On The Beach

I’ll play that immediately, I think when this comes up. I should listen to this all the time. This might be Neil Young’s greatest record. “A thousand dune buggies coming over the mountain” still entrances me with its menace.

Wow, this is the album that convinced me Neil Young was not just a good folky tunester from my youth (mainly "Comes A Time") but one of the all-time greats. Neil's voice and his accompanying instruments have never sounded better. I don't have the time today to praise it in the depth it deserves, but suffice to say when I heard he was opening with "Ambulance Blues" on his last tour I bought a ticket (and a plane ticket) immediately, and shared a transcendent moment with 20-odd thousand thrilled (and wasted) hippies, up there with the best live experiences of my (now) many years. What an album cover too! Another inevitable, drop-everything-and--listen-all-the-way-through, 6* record for me. I've noticed that all of my absolute favorites (most on here) have at least one very long song that could last forever with my approval, evidently the litmus test of my musical tastes.

In the 70s no artist was better than Neil Young. Every album he made was excellent. On the Beach is no exception. It is one of his best. This album has lots of existential angst. Life in the ditch as Neil described it. Every song is good. Walk on is a powerful song to start off the album. See the sky about to rain is a beautiful song. Revolution Blues is about Charles Manson and his merry family. Well I heard that Laurel Canyon is full of rich stars/ well I hate them worst than lepers and kill them in their cars. On the beach is the beautiful title track. Ambulance Blues is about Patty Hearst who was kidnapped by the SLA. This album is a masterpiece. Five stars.

Meh

Sorry my Canadian friends, I just can’t stand Neil Young’s voice. It’s weak.

I hadn't heard any songs off this album before and it's a little bit different from the Neil Young I am familiar with (Harvest and his appearance during The Last Waltz) but I did enjoy it. I imagine a lot of boomers listen to this record today with fond memories of 74

Yay more Neil Young. The songs are musically a little more interesting, but beyond that it's much the same - wavery voice, cryptic lyrics, repetitive music. It's better than most of the other (too many) Neil Young albums on this list but still not for me.

Amazing album art. Too inconsistent with some songs overstaying their welcome.

Had a nice laid-back vibe to it. Like Jimmy Buffet if he’d been a teatotaler

Correcto

this is a fun one

Yeah it was pretty good.

Great album. The difference between Neil Young and his contemporaries is that his music feels a lot more sincere and genuine. Soundwise it's not that different from other music from this era, but his writing and delivery make this a lot more enjoyable for me.

By the age of 30 I really didn't like Neil Young's music. The same mellow hit were playing on repeat on the radio's playlist, and I thought that Neil Young is probably the most overrated artist I know. And then came LeNoise, which caught me by a huge surprise. I got a copy, decided to give it a good listen, and was immediately drawn in. So I gave his albums another chance. I found out the the songs that I heard over and over again on the radio do not scratch the surface of his depth and musical talent. On The Beach is for me one of the pinnacles of Young's music. The atmosphere is unbeliveable and overwhelming in a good way, the tunes are exact, and his voice is full of emotion. Perfect album!

An album from the so-called "Ditch Trilogy." For me, it’s an album that belongs in the pantheon—an absolute number-one record, even if it wasn't all that successful commercially. I could have done this more justice yesterday with more time, but on a Monday morning... I could write an entire book about it, but today, unfortunately, I can only manage a few lines. After his friend Danny Whitten died of an overdose—at a time when Neil himself was enjoying massive success with "Harvest"—he sought to ground himself again, following a path that wasn't always geared toward the hit charts. I love this period, when he was so incredibly creative and produced some of his best songs. I won't be able to write an essay about every song today, unfortunately! Neil refused to conform to the expectations of the music industry. The songs are raw, often minimalist, and convey a deep, intimate melancholy that was stylistically far ahead of its time, later exerting a significant influence on genres like grunge. A masterpiece.

