of it sounds the same.
i feel like a bad canadian cause i've never really gotten into neil young and this album is certainly not a good point to start because it's just him doing good but boring alt rock
If half stars were available, would do 3 1/2. Just didn't enjoy enough to give it a 4.
3 but could go up on relisten
this garage rock vibe is weird
Pretty good sound. Live and raw. But pretty inessential if you ask me.
Sometimes I like him but this was noisy and tedious.
3.4
He's a great lyricist and storyteller, but instrumentally, he's a bit stale. It's my problem with a lot of folk. I have a feeling that a lot of them are poets who figured out that putting it to music would give them a bigger reach, like Leonard Cohen, who was pretty honest about that. And, yeah, I'm assuming I'll get a Leonard Cohen record at some point, and I suspect I'll be saying the same thing. The lyricism is still great, and the consistency of the music makes it feel like a larger story, even when it isn't, and it's always good as a listen, even if it's not great.
It’s whatever. I don’t love it, but I don’t hate it. It’s fine.
Can't say I'm looking forward to another Neil Young album so soon after the last one. He's my favourite artist on this list, but some of his stuff is pretty decent. Luckily this is a completely different era of Neil Young, so it will at least be interesting to hear how his sound has evolved since the mid 1970's. Curious to hear what Crazy Horse brings to the table. Country Home Great audio quality! The lyrics paint some pretty imagery. Evokes a peaceful, content feeling. A few times throughout the track the guitar comes in with some really nice distortion. The instrumental isn't interesting enough to warrant so much individual time. Drags a bit, doesn't justify being seven minutes long. Decent. 3.5/5 White Line Very Western coded guitar riff, sounds straight out of a 1960's cowboy movie. Definitely a driving song, both lyrically and tempo wise. The harmonies add a lot to the nostalgic Americana feel of the track. Good. 4/5 Fuckin' Up Crunchy distortion. There's not exactly anything wrong with the track other than it sounds kinda generic, even if it's a bit of a cop out as a descriptor. Pleasant and competent, just not particularly exciting. Neil Young's unique voice, along with the quality production is probably the difference maker between this and any other rock track. Fine. 3/5 Over and Over Nice guitar opening, feels very emotive and evocative of the overall sonic imagery of the album so far. The chorus is pretty sweet. Takes its time, genuinely beautiful at times. Has several great guitar riffs in a similar vein to the intro. Could've been condensed into a 6-7 minute track, feels like it doesn't know when to stop adding material leaving it sounding a bit unfocused. Decent. 3.5/5 Love to Burn Feels like a bit of an echo of the previous track. Has a very similar opening structure. Don't really like the chorus that much. Has a clunky composition, and the vocal melody is a bit strange. The band sounds really locked in, giving really solid performances and building well on top of each other. Sounds like they enjoy playing together. Has a noodly guitar section which while impressive feels completely unecessary. There's really nothing else going on while it's happening, and it goes on for too long. Has great energy. A bit monotonous. Mixed. 3/5 Farmer John Some interesting distortion with the guitars in a bit of a disjointed. Has a slight punk feel to it. Strange concept. Really like how offputting the character presented in the lyrics is. Seems a bit of a sleaze. Has a drunk energy to it, which sets it apart from the rest of the album. Decent. 3.5/5 Mansion on the Hill Electric energy. Has that attitude which feels very intrinsic to the country rock genre. The feeling of looking back, and that reflectiveness you need to pull it off convincingly. Like how they finally show some restraint. Warm and colourful. Good. 4/5 Days That Used to Be Feels pretty sad. Has a lot or that reflective emotion several of the previous tracks also have, though this one seems a lot more on the nose. Really like the simple guitar riff in the background. Decent. 3.5 Love and Only Love The harmonies are very pleasant. While not earthshattering I find the chorus to be quite charming. Has some really nice buildup to it. Suffers a bit from that aimlessness a lot of the longer tracks on this albums seem to have. Settles on some very generic guitar noodling and stays there far too long. That bassline becomes a bit annoying after a while. A bit of a chore to get through. Way too long, could be cut to 4 minutes without losing anything of value. Average. 2.5/5 Mother Earth (Natural Anthem) I Like the sentiment, but the hymn like composition and the electric guitar in the background makes me feel like I'm about to be indoctrinated into some weird American cult society. The environment is very important, but I don't like this presentation at all. Sounds awful to me. The cheering does not help. Strongly dislike. 