Landing on Water by Neil Young - incredibly underrated!

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Scott S., Jan 18, 2017.

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  1. Vinyl Socks

    Vinyl Socks The Buzz Driver

    Location:
    DuBois, PA
    For anyone looking for a copy of this LP, you can usually find a NM or mint used copy for 10 or 15 bucks...because no one played it more than once or twice when it came out.
    Your $8 sealed pressing is cool! Good find!
     
    John Bliss and LonesomeDayBlues like this.
  2. teag

    teag Forum Resident

    Location:
    Colorado
    I've been listening to Neil's LPs in the order they come up in the Shaky autobiography, which I'm reading again after 15 years or so (Interesting book but lots of attitude and opinion from the author. But a good read anyway).

    Just came to this album and gave my near mint original LP a listen.

    First of all, the songs are really good. Good writing and good singing by Neil. Hippie Dream is a highlight. As are Pressure, Violent Side, and Touch the Night. This album is quite different as many have mentioned already. Lots of drums and synth. There is no other album quite like this one, in Neil's catalog or anyone else's. I can understand why some would not like this, especially those looking for standard Neil (which I love). I liked this when it came out and like it now. Side one in particular. And mastered by Doug Sax - great sound quality.
     
  3. Mr-Beagle

    Mr-Beagle Ah, but the song carries on, so holy

    Location:
    Kent
    Steve Jordan is also on Cat Stevens' Back To Earth, which is about as far away from LOW as you can get.
     
  4. DTK

    DTK Forum Resident

    Location:
    Europe
    There about 5 good songs on it, but stuff like People On The Street is beyond banal. Drums, guitars awesome. Synth bass is a crime against humanity.
     
  5. SonicBob

    SonicBob Forum Resident

    Location:
    West Virginia
    Touch the Night and Hippie Dream are the only standouts at the moment as I haven't listened to this album in ages. I remember it being a confusing blend of digital influenced/post new wave nuances adorned to the majority of tracks featured on here. Life was kinda similar, which followed Landing, but there were better songs to be had, in my opinion. 80's Neil was weird and unpredictable for sure!
     
  6. todd141

    todd141 Forum Resident

    Just bought a copy of this on vinyl, it sounds incredible....one of the best sounding albums I have - it's that good. Love Hippie Dreams!!!
     
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  7. Chief

    Chief Over 12,000 Served

    Landing On Water might be an acquired taste, but I have always liked it. It's a tense album. I think Neil's use of eighties technology was unique. Landing On Water doesn't sound like Invisible Touch.

    I think Landing On Water is Neil's eighties version of On The Beach.
     
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  8. Vinyl Socks

    Vinyl Socks The Buzz Driver

    Location:
    DuBois, PA
    This album and some of the others are proof that Neil's Geffen output were cut with excellent SQ in mind -- not from the CD mastering, but from a less-compressed source. Don't quote me -- I can't explain it to you...they just sound awesome compared the CDs. I can't speak for Everybody's Rockin' -- I've never heard the LP. Same with Life - ain't heard the LP yet, only the cassette and CD.
    When he went back to Reprise Records, too, his LPs were mostly cut to sound awesome, too. My original pressing of Freedom sounds amazing, and it's DMM-cut.
     
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  9. Thomas Casagranda

    Thomas Casagranda Forum Resident

    I always prefer Old Ways; it's underrated, truly. Landing On Water has only one decent tune, Hippie Dream.
     
    Sean likes this.
  10. Vinyl Socks

    Vinyl Socks The Buzz Driver

    Location:
    DuBois, PA
    Neil used some similar sounds as Don Henley by using his producer, Danny Kortchmar, and recording some of it at the same studio Henley used for Building the Perfect Beast. Not to mention Niko Bolas and Richard Bosworth as engineers.
    Kortchmar's "Sunset Grill" synth-sound was elegantly used during the song "Drifter", and prominently given a bit of a solo. "Drifter" was, of course, the closing track on Landing On Water.
    Neil was probably not impressed by Don Henley's recordings, but more so, he wanted to send a message to David Geffen (which deepened the lawsuit & feud for a while) that this is what Neil Young sounds like when you ask him to "make commercial-sounding records...like Don Henley is doing".
    Cheers to Neil for making a much better album that Don Henley ever could have. Jeers to David Geffen for only wanting chart-toppers. Jeers to Geffen for sucking the soul out of Neil for 5 albums. I'll still play them!
    I appreciate LOW more and more when I pause and think about the "why" of those Geffen albums.
     
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  11. Paul Gase

    Paul Gase Everything is cheaper than it looks.

    Location:
    California
    I don't have access to the great NY biography Shakey right now, but I seem to recall that they set up in a small studio and played along to Neil's demos done on a Synclavier. They were bashing away to these prerecorded tracks and S Jordan's drums were so prominent that there was no way to bring Neil's guitar "up" in the mix. For once in his recording life, his guitar was buried by someone else's playing. Very bizarre way to record...
     
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  12. John Bliss

    John Bliss Forum Resident

    Love the album. Have the vinyl. I am currently looking for a CD copy. For those who like the album, what's the best version of the album on CD? Original 86? 2000 remaster? Any opinions?
     
  13. bartels76

    bartels76 Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    CT
    There's no remaster of this. The 2000 version is just in a see through case as Geffen just reissued them. Neil didn't approve remasters to come out.
     
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  14. wanderer1

    wanderer1 Forum Resident

    This is a work of art. Not everyone gets it. The production, as with most 80s albums, is annoying, but yet the songs and performances are strong, almost hidden behind the stark 80's warehouse production, or lack thereof. One of my favorite Neil albums.
     
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  15. John Rhett Thomas

    John Rhett Thomas Forum Resident

    Location:
    Macon, GA, USA
    Everybody who has praised Landing on Water in this thread, you have my heart. I love you all.

    I also love those of you who can't wrap your head around it either. Genius often confuses people. It'll come, eventually. Or maybe it won't! But we're all in this together: You, me and the under appreciated greatness that is Landing on Water!
     
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  16. John Bliss

    John Bliss Forum Resident

    It's still Neil's best album. Great on vinyl. I need to hunt down a CD copy now for the car, probably will look for a silver face original. Anyone prefer the remaster?
     
  17. Dodoz

    Dodoz Forum Resident

    Location:
    France
    I've always enjoyed it. There's a bit of melody in "Violent Side" that reminds me of "Band on the Run" by the way...
     
  18. Dodoz

    Dodoz Forum Resident

    Location:
    France
    At least you were able to buy it. There's a local law that prevents items from being sold at my local library. It drives me nuts. So many albums ended up destroyed and put in the trash just because they don't get checked out often and they have to make room for new CDs. I talked to the people working there, yes, they think it's absurd. But it's quite controlled and they can't help it. First pressings, albums that were never reissued down the drain...
     
    DiabloG likes this.
  19. DiabloG

    DiabloG City Pop, Rock, and anything 80s til I die

    Location:
    United States
    It was actually an annual library sale that I got it at. In addition to Landing on Water, I found some other goodies like the AF Hello I Must Be Going and the Yes Studio Albums set. I highly doubt they would be willing to sell things otherwise, though I've never asked them about it.
     
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  20. Vinyl Socks

    Vinyl Socks The Buzz Driver

    Location:
    DuBois, PA
    For those that are interested, there is a 24/192 stream of this album on NYA and it was transferred directly from the analog master. Although the original LP sounds great as well, this high-res version is the winner.
     
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