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From the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere

Neil Young & Crazy Horse

1969

Buy At Rough Trade
Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
Album Summary

Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere is the second studio album by Canadian/American musician Neil Young, released in May 1969 on Reprise Records, catalogue number RS 6349. His first with longtime backing band Crazy Horse, it peaked at number 34 on the US Billboard 200 in August 1970 during a 98-week chart stay and has been certified platinum by the RIAA. The album is on the list of 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. In 2003, the album was ranked number 208 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and at number 407 in the 2020 edition. It was voted number 124 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).

Wikipedia

Rating

3.54

Votes

11592
Genres
Rock
Psychedelic Rock
Singer Songwriter

Reviews

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Tue Nov 09 2021
2

Neil Young is easily the most overrated artist on this whole list. He's an awful singer, a boring musician, and a mediocre songwriter at best. This is some of the most vanilla, cardboard cutout, middle-of-the-road music I've ever heard. It was on track to get a bland 3 stars from me but somewhere around the middle of the album, someone started committing warcrimes with what I think was a fiddle. Hard to tell. All I know is that the atonal screeching most certainly violated the Geneva convention and should have landed Mr. young in jail for crimes against humanity. Two stars is generous.

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Tue Mar 16 2021
5

Neil Young's second solo album, released only four months after his first, was nearly a total rejection of that polished effort. Though a couple of songs, "Round Round (It Won't Be Long)" and "The Losing End (When You're On)," shared that album's country-folk style, they were altogether livelier and more assured. The difference was that, while Neil Young was a solo effort, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere marked the beginning of Young's recording association with Crazy Horse, the trio of Danny Whitten (guitar), Ralph Molina (drums), and Billy Talbot (bass) that Young had drawn from the struggling local Los Angeles group the Rockets. With them, Young quickly cut a set of loose, guitar-heavy rock songs -- "Cinnamon Girl," "Down by the River," and "Cowgirl in the Sand" -- that redefined him as a rock & roll artist. The songs were deliberately underwritten and sketchy as compositions, their lyrics more suggestive than complete, but that made them useful as frames on which to hang the extended improvisations ("River" and "Cowgirl" were each in the nine-to-ten-minute range) Young played with Crazy Horse and to reflect the ominous tone of his singing. Young lowered his voice from the near-falsetto employed on his debut to a more expressive range, and he sang with greater confidence, accompanied by Whitten and, on "Round Round," by Robin Lane. Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere was breathtakingly different when it appeared in May 1969, both for Young and for rock in general, and it reversed his commercial fortunes, becoming a moderate hit. (Young's joining Crosby, Stills & Nash the month after its release didn't hurt his profile, of course.) A year and a half after its release, it became a gold album, and it has since gone platinum. And it set a musical pattern Young and his many musical descendants have followed ever since; almost 30 years later, he was still playing this sort of music with Crazy Horse, and a lot of contemporary bands were playing music clearly influenced by it.

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Tue May 04 2021
5

DAOWN BY DA RIVURRRRRR AH SHAT MAH BAYBEEEEEEE

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Mon Oct 18 2021
5

Classic. Neil knocked it out of the park with his new, grungy rock sound, and managed to balance it out with a good selection of his well established country folk sound as well. With not a single point feeling waisted here, this made for an exceptional start to what would be exceptional run of albums. Favorites: Cinnamon Girl, Everyone Knows This Is Nowhere, Down by the River, Cowgirl in the Sand

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Sun Sep 19 2021
5

Though it’s only a few songs, this album takes its time to properly build each song without overstaying its welcome. One of my favorite things is Neil Young’s strange lead guitar lines and solos. He uses interesting rhythms and accidentals in his playing that give his solos a frantic yet earnest feeling that really suits this music.