1.5/5 First of all this sounds very good. Clean and crisp production which presents the pristine musicianship on this record very flatteringly. The band is tight, and Neil Young's vocals are very clear and pronounced. His very distinct voice and delivery lends itself well to this sound. Each track is a self contained piece of Americana, lending from roots, western motifs, country music and much more to create some lovely imagery and great audatory landscapes. There's a lot of harkoning back to the good ol' days with a nostalgic reflective attitude which rubs off on the listener. Very early on you can feel how resonant this album can be, much thanks to Neil Young's long praised songwriting ability. "Ragged Glory" really shines where it shines, and where it doesn't you're met with what feels like a lack of restraint. Many of the tracks simply don't have the variation or enough interesting moments to justify their runtimes. There seems to be a pattern of just throwing in an overly long, meandering piece of guitar playing that just never seems to end. It gets to a point where it feels like a formula, where they just pan out the runtime to create a sense of grandiosity to the track, which simply doesn't always work leaving me finished with the song way before the track actually ends. Add in a few tracks that simply don't feel that unique and the album's rating quickly starts to drop. The album isn't entirely boring, as my previous factors of praise make up for some of its flaws, but it's never enough to completely save it. The final product comes across as a bit unfocused and bloated, too large for it's own good. It ends up being a flawed experience with still plenty to love scattered throughout its runtime. 3/5 Fave track. Mansion on the Hill Least fave track. Mother Earth (Natural Anthem)
Good and raw. No complaints.
I have Neil Young fatigue so I wasn't looking forward to this one but it was better than expected. Still nothing amazing though. Best song was probably Over and Over which has a video on Spotify so I'm assuming that's probably the lead single. It's nothing special but it stands out from the rest. I still can't give it more than a 3 though as it was over an hour and felt like a slog to get through the entire thing.
Meh
I enjoyed the first few tracks a lot more than I expected but the (inexplicably) much-lauded 'Farmer John' is awful & it goes into steep decline after that. Better to stick with the 50% of a good album they had than fill the rest of an hour with turgid dirges.
3.6
Unfussy, muscular garage rock. Long, I guess. I like Neil Young so I like this, you know? I'd throw it on at a party or on a sunny day at the cabin, but I don't know if I'd do a close listen again.
Not a Neil Young fan, but Fuckin Up is such a relatable song, and the guitars on here are really solid. Maybe after 20 Neil Young albums I've finally found the gateway?
An ok 70s album from 1990.
Another middle of the road album. Nothing terrible, nothing great. A few more good moments than bad but much prefer Neil's younger work. I'm not sure this genre best suits his talents. 5.5/10 (2.75/5)
Neil Young AND CRAZY HORSE WHOA THAT HORSE IS CRAAAAAAAAAZY HE'S BRUSHING HIS BOTTOM TEETH BEFORE HIS TOP TEETH
At one point in my student years I listened to Harvest way too many times and now I can never hear Neil Young’s voice without cringing a little inside despite knowing the songs are good and the music is good.
It's an alright, pretty pleasant album
This was a lot more rocking and listenable than I expected! Perfectly fine, lively rock.
I looked at the track list before listening and saw that there were four songs over seven minutes, two of which reach ten minutes long, and was feeling a little doubtful. I was right. That length was not justified. Not in a single one of those long songs. “Farmer John” sucks. At least they had the decency not to drag that out. That song and the finale. What a strange piece. Guitar is to similar to Jimi playing the American National Anthem and the lyrics were way too preachy. In fact, all the lyrics on this album are sub par compared to the rest of Neil’s entries on this list. This album is a strange inclusion. The production, songwriting, vocals, instrumentation, etc. It’s all worse than the others. Noticeably. However, I enjoyed it and had fun listening. It’s a fine record, but not for a list like this. 3/5
Guardians of the galaxy känsla
Not bad
This album just seems a bit flat and uninspired. I generally like Neil's 70's stuff, but this just didn't quite scratch the same itch. I think it's worse knowing the live version of Fuckin Up from the Weld album. After a few listens it's grown on me a bit, but I still wouldn't call it one of his best albums.
It's aight stuff, nothing crazy but good. Will I listen to again: 10%
Solid jams, but his voice take a minute to get used to. Kinda whiney. But good
Not the biggest fan of Young but this is a good album. Not great but solid.
Quite enjoyed this musically, but it felt a bit flat lyrically. Enjoyed the second half of the album more than the first
This is one I hadn't listened to. Pretty solid album! Definitely a 3/5.
