Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Discography

Working my way through the Neil Young discography. I've got the 48 albums he put out between 1968 and 2007 (when I finish I'll pick up the ones that have come out since 2007). One goal in 2014 is to give each album 10-15 listens and get a sense of what he's going for, artistically. I'm going to go, roughly chronologically.

I've been very familiar with Harvest, Everybody Knows this is Nowhere, After the Gold Rush, Rust Never Sleeps, On the Beach, and Decade for many many years.  Given how much I love those albums, I've actually been pretty antsy to give too much else a listen, which is shitty of me. Also, I keep hearing about Tonight's the Night, Zuma and a few other 'classics' which are missing from my vocabulary. So, I'm going to rectify this.

I really respect Neil Young as an artist, and so want to give him his due.

I'm kicking off with:
Neil Young (1968)
Everybody Knows this is Nowhere (1969)
After the Gold Rush (1970)
Harvest (1972)
Journey Through the Past (1972) -- soundtrack to film of the same name, directed by NY, never released on CD
Time Fades Away (1973) -- first live album, never released on CD
On the Beach (1974)
Tonight's the Night (1975 - recorded 1973)

So far, I can say the following:
-- his first solo album is much better than I ever would have guessed -- not sure why
-- I've always disliked the tunes on Harvest with the London Symphony -- that hasn't changed
-- Journey Through the Past has a couple INCREDIBLE live cuts from a CSNY show in 1970. Southern Man and Ohio are frightening in their intensity.
-- Tonight's the Night is as good, if not better, than everyone has always said -- why did I wait this long to get into it?!?

If I created eight objects like these eight albums in just six years, well, I'd be pretty amazed with myself. Really excited about this project.

2 comments:

  1. Tonight's the Night is my favorite of my many beloved Neil Young albums. Probably followed by Everybody Knows and then On the Beach.

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  2. It's so good, but so damn raw it's painful to listen to. Not sure if you've ever read about the original linear notes with the first pressing LP, but Wikipedia's got the story. It's pretty incredible.

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