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Sat Nov 26 2022
2

Daily Neil Young Fun Fact #837: While the "Neil" part of his name might be true, he's actually quite old (not visible on the cover) Daily Crazy Horse Fun Fact #489: While the "Crazy" part of his name might be true, he's actually a dog (blatantly visible on the cover) Daily Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere #035: Contrary to the title of the album, it was actually recorded "somewhere", as recording an album "nowhere" proved to be too difficult, especially after Neil Young's guitar pick got stolen by the Interdimensional Terror Lord X'nthp'thurgh. Also the music sucks. Put it back on Spotify, Neil. The jig is up. 2/5

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Sat Mar 05 2022
3

The songs here are generally simple and pleasant. Mostly basic stuff though. I found youngs voice to be a bit ‘take it or leave it’. Some of the songs don’t really seem to ‘go anywhere’. Nevertheless this album was enjoyable and exceeded my initial expectations. Generally the longer tracks were nice and crazy horse provides some enjoyable, but not outstanding, instrumentation. Overall I think the last track ‘cowgirl in the sand’ was the best of both young and crazy horse on this album. Overall I feel three stars is appropriate. This is a good album, but I could live without it (as I might have to thanks to that fuss with Spotify!)

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Thu Jan 21 2021
5

classic, still can't get enough of this record - sent me into a Neil spiral

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Sun Mar 07 2021
5

Saved Prior: None Not Saved: 7. Round & Round Cutting Edge: 6. Running Dry 5. Cinnamon Girl Saved: 4. Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere 3. The Losing End 2. Cowgirl in the Sand 1. Down by the River Overall Notes: Don't usually listen to much of this country/rock stuff, so didn't expect to like this at all. A 4.5 that I rounded up for because of how much it blew my expectations out of the water. Good vibes and fun instrumentals. I'm excited to hear more from this up and comer 'Neil Young'.

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Wed Aug 04 2021
5

Neil Young is in the camp of Bob Dylan, Miles Davis, NIN, and Prince.

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Fri Aug 06 2021
2

I've passionately hated every Neil young album that this list has given me, except for this one. i only hate half of it. the tracks with electric guitar are pretty good, but then you have to sift past all of the whiny country stuff thats just background music for red dead redemption.

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Mon Jan 03 2022
1

Three times in a row Young?? WTF? This is bullshit!

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Fri Jun 25 2021
5

One of my all-time favorite records. I'd go 4.5/5 if I could, but this deserves more than 4.

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Fri Jan 28 2022
5

Really fun to listen to while working! Never listened to Neil Young but this forced me to check out more and it’s great!

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Thu Mar 31 2022
5

Fantastic record start to finish. Solid tracks like Cinnamon Girl, Cowgirl, and River with lots of airplay, and don't sleep on the groovy title track. Obligatory diss to JR for his bs that has Neil pulling his music from Spotify . . .

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Sun Apr 10 2022
5

Cinnamon Girl, Down by the River and Cowgirl are three monster songs and are so good that the rest of the tracks could be Justin Bieber songs and the LP would still get a 5.  Now I'll digress: In 1985 I saw Neil during the Canadian National Exhibition. He was touring in support of his Old Ways LP, a country album that nobody bought. He had a 500 lb fiddler who easily bowed his weight and lit up the country songs. As soon as we heard the opening chords to  Down by the River, my buddy Rick (RIP) and I immediately thought the same thing: What on earth is the 500 lb fiddler going to do during this song? We quickly concluded the best bet was that he would  skip out to the CNE's Food Building; after all he had a good 15 minutes.  But nooooo. He stayed on stage  and bowed something that wasn't too interruptive while the rest of the boys kicked it hard. 

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Fri Sep 01 2023
5

Always a good day when a Neil Young album is generated. Especially with Crazy Horse backing him up. Just a great album. So many classics on here. RIP Danny Gatten.

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Wed Oct 11 2023
5

“Everybody seems to wonder What it's like down here I gotta get away from this day-to-day running around, Everybody knows this is nowhere.” -me, telling people what it’s like to work IT in a basement office at a Fortune 500 company.

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Fri Jan 22 2021
4

A short album, but packed full of classics. Neil always has great lyrics and the music to back it.

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Thu Jan 14 2021
4

Good album. The longer songs were more interesting to me. When Neil lets the guitar go, I get happy.

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Thu Dec 07 2023
2

har hørt et helt album med REKLAMER og mellem hver anden sang og det er altsammen NEIL YOUNG og JOE ROGANS skyld synes egentligt ikke som sådan nogen af sangene var dårlige det er bare slet ikke min stil! sorry neil!