FUCKIN UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHHHHP
Cool, next.
Not a huge fan. I think it could grow on me with some more listens.
It’s ok, it’s Neil Young, and all Neil Young sounds a bit samey. It’s over-long, and a lot of that length could be cut out by slimming down the bland instrumental breaks in the middle of songs, and by getting rid of the stupid almost-feedback-but-not-quite open mic / pickups that comprises the last couple of minutes of a surprising number of these songs.
First off, I must say love to burn is a great song, 10 minutes of class, mother earth is quite good also. Different to yesterday's 35 minutes, this was an hour, but, I expected it to be worse, it took me by a nice surprise, on my scale I'll put it at 4.35
"It's okay, everyone has a bad day." https://youtu.be/AgPhyCq-y8E?si=tauooFBJqlLuvs5I There's nothing I can say about this album, so I'll let Kim Gordon tell you about Neil Young for me. Click the link above, you won't regret it.
I don't think I will ever like NY's voice. But I do really like the music. Maybe I need an album of NY covers?
Who knew Neil Young was the father of grunge? He definitely has the 'father' right and struggles to escape the dad-rock tag in this album. In his interview with Rolling Stone Neil Young calls it 'a MIDI'. Country Home as the name suggest opens with a pretty generic twangy guitar thing with Young singing about yearning for his country home. This is described by Rolling Stone as the 36th greatest grunge album of all time forever demonstrating the lack of relevance that magazine has had for music in the last half century. White Line is more half-arsed country nonsense. Fucking Up finally gets a bit grunge-y but also struggles to elevate itself to any proper intensity, instead sounding like a tired ZZ Top. Six minute long songs are not grunge. Over and Over sinks back into dad rock. Love to Burn is better and does again approach grunge, but its let down by its length and the croony bits (seriously how can anyone call this a garage rock album with a straight face when its got two 10 minute songs on it?) Farmer John gets the balance between country and grunge right (and is a reasonable length). Mansion on the Hill is a bit shit, if you told me the Eagles wrote it I wouldn't have been surprised. Days that Used to Be is the kind of classic Young ballad that inspires people to reminisce about their dead friends in Youtube comments. The next ten minute track Love and Only Love doesn't really pretend anymore and just goes balls to the wall classic rock with prog vocals. Mother Earth is an interesting experiment but is again at odds with the garage rock thing. Young had this weird period in the late 80s and early 90s where he was fostering all this great talent so he gets a point for that. Maybe his guidance is what led to the immense beauty of Daydream Nation? Maybe if Kurt had just had a beer with the old man he would have stopped hanging out with bad influences like Albini and Nirvana would have stayed credible? Maybe if they'd just hung out a bit more Devo would have stopped using their MIDI and been normal for a gosh darned second?
Another schmid album
I'm a big lover of Neil Young, but I don't think this is his best work by a long shot.
Nice blend of American music styles
I usually like Neil Young, I don't think I like this Neil Young idk.
"Country Home" : I'm sorry but that's my own tastes but I hate country and this one song in particular is awful and way too long stop that nooooow. "Fuckin' Up" was actually good I liked it as much as "Over And Over" thankfully this album starts to be clean and well I'm starting to be tired of rock albums but this one is not that bad. "Love to Burn" For once the WAY TOO LONG song was good the guitar solo at the end was actually pretty sick I loved it. "Farmer John" the "OoOoh Ooooh" part killed me, that's terrible I mean like it could have been something funny but this sounds so damn ridiculous sorry guys. Sooooo the album wasn't the best but wasn't the worse as well, some songs were nice with some good instrumental parts but the voice is kinda terrible, sorry Neil but your voice sucks a bit.
Really interesting sounds Those minutes-long guitar riffs are quite iconic Loved "Country Home" and "Over and Over" Mother earth is pretty cool, it really has that national anthem vibe. Is it the scale used along with the slower bpm? Interesting 3.5
I'm not as big of a fan of Neil Youngs grungey era, but it was clearly influential on the development of the genre. Solid listen.
Okay listening. Not overproduced, that's for sure. Simple and cool.
Ragged Glory is back to basics collaboration with Crazy Horse.
Neil Young and Crazy Horse decided to fuck around AND find out. They played a set or two a day and just took the best takes, they included jams and longer song length, and it turned out to be a grunge album!?! Only one Neil Young
More intense than ur average young album and I don’t think I was ready for it yesterday. But good nonetheless.