Okay - so I hadn't really explored this album until I started seriously collecting CDs about 18 months ago. The often fickle elitists over at Rate Your Music rate this as Young's best solo album - and it's hard to argue with that objectively, but the man does have a billion solo albums, so your own mileage may vary. Personally, I haven't listened to this album nearly as much as the earlier 70s albums, but it's growing on me as a complete album in a way that Harvest and After the Gold Rush have yet to do. The opening track is reminiscent of a Muppets tune, not in a bad way. But "Revolution Blues" is another level - some great guitar work from David Crosby and even better lyrics from Young, cutting through the whole Laurel Canyon mythology via Charles Manson. It's one of the best Bob Dylan tunes not written by Bob Dylan. "For the Turnstiles" highlights what will become Young's decades-long battles with the music industry from 90s Ticketmaster to the 2020s and Spotify. "On the Beach" is classic Young disillusionment in a 12-bar blues format, albeit with some great non-bluesy chord changes here and there. I suppose the genre labels of Country Rock and/or Folk Rock fit this album, but for me, this is more akin to the "Alt-Country" movement of the 90s-00s. I'm reminded of Ryan Adams' "Heartbreaker" on tracks like "Motion Pictures (For Carrie)" and "See the Sky About to Rain." Neil Young is making timeless music on this album. But I suppose that's to be expected from a musical genius like Young. It's a sad album at many points, but there still seems to be a sense of hope running through it. Contemplative and wistful and weird in places, On the Beach grows on me with each listen. The power in the lyrics, the simplicity of the accompaniments, Young's meditative strumming. Essential listening for the sad bastard in all of us. 4 Stars.

Bra, om än inte min favorit av hans många bidrag till listan.

Njae denna kändes rätt trist.

I really enjoyed this album. "Walk On” immediately put me in a good mood. The protest songs were as relevant as ever and I especially liked "Revolution Blues". The simple harmonies and steel guitar of "For the Turnstiles“ was lovely, but everything paled compared to "Ambulance Blues". It was so achingly beautiful and took the album from a four to a five for me.

It's always been one of my favorites of his.

Not the worst but I'm just not a huge fan of his voice

My Neil Young listening hits album 6. This was his best one. This felt much more meaningful and a coherent whole than the others and there were some tracks that really resonated in a way that many of the other albums didn't have.

Ok, bynne å bli ganske ekstremt lei folkemusikk her, håpe virkelig æ får no anna idag. Neil young e helt grei, harvest moon e veldig fin, men d e litt my av d samme, spesielt me den uka æ har hatt.

ok this might be the best neil young album i really like Vampire blues

Though my problems are meaningless That don't make them go away I need a crowd of people But I can't face them day to day

Some nice guitar work but overall the album didn’t connect

Wasn’t too keen early on in the album but this record creeps up on you in the best way possible. The second half is gorgeous and is where it fully finds its vision, making it great for repeat listens

Didn't hate it, which is not usually how I feel about Neil Young albums.

Chances are that if there's a Neil Young album on the list, there's a Damn Good Reason why it's on there. Solid 5 Stars.

I’m at a 5. I think I’ve spent 20 minutes now trying to figure out the exact things that make this album so instantly appealing to me. It’s hard to put it into words. I think the word that rings the most in my mind is “authenticity”, if only because the last 3 tracks here feel very open. The first 5 tracks feel partially like Neil Young embodying characters, whether it’s a more confident version of himself on “Walk On”, a man who can only see his hardships as an inevitability on “See The Sky About to Rain”, Charles Manson & his cult on “Revolution Blues”, a struggling version of himself on “For the Turnstiles”, & Donald Trump on “Vampire Blues”. It’s a guy promising good times will finally arrive once he gets you his 20 barrels of oil; who else could it be? Of the first 5 tracks, “For the Turnstiles” is the only one that I can nitpick at; I think it could’ve done just a bit more musically, but if it had, it probably wouldn’t have fit the intentionally amateur vibe it was going for. They’re all good, though, and Neil injects enough of himself & his politics into them to keep them entertaining. It’s the last 3 tracks that have left me pondering for the last 20 minutes. I don’t know how a person can write like that. Joni Mitchell dazzled me with a vivid vulnerability that felt reflective of a side of humanity & a connection to the world that I’m still trying to chase. Neil Young, on the other hand, just seems so confident in himself & so at peace with who he is that his vulnerability is in self-affirmation of who he is, for better or for worse. He’s open about his flaws & shortcomings, he’s open about not wanting to trade his life for anybody else’s, he’s open about the fear of losing his audience, he’s open about his memories, & he’s open about his relationship to the world at large as he sees it. Joni Mitchell seems so, so connected to the world. Neil Young, at least on this album, feels like he’s trying to disconnect from it while staying true to himself. Somehow, it works really potently. That’s the part I’ve been trying to figure out, given how rambly it sometimes felt & how slowly it all played out. I still don’t really have an answer, at least in the concrete sense, but I think I just respect the hell out of the guy for being able to vocalize & write about such a complicated relationship in a way that feels easy to digest. I wish I knew how to write like this. This is our seventh & final Neil Young album on the list (eighth counting CSNY & ninth counting Buffalo Springfield), and I’m just so deeply impressed by the guy. It’s hard to put it into words, but the best analogy I can think of is like a museum curator. You can go from painting to painting, and he’ll be able to give you the basics about each piece. It’s the ability to go into the details about each piece & the reasons to care about it that make a great curator shine through. Neil Young’s ability to dig into the details in ways that make each of his tracks feel that much more vivid & lived in, while matching it with a musical prowess that can elevate those lyrics further makes him a very special curator. Just like a great curator, he’ll have you charmed without ever really realizing why, since the art just does so much of the talking. With this album in particular, he’s got me charmed to the point of a 5. I’m so very glad this is here & that he’s got this much of a presence on the list.