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Wed Dec 29 2021
1

I'm starting to think Neil Young is highly overrated....He's all over the place - everything is hit or miss, and this one is a miss for me

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Tue Dec 27 2022
1

I stand on principle: I hear Neal Young -> instant 1 star. I loved albums from bad singers. At least they had something to say with creative lyrics. I loved stripped down/raw/(fill in next cliche here) albums because they had still some creative energy and some surprising songwriting. I think I loved some albums with a violin thrown in the middle of a track because it added something meaningful to a song. But this one takes the cake. Checks all the boxes without any redeeming feature. Bland, boring, average everything. And that god awful voice saying the most uninteresting words. And theres a violin screeching the same fucking high pitched note on Running Dry. Props to the sound engineer to had to endure that. Oddly enough, I've heard worse Neil Young albums. An extra 0.5 points for the parts where he shuts up and the band just jams. 1.5 total which I will round DOWN to 1 out of spite.

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Mon Feb 22 2021
5

It’s Neil Young and Crazy Horse. What the fuck am I gonna say? 10/10

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Sat Mar 27 2021
5

Probably my favorite of the three I’ve heard so far

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Wed May 26 2021
5

neil young is my spirit animal

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Tue Jan 19 2021
5

Excelentes músicas, consigo me ver ouvindo de vez em quando, quando estiver cansado de ouvir as mesmas coisas. Melhores: Cinnamon Girl, Down by the River e Cowgirl in the Sand. Pior: Round & Round.

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Wed Jan 27 2021
5

A classic. Possibly a little bit underrated despite having four of his absolute best songs.

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Tue Jun 08 2021
5

Neil Fucking Young. Nuff said.

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Wed Mar 03 2021
5

One of my favorite Neil Young albums. Ragged perfection.

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Mon Jul 26 2021
5

Yup. This would make it onto a list half as long

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Wed Aug 11 2021
5

This is the album that established both Neil Young and backing band Crazy Horse as forces to reckon with.

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Tue Sep 14 2021
5

Una joya, que excelente disco

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Sat Sep 25 2021
5

Classic Neil! Love this album!

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Mon Oct 04 2021
5

Flows beautifully, great songs

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Thu Oct 28 2021
5

Neil Young is a legend. Great Folk album

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Wed Nov 17 2021
5

I MEANNN. This is not my first time listening to this album. It is solid and it is fairly hype but not TOO hype because Young has a pretty chill voice. Good guitar and background music.

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Thu Nov 18 2021
5

Great blend of folk, country, and rock. Young's vocals are not the greatest, but they have character and work well within the vocal harmonies. The excellent guitar work, supported by a strong rhythm section, really draws you in and makes this album a pleasant experience overall.

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Thu Nov 18 2021
5

A 5-star album, easily: it is one of these absolute classic albums on the list and one of these timeless albums that stay good no matter how many times you listen to it. Very influential, but most of all: great songs. Of course, the two 10-minute songs stand out but the other songs are very strong too (except for Round & Round even though it still fits).

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Mon Dec 13 2021
5

Hello again, Neil. I already said what I had to say about you.

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Mon Jan 03 2022
5

Five stars right up until the fucking fiddle started on Running Dry goddamn it Neil why you gotta do me like that. Loved the guitar playing on Down by the River. Nah giving it five stars anyway

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Wed Jan 26 2022
5

Love this album. Great sound and alot of great songs in here.

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Wed Feb 16 2022
5

Jean in a convertible at main gate lol

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Tue Feb 22 2022
5

Love the crazy horse sound. Young at his best

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Sat Apr 02 2022
5

The best Neil Young album on this list so far. Great variety of its songs, wildly ahead of its time in some parts.

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Sat Apr 02 2022
5

I listed to Neil Young’s self titled debut before this, and like, I really like Neil Young’s music, but sometimes the way he sings deadass sounds like Carl Wheezer still I really liked both the debut album and this one this album does have some songs I didn’t really like but the grand majority of the album slaps and I think it makes up for a mediocre song here and there overall 9/10, a classic in folk/rock history

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Sun Apr 10 2022
5

When you compare this LP to Harvest or After the Gold Rush you can see the transformation of Neil Young's sound when he played with Crazy Horse. The production is sludgy and the playing is loose, more like a live recording. I like it when they say that many "long-time concert favourites" came from an album. These tracks usually weren't released as singles and the only way to determine that they drove album sales was to go and witness the live audience reaction after the first few notes. In this case we have Down by the River & Cowgirl in the Sand that fit that definition, not to mention Cinnamon Girl, but that was a single and not 10 minutes long. Fortunately for us, due to CanCon, we heard these songs more on the radio than the rest of the world.