Day 84 - Jan 21st, 2025 I STILL FUCKING HATE NEIL YOUNG!!!!!!!!! 3/5
A fun romp with old buddies and a strategically valuable album if you worked in a record store in 1990 and you needed a psychic cleanse after your boss who inherited the store by accident and didn't even like music played the new Celine Dion. However, it's not even in the top 1001 Neil Young albums, let alone worthy of serious consideration for this list. But I do love Why Do I Keep Fucking Up - who among us hasn't asked themselves that?
Ugh--finishing this somewhat overly long album marks the halfway point in my Neil Young journey in this collection (counting his CSNY album too). Great for the Young fans out there, not so great for the tourists among us. But kudos to him for (a) wanting to revisit the concept of long, instrument-heavy rock in the 90s, and (b) recording a zillion single takes of the songs on the album and then just picking the one that spoke to them (rather than edits and dubs and so on). Both of these approaches come through loud and strong, and give a studio album an impressive live feel (as well as a strange bedfellow to grunge rock). I wish I enjoyed his voice and lyrics more than I do, as it's an interesting concept for an album.
An ex used to play this album nonstop, so it's hard for me to judge. Not my favorite Neal Young album and I don't think the songwriting is his best but he and his band wrestle a powerful sound that mostly disguises some of the weaker lyrics.
Fine. Middle of the road stuff.
There are a few solid tracks on this one. Pearl Jam does a F—kin up cover. Definitely too many Neil Young albums on this list though.
Wow Crazy Horse really elevates Neil Young here. I went from "oh great another Neil Young album..." to "oh wow I can actually jam out to this Neil Young album" That being said, Young's annoying Kermit the frog voice still kills the vibes.
Didn't hate it. Didn't love it. I'm pretty sure there's better work by Neil Young that I intend to listen to.
Neil Young is a grumpy old sort isn't he? Capable of both the most brilliant gorgeous rock and then, at the same time, like he's listened to Jagger's solo career and thought "YES, the world needs more of this" 2 stars, plus 1 because I felt bad only giving Neil 2 stars and he'd probably get the arse with me.
Yup. Sounds like Neil Young.
It's not bad per se, and I can hear things that could possibly influence grunge and garage rock on this album. However, for some reason it felt uninspired to me. Was it because in retrospection, after hearing all of those albums already it's kinda average? And it's just second album of him I'm listening to, and I'm hearing clapping again. Do we really need that? I don't know, I'm not feeling it.
Ome Nelis de Jong, deze keer met een soort Normaal-achtige boeren-rockband. En die band heeft, zo klinkt het, best zin om even lekker een stukje niet al te gecompliceerde maar toch lekkere muziek te maken. Lekker vlotjes allemaal. Elk nummer bestaat uit ongeveer dezelfde 2 à 3 akkoorden en daardoor lijkt elk nummer op het voorgaande nummer, maar dat mag de ongecompliceerde pret niet drukken. Het is daarbij gewoon eigenlijk weer jammer dat het ome Nelis is die de eerste zangpartij voor zijn rekening neemt. Want ook hier klinkt 'ie weer als een totale amateur. Hij kan gewoon echt niet zo goed zingen. Maar die band maakt wel veel goed. Heerlijk fuzzy gitaargeluid. Ik ga een 3 geven en daar zit geen enkele ster bij die aan Neil Young zelf te danken is. Als je de zang wegdenkt was het misschien zelfs een 4.
"On this weeks episode, we join Neil Young as he teams up with the local grunge band! Will they put their differences aside, or will they fail to work things out and produce some awkward music?" I kinda get what they were trying to do here, it was the 90's and to be fair, they get a couple good songs out of this, but Neil Young is the anchor for them, but realistically they're holding him back. It was a fun experiment and I'm glad they tried it, but this is a one and done for me.
What is this? Half the time everyone is off tempo. The songs are loooooong and not in an interesting way. Neil Young is better than this
Apart from the first and last song, this was as interesting as untoasted white bread. Stand-out: Mother Earth (Natural Anthem)
Day352 - neil young has at least four albums that i think are amazing and this isn’t one of them. not that it’s bad but it’s a sign of apparently way more neil young to come
This really feels like you’re just hanging out in Neil’s garage listening to him play with his friends. A little rambly, but full of heart.
pleasantly surprised by this album! the wikipedia said it was grunge so i was dreading this. and while there are some grunge elements (the worst parts) i feel like it was more than that. the melodies, vocal and guitar, were what stood out most to me
So many Neil Young albums…. It’s ok….