Bon album, très doux mais malheureusement pas mon style. Les musiques sont plutôt cohérente entre elles mais trop redondant pour moi, les mélodie se ressemble et pas assez d'originalité

Well rounded album

Not as good as the other two I’ve listened to from him

Classic mellow Neil Young, with a little more punch - highly enjoyed but no real bangers

Decent album overall. I really liked the change of pace on Revolution Blues. I would’ve enjoyed the album more if the other songs were similar to that one. Probably wouldn’t listen again but it wasn’t bad.

Classic Neil Young. Pure and straightforward songwriting that still manages to connect on such a deep level, Neil Young remains one of the greatest Canadian artists and most profound folk songwriters to ever live. On The Beach is much darker and more tense, not necessarily aspects that I enjoy in Young's music, but the introspection does work here-On The Beach stands tall in Young's discography. 8/10.

Love Neil, terrific album.

That doesn’t sound too daft at all. Three stars...

A pretty subdued and downbeat album, with song topics ranging over Manson and Nixon, the oil industry, fame and its contradictions and more. Plaintive, raw and real as Neil Young always is.

Nunca tinha ouvido Neil Young confesso que já gostei da primeira música TOP 3 Walk On Revolution Blues See the Sky About to Rain

Always delivers

At risk of being labelled a melodyne-addled iPad baby I wasn't keen on the quivering pitchy vocals. The melancholy songwriting is well done and I recognise the talent but this album is very much not designed to be listened to on the beach :p Overall averaging out to around 3 (maybe 3.5). Recognisably someone's cup of tea but not really mine.

neil is okay but im getting a bit sick of him, I really like some of his songs but mostly kinda boring?

Neil’s 10th best album? What are we doing here?

Listened to a lot of Neil, but never caught this one. Really enjoyed it and will listen to it again. 8/10 Top song... Revolution Blues

Great album, first time listening to this particular Neil Young album and thoroughly enjoyed it even though I don’t think I knew of any of the songs.

This has me On the Beach.

3.5+

Well sounds better than the previous Neil Young album I listened to. Tho I don't see myself listening to this ever again.

Except for the final song, this was the most listenable folk rock album I've had in quite some time.

One of the best albums ever.

8/10

Im Gegensatz zu anderen hier habe ich ja einen Sweetspot für Neil Young. Ich mag seine Stimme, seinen Gitarreneinsatz, vor allem, wenn er den Verzerrer auspackt. Von dieser Platte (man kann beim seinen zahlreichen Veröffentlichungen ja schnell den Überblick verlieren) habe ich zuerst im letzten Jahr im Rahmen eines Stereogum-Specials zu seinem 80. Geburtstag erfahren, wo 80 Artists ihre liebsten NY-Song picken sollten und erstaunlich viele Songs dieser Platte dabei waren. Daher war ich jetzt etwas underwhelmed, als ich die gesamte Platte gehört habe. Das ist schon alles sehr laid-back, ähnlich wie "Tonight's the Night", die ja wohl gemeinsam aufgenommen wurden. Mir gefällt vor allem der bluesige Mittelteil sowie der traurige Titeltrack. Der Rest geht berührt mich nicht wirklich. Gerade der Closer, der in dem Stereogum-Artikel sehr oft positiv hervorgehoben wurde, macht nichts mit mir. Also insgesamt wieder nur Mittelmaß.