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Sat May 07 2022
5

Just a top notch album. Helps that it has my fav song by Neil ... "Down by the River". A classic in all ways. A-

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Fri May 13 2022
5

Don’t like round and round I get lost in down by the river. Great riff.

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Tue Jun 07 2022
5

Neil Young at his gritty best, self-righteousness and all.

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Sat Jul 30 2022
5

Essential Neil Young album, one of the five best records of his lengthy career by almost all (different) counts out there (and the first one of them, chronologically speaking). *Cinnamon Girl*, the title track, and the long "Down By The River" and "Cowgirl In The Sand", with their epic guitar soloing and hypnotic repetitions, are just the stuff of legend. But even a less known cut such as the borderline-psychedelic post-apocalyptic country number "Running Dry", with its evocative and ominous fiddle in the background, is worth the detour here. Five stars, obviously. Number of albums left to review or just listen to: 844 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory: 84 (including this one) Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 39 Albums from the list I will certainly *not* include in mine (many others are more important): 32

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Thu Aug 04 2022
5

This was a solid album, a great mix between country folk, rock, and a hint of Americana. I enjoyed all the songs, they all kind of hit you in different ways.

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Mon Aug 08 2022
5

It's Neil. It's great. Loved every second of this album - it's got a bit more rock than folk to it I feel.

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Fri Sep 02 2022
5

Track 2 “Everybody Knows This is Nowhere” is probably my favorite. Very nostalgic, kind of melancholy. I already had “Harvest” downloaded making this my second Neil Young album. I’m liking him a lot more than I thought I would.

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Wed Sep 07 2022
5

It's sad this album is no longer on Spotify since it's an absolute banger. Although I slightly prefer the live versions from 4 Way Street, this still absolutely rocks.

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Mon Sep 19 2022
5

aivan todella kova levy! erityisesti loppuraidan kitarat jää raikaamaan päähän. 5/5.

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Tue Sep 20 2022
5

How could I never heard about this album before? This thing slaps!

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Tue Sep 27 2022
5

Un classique, j'adore neil young 5/5

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Tue Sep 27 2022
5

Somehow I’d never heard this whole album. Growing up on classic rock radio I’d heard the singles. But they make a lot more sense together. This record feels ahead of it’s time. From the opening notes it’s hard to believe Cinnamon girl was released in 1969. Listening to it today, the extended meaningless solos on Down By the River are a real test of patience. DBTR almost ruins this record for me, but Cowgirl in the Sand saves it. That initial punch after the intro blew me away, and then the first solo is so much more purposeful than DBTR, and the band grooves so hard off it. By the time the second solo comes around I’m ready for something off-kilter, and now the manic energy of it makes sense and lasts just long enough. When the lead blends back into the verse playing a sweet distorted melody, it’s pretty much perfect. As it fades out, I’m ready to play it again.

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Mon Oct 10 2022
5

Awesome album, cinnamon girl, down by the river, cowgirl in the sand

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Thu Oct 13 2022
5

La primera del reguitzell d'obres mestres que l'amic Young aniria destilant durant les décades en què ha estat en actiu. Aquí fonamenta el que seria el so característic de la seva unió amb Crazy Horse, sobretot amb aquestes dues joies de jam imponent que són 'Down by the River' i 'Cowgirl in the Sand'. Apart, li donava temps a deixar-nos altres mostres d'orfebreria més breu però igual d'inspirada a 'Cinnamon Girl' i el tema que dona títol a l'àlbum