Decent to have on in the background, liked Days the Used to be at the end
Neil is sometimes off key. Instrumentals are nice but I feel they are dated for 1990. 3/5
It was okay.
I appreciate the proto-grunge production more than the actual songs they're playing.
i dont think some of these warrant 10 minute songs.
The great thing about Neil Young is his combination of good lyrics and raw garage punk sounding backing music. Ragged Glory doesn't have the 'hits' that most are familiar with and while Young has a lot of albums on this list, this one could be one to sacrifice should they need a limit. Still a great album and a perfect example of the quality music he puts out throughout the spectrum of his career. 3.5/5
Neil is one of my favourite dudes but this one is far from essential. Who's going to make a version of of this list with any creativity at all?
Neil Young doing Neil Young things! Nice easy rock and roll, but nothing to write home about!
He needs voice lessons. But the tunes are nice.
Geinig dat een genre (grunge) voor een groot deel muzikale inspiratie haalde uit early electric Neil Young, en dat diezelfde muzikant er in de jaren 90 weer zijn eigen draai aangeeft. Things coming full circle, zeg maar. Dit album voelt op vele fronten als een extensive listening van zijn plaat die vaak wordt gelabeled als 'post-grunge', ''Rust Never Sleeps''. Het schuurt, het is 'ragged' zoals de titel al aangeeft, en de opnames zijn - ik denk bewust - een beetje lo-fi. De lange gitaarsolo's zijn terug die we nog kennen van 70s Neil & Crazy Horse. En alhoewel ik het cool vindt dat hij die retrostijl weet te mengen met een typische lo-fi alternative rock sound van de 90s, is het wel een beetje te veel van het goede met die ruige jams. Dit is typisch zo'n album dat echt die grens van een uur niet hoefde te overschrijden om in zijn kracht te komen, wat mij betreft. Die twee songs van 10 minuten zijn symptomatisch wat dat betreft, want die vallen op zich zelf al gigantisch in herhaling. En in de songs waar het verhaal iets meer ruimte krijgt in plaats van de grungy gitaren, voelt de stem van Neil Young soms een beetje 'off'. Maar dat kennen we van hem natuurlijk, het is een fragiele zangstem. Positieve punten zijn vooral 'Over and Over' en 'Mansion on the Hill'. De tweede had ik al even op mijn radar, en mixt old school Neil Young fantastisch met de nieuwe rock sound van de 90s. De eerste kende ik niet en is met recht een fijne ontdekking. Ook hier is de stem van Neil niet echt prettig, maar dat catchy refrein en m'n favoriete riff van het album maken een hoop goed. Al met al vond ik het een beetje een 'drag' om naar deze plaat te luisteren, vooral vanwege die paar onnodig lange gitaarjams. Maar ik vind het wel weer een sterk album voor iemand die dicht bij z'n roots wil blijven, maar toch mee wil evolueren met de tijd. Dat gaat zo vaak zo veel minder goed dan in dit voorbeeld. 6,5/10 Highlights: Over and Over Mansion on the Hill
Ragged Glory van Neil Young & Crazy Horse heeft mij niet onwijs weten te overtuigen. Neil's vindingrijkheid en het vermogen om zichzelf opnieuw uit te vinden zijn bewonderenswaardig. Hij maakt in 1990 zijn 20ste plaat en vuurt een startschot voor het grunge-tijdperk, wat ik toch zeer kan waarderen. Met name de muziek van Crazy Horse rommelt zich grungy door de plaat. Je hoort de invloed op het vroege Pearl Jam maar ook bands als Wunderhorse hoor ik terug, zeker in F*!#in' Up. Twee zaken storen me echter een beetje. De stem van Neil is onwijs fragiel en 'valt af en toe van de muziek af'. Wanneer er even in harmonie wordt gezongen is het vaak prachtig, maar solo klinkt hij heel kwetsbaar. Ik vind dat lastig te rijmen met het overstuurde gitaargeluid van de Grunge. De onwijze stemmen van Vedder en Cornell, maar ook die van Cobain, passen (althans voor mij) veel beter bij. Neil Young komt qua stem dan weer beter tot zijn recht in de wat meer rechttoe-rechtaan nummers (bijvoorbeeld Mansion on the Hill). En dan natuurlijk de lengte. Lange uitgespannen solo's overtuigen mij eigenlijk zelden. En zeker niet; hoe langer hoe beter. Conclusie: het basisniveau van deze plaat is hoog en kan worden gezien als een echte voorloper (met voorgaande platen) van de grunge. Dat is tof. Maar Neil heeft betere Young-platen gemaakt. 7/10 Highlights Over and Over Love to Burn Mansion on the Hill
Very decent, Love to Burn was an absolute banger.