Das war mir zu wiederholend. Hat mich nicht gekriegt. Neil Young ist scheinbar gar nicht mein Fall.

Ich beginne den Mann von Album zu Album weniger zu mögen

Good ol’ Neil 🇨🇦

Garbageeeeeeeeee

Nice casual listen.

I can’t help it I enjoyed this quite a bit! It didn’t sound like a masterpiece necessarily but it’s really good with some great songs, like the last track “Ambulance Blues.” Surprised me. ML423

Blues Rock, gut produziert.

This was pretty good, then the solo from the track on the beach came on and it must have triggered something cos after that I really liked it all. I'm not quite sure why, but maybe I wasn't listening in the right mood before that. Anyway, it was great and I want to listen again.

gutes album von neil young

Nice

I understand why people consider this album important, but it falls completely flat for me. Some listeners hear vulnerability in Neil Young's quavering, delicate vocals. To me, they sound uncommitted and unsure. It's like he's delivering the songs from the doorway, ready to run away and cry if you don't like them. I know there are more Neil Young albums ahead of me, but this one didn't do anything to change my mind about his voice. I just don't connect with it. Despite the title and album cover, nothing about On the Beach felt particularly beachy. Maybe that's a shallow criticism, but if you're going to call an album On the Beach and put that cover on it, give me at least a little sun, sand, or ocean in the music. Instead, I got folk and country flavored protest songs and gloomy introspection. Sir, this beach is severely under-beached. My Rating: 2/5

Neil Young. I neither love nor hate his music. He just sometimes exists. But once the last song ends, I continue to forget he exists. 2 stars

Buen álbum. Muy ameno. Agradable. Bien llevado. Se me hizo más entretenido a primera escucha que sus álbumes más clásicos. Aunque también se lo ve algo más simple y menos innovador que esos. Pero buen álbum. 7/10

love his voice, the album passed too quick

Neil Young is a mixed experience for me. On one hand, I can see his talent and the songwriting skill, especially contextually when he was writing at his peak. On the other, his voice is a bit annoying and I often find his albums boring. This album is just fine. Easy listening. Around the same quality as the Nora Jones album tbh.

Liked this once it got going. The title track is very good.

I didn't mind this one, however there wasn't anything that amazed me and I don't think I'd come back to this. I feel like some of the Neil Young albums could be removed to make space for other artists.

Found myself capable of enjoying!

Three blues for the price of one! I like Neil Young a lot, I will probably never dislike a song or album by him. This one felt a little more same-y and sleepy than Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, better for listening on a rainy autumn afternoon than On The Beach tbh but I still enjoyed it. Second act montage needle drop in my biopic: "See the Sky About to Rain"

Again, I do get what people dig about neil young. His sound and vibe is great! His songs are too damn long. 3.5/5

Listened to this on another morning where I went to bed at 8 and then woke up at 5am to knit and drink tea, very nice way to listen to an album, this one was lovely but it definitely feels like all the songs sound a bit the same. Still love it though, especially motion pictures. Also, incredibly baller album cover

neil young always hits for me. this album is a bit more melancholy than this is nowhere, but i really liked it!. the instrumentation makes it for me, I'm a sucker for some cryin steel guitar and a well picked banjo. loved the blues jams too

Listened before?: nope Walk On - 5/5 See the Sky About to Rain - 5/5 Revolution Blues - 5/5 For the Turnstiles - 4/5 Vampire Blues - 3/5 On the Beach - 5/5 Motion Pictures - 4/5 Ambulance Blues - 5/5 Average score: 4.5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Fun fact - 73% of albums on this 1001 list feature Neil Young. You just can’t get enough Neil Young. I once went 4 consecutive days without Neil Young appearing on my album of the day and I had severe withdrawal symptoms. The sweats, the shakes, the full works. Bless On The Beach for its sweet dopamine effect.

Not one of his best ones but ok.

Grim

Look, I love Neil Young and I love this album. Sure some albums are better than others but do we really need to go over the significance of an artist over and over again?