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Tue Oct 25 2022
5

Easy 5. I wasn't always a fan of Neil Young, but this is the album that hooked me, where it finally clicked how brilliant the man is. It's easily my favorite Neil Young album, and for my money, his most perfectly realized work. Young strikes a balance here between his trademark grit and some really lovely songcraft that few artists are able to do. This is just his second solo album and he hits it out of the park, revealing his incredible depth as a musician and expressiveness as a vocalist and songwriter. His ability to move from prickly and dark to warm and introspective is effortless and enthralling. Every song on here is a gem. I could go on all day, but I think I'll just go listen to it again. Album was not available on Spotify, but is easy to find on YouTube. Fave Songs (All songs, from most to least favorite): Cowgirl in the Sand, Down by the River, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, Round & Round (It Won't Be Long), The Losing End (When You're On), Running Dry (Requiem for the Rockets), Cinnamon Girl

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Tue Oct 25 2022
5

Sometimes one is exactly the right number of notes for a guitar solo. The start of something special with Crazy Horse, and some absolute classics that set a template for Neil Young and *many* other bands. So good, I listened to it twice in a row :)

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Sun Nov 20 2022
5

I really love this album. I think it's his best

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Wed Nov 23 2022
5

So happy to see Neil once more in the 1001 - He deserve every positive reviews. In repeat :)

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Wed Nov 23 2022
5

A really great discovery for me. I still have much to discover from Neil's discography, but this one is clearly one of my favorites yet.

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Wed Nov 23 2022
5

For some reason, I haven't listened to that one as often as the other big Neil classics of the first half of the 70's. That's certainly not because the album isn't as good. On the contrary. There are no lesser moments on this, this is Neil Young at his absolute best. The onyl reason why I wouldn't spin that one all the time is because he has so much great material to choose from. Flawless.

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Mon Dec 05 2022
5

Really enjoyed this, particularly Cinnamon Girl, Down by the River, and Running Dry. Nice snappy album.

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Fri Dec 09 2022
5

Neil Young’s first collaboration with Crazy Horse. I loved this record. Really raw country-tinged rock, with some long jams here and there. Records like this really planted the seeds for grunge music further down the line.

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Tue Dec 13 2022
5

sonzeira muito nask, grande bluesman

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Wed Dec 14 2022
5

PREFS : Cinnamon Girl, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, Round & Round (It Won't Be Long), Down By the River, The Losing End (When You're On), Cowgirl in the Sand MOINS PREF : Running Dry (Requiem for the Rockets)

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Mon Dec 19 2022
5

One of my all times already! So happy to revisit this one.

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Mon Dec 26 2022
5

Well this album is damn near perfect. One of my favorite Neil albums which means one of my favorite albums as well. The title track has found it's way on so many playlist, such a perfect pop song. Plus the 2 long play songs, Down by the River with Neil and the late Danny Whitten trade off guitar solos over Billy Talbots sleepy druggy bass lines, it's so good.

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Wed Jan 18 2023
5

I am so immensly sad that Neil took his music off Spotify becouse he is so incredibly good and deserves even more praise imo

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Thu Jan 19 2023
5

The fact that I find this to be the superior of the three albums spanning “Everybody Knows This is Nowhere” to “Harvest” just proves Young’s incredible ability for songwriting. His voice is as beautiful and emotional as ever on this record and Crazy Horse delivers just what’s needed of them. And while having two songs fill up almost half the record might seem daring for the genre, Young knows just what he is doing.

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Thu Jan 19 2023
5

On album number 194, we've got our first Neil Young album. The man has 9 albums in the list. The probability of avoiding Mr. Young for the first 193 albums is roughly 17%. Actually higher than I had expected. With Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, Young kicked of a 3 long album stretch of unheard quality. While this is my least favorite of the three, it's still an iconic album with an iconic cover and an iconic backing band. The title track is Young at his best, 'Round & Round' showcases his classic wailing vocals, and the guitar sound on 'Down By The River' is crystal clear while still being desert-dirty. The closer 'Cowgirl In The Sand' always wins me over and cements why the record is often mentioned in the same breath as After The Gold Rush and Harvest.

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Sat Feb 25 2023
5

Killer. I loved this so much. Seven songs jam packed with emotion and passion and variation. This album gives you a good idea of how Neil Young is heralded as such an icon.

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Tue Feb 28 2023
5

The beginning of an era. Still going on.

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