It’s an ok album. Lyrically it’s not profound like a lot of Neil’s work. I enjoy his music either way.
This album was fine. Nothing for me to hate, but can't say I loved it. Never really listened to Neil Young by choice, as he’s never been my style. Some of this album was a bit too on the country side for me. The rock stuff was enjoyable for what it was. Again, not my cup of tea.
He's not young and they're not crazy.
tatterdemallions
hrá rokkplata. frekar góð en kveikti ekkert sérstaklega. fær aðra vegna fyrri kynna. 3,5.
Understood this may have been a bit of a comeback for him after his intentional 80’s druthers outputting things to upset his label at the time. Parts of this I like, probably needs to be shorter to listen to the entire album in one sitting.
Once again one or two of these songs are great but....
Shaggy garage rock from an arena filler, loud and heavy and thick as sludge - NY is at his best in hard rock mode with guitar blazing and this is a giant dose of that. Not quite at the level of his 70s albums, but full of verge and reinventing himself for the 90s as the godfather of grunge - you can really hear what Pearl Jam in particular took from him here. The songs aren't especially remarkable, but work perfectly as mid tempo blues grooves for him to stretch out. And his guitar playing on this is great: controlled chaos on the precipice, the tone and phrasing and squall are so distinctive. Favorites: white line, fkng up, love to burn, mansion on the hill, love and only love
Not his best
I'm a huge Neil Young fan, yet even I feel like there are maybe one too many albums by him in Robert Dimery's list. And *this* might be the album to take out. Good rock guitar playing after a decade in which Neil spent time doing other things, for better ("Trans", "Freedom") or for worse (most of the other LPs he recorded during the eighties). The thing is, the songs in "Ragged Glory" are a little flat, and the tracklisting is not dynamic at all. When Neil Young released *Broken Arrow* five or six years later, the critics panned it. How ironic since it's very much the same sort of album, only with a couple of better highlights than the ones on *Ragged Glory*. Context can't justify everything. And there were quite a few better album released in 1990 anyway.... So now that I took out a Neil Young album from my own list, I have room for other great records. The only problem is that I'm now *very* tempted to include *Le Noise*, a criminally underrated, sepulchral-sounding later gem by the Loner himself. Unless I pick *Psychedelic Pill*, where Young finally succeeded in writing and recording the sort of project he partly failed to pull off for *Ragged Glory*. You're never out of the woods with good ole Neil Just when you think you can dismiss him, or even get rid of him, he's back for one reason or another. Just ask Stephen Stills about it. 3 for the purposes of this list. 8 for more general purposes (5+3) Number of albums left to review: 30 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 419 Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 244 Albums from the list I won't include in mine: 311 (including this one)
Enjoyed the guitar, bello
I'm still not a fan of Neil Young's screechy voice, but the presence of Crazy Horse as his backing band makes this much more bearable. Neil was really leaning into his "Godfather of Grunge" title here.
I'm tempted to take a point off just because this is Young's 7th appearance so far. But it's still not bad.
A good Neil Young album, but certainly not his best. Some songs really don't click with me, but they are compensated with some great rockers such as Country Home and mansion on the Hill. Peak grunge phase Neil Young and Crazy Horse. 3⭐️
Old school 70’s rock
Slower Neil Young album
The straightforwardness of approach here, which may have seemed refreshing at the time, now seems dull and unimaginative. One feels the band is having fun and enjoying the direct approach – the singalongs are telling, and there's a easy-going yet anthemic quality that is generally likable – but one isn't exactly challenged or asked to do much more than bounce along and so the overall effect is bordering on the anodyne. The vocals – never a Neil stroingpoint (except when they were perfect) – are especially trying. Fine, but not great and there are plenty of other better candidates in the Neil canon. Like a garage band removed to a big spread in the country ... which is what it is. Songwriting ranges from pedestrian (see the car lyric on "Days That Used to Be") to slightly better than (see line about walking as escape on "Country Home"). "Mansion On the Hill" seems a rather poorly chosen metaphor for '60s nostalgia. Some kind of proud Boomer affirmation of Boomer rock and it sounds just about that tired and banal today. It's down the middle, resolutely so and quite clearly by design so no wonder it's jsut about replacement level for this list. And in the sense that it's a conscious effort to do something specific, it's actually more similar to Trans and the Shocking Pinks than it seems. One admires artists for exploring and/or returning home which seems to be the consensus of what this record is all about ... but sometimes the results are not exacly breakthrough or mind-blow which is very much the case here. "Natural Anthem" is by far the most interesting cut (if a bit pedantic), but comes as too little, too late to redeem the overall record to much more than average. If editors were looking for late Neil Renaissance records, they had many better options, starting with Harvest Moon, the most obvious, which perhaps they wanted to avoid, which led to a major self-double-crossing down to overthinking.