Pretty good album honestly. I'm not usually that into this genre but I think this album was better than the last I heard from Neil Young. And well, I still have about 6 more albums to go.

Neil Young's voice has never really been my thing, and knowing there are several more of his albums on this list, I have a feeling that's going to be a recurring issue. So for me, a lot of the enjoyment comes down to the lyrics and instrumentals. The first half of On the Beach is actually pretty good. I especially enjoyed "Walk On" for its catchy melody and "Revolution Blues" for its sharp political commentary. Both tracks kept me engaged, and I was starting to warm up to the album. Unfortunately, the second half is where it started losing me. Everything gets a little too mellow for my taste, and the lengthy closing track really drags things out. So it's a mixed bag. There are some genuinely good moments here, especially early on, but the slower second half just didn't hold my attention. Overall, a decent album, but nothing I'm particularly eager to revisit. 3 out of 5.

This was great and a pleasure to listen too. Really liked the soft but raspy music with a slight folk/country vibe. Reminds me of the Raconteurs (with Jack White), but of course Neil Young was there first.

626/1089 - "Neil Young used very unorthodox techniques for the vocals on this album. Before he sang his first (and only) take on each song, he would eat a habanero and have the studio engineers attach a vice grip to his testicles to achieve that signature whine."

Enjoyed this. Have always loved "walk on." Also love the album cover.

I didn't hate this! I am not a huge Neil Young fan usually...I like some songs, but his albums are largely a pass for me. This one was okish.

Middle of the album was the strongest for me

One of Neil’s best. Quite paranoid.

Another alright Neil Young album to add to the pile of alright Neil Young albums.

3 1/2 Stars: A pleasant listen. One of those albums in an artist's catalogue that's solid but often forgotten about because it doesn't necessarily have the hits. This would sound great on vinyl pouring out of a turntable on a Saturday afternoon.

Perfect album. No notes.

Fun album, and easy to listen to.

Boring and dull, 2 stars.

Toward the end of the album, NY starts to take on the vocal style of Lou Reed. I used to think Lou Reed's vocal style could not be more annoying. I was wrong. If you add Neil Young's whiny timbre to Lou Reed's half-sung, lazy-pitched, half-sleepy delivery, it gets so much worse. 1 star

I enjoyed this album. There was a good mix of different sounds and the songs didn’t all sound the same. Although he isn’t the greatest vocalist, his voice is unique.

Not for me. Maybe I am a Neil Young hater. This reminds me of that other meandering folk album we had. The Crosby guy. I hope Neil Young has better stuff in this list.

i was vibing while i was listening to it but truly the minute i was done i had forgotten every second. went back for seconds; it's really not bad but i think neil young just slides off my back musically speaking. i thought Revolution Blues and Walk On were pretty tight. very strong 2

Rating: 8/10 There's a lot of artists I appreciate a lot in the generations following this era of Neil Young that were surely influenced by this, singer-songwriter folk and alt-country/country rock style that's both a total vibe and also some beautiful well written music. This shit is just great. There's barely a low to be found, I think Vampire Blues is my least favorite song if I had to pick one, otherwise so many highlights. On The Beach and Ambulance Blues are the two longest tracks and they are awesome. This record is just a good time

Very strong country feel to this. Blues genre as well (why does he have 3 songs with the word 'blues'), which I'm pretty meh towards, especially from white artists. Not as melancholy as Harvest. Going from Harvest to on the beach is quite the difference. Probably not the best order of Neil Young albums to go through. I think On the beach is better for a more seasoned Neil Young listener. I'm rather new to his music. Once again, Neil Young proving his melancholy stuff is best. 'on the beach song' is one of the best on the album. Mature, lonely, yearnful lyrics. Unsurprising it has 26 million streams, highest played of all the songs. It is the centrepiece of the album. Some great lyricism in Ambulance blues, even though I wasn't keen on the song itself. Fair play to Neil, poignant lyricism is definitely one of his strong points. Much like harvest, this has the potential to grow on me much more. Or not. Either way, I'm really glad to have listened to this because I discovered the song On the beach.

Когда все уже проебано и не осталось надежды можно хотя бы пойти на пляж, чтобы просто лежать, разлагаться и слушать блюз