It's a little country for me but I like the guitar parts lyrics are a little bit country
There are few things that seem to be eternally true. The Sky is blue, 1 + 1 = 2 and such - well it also seems to be true that Neil Young will be Neil Young. He’s kinda good but also really bad - he gets a 3/5
Fun riffing.
dobrá kytara, pár světlejších bodů, jinak nic moc
Not sure if 90’s Neil is my thing. 3/5
Not bad.
Nothing really wrong with this if you like Neil Young, but I couldn't really get into it. Songs all sound basically the same and are way too long. Some cool moments make me think I would like this more on repeated listens, but on the first listen it just felt average
This is my third Neil Young album, and I don't remember disliking his voice so much on the previous albums. Maybe it is just that he is older, or maybe this album is just more country inspired. He just really seems to be struggling to hold a note which I didn't notice on previous albums. This album also has country/folk inspired group vocals that I am not a fan of. The writing on this album also seems weaker. The songs aren't bad, they just don't feel as biting or necessary. The production is good though, I like the guitar tones and the feedback some songs end with. Something about Love to Burn reminds me of the Simpsons' joke were Milhouse's dad gets divorced and writes a song called Spare me a Feeling or something like that. I have no idea why I made this connection. Farmer John is a terrible song... I could excuse it if it was 1:30-2:00 but 4:14 is really pushing what feels like a joke song. This list probably would have been fine without this one, there are plenty of other Neil Young albums on this list (too many IMO) that make up for this forgettable one. I like the album cover. It is very punk/DIY. This album is more boring/bland, than it is bad. Low 3 (very close to a 2).
This is listenable, but I still struggle with his whiney voice... Somewhat anthem-like, 3 stars out of respect
184/1001 🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
There's this guy on Spotify that sings poop songs with your name in it. Like he does a song about poop for every name under the sun. There's several of my name, Jared Poops. Sometimes Neil Young sounds like the Poop guy. I thought this record was decent.
Decent NY album
Classic young, jamming as if it’s was recorded in a oner prefer other young albums though
Solid album. I enjoyed hearing Neil Young going more rock that some of his older stuff and each song was enjoyable. My two biggest gripes would be the length and most of the songs were similar. The album kind of melded together in the middle.
Hard to go wrong with Neil Young! I had never listened to much of his post-70's stuff, but this was a pleasant surprise. Some of the songs were a bit long but they didn't get boring at all.
It was better than the previous Neil Young albums, but loooooong.
Still not a Neil Young fan. This didn't do anything to change my mind.
More ragged than glorious, this is barely above average straightforward rock, though certainly it has its heart in the right (though also predictable) places (see "Love and Only Love," "Mother Earth"). The band is a bit dumb and dull; though editors are too harsh in calling them "ham-fisted" and "numbskull," their claim that Crazy Horse is "best and worst band" seems about right. Certainly they bring out NY's better instincts and this did seem like a way out of the wilderness in which he'd been flailing for quite some time. A truly unique artist with some major blind spots (which are here manifested as questionable Boomer nostalgia [see "Days That Used to Be"]), NY has produced a good bit of dreck amidst the many gems. This fits neither of those categories, but nor is it a must-hear, falling miles short of the record to which it's most fancifully compared (Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere). And its timely relationship to grunge seemed coincidental at the time (one doubts it influenced anyone); today, this and Nirvana et al seem eras – even epochs – apart from just 30 years out.
This might be my highest rated Neil Young. It was totally listenable.
I keep trying with Neil young. No e of these songs stood out for me.