Neil Young - The Visitor

i too really like greendale! a lot!!

 

Neil Young anagram:

Guy Online

 

as a now retired professional drummer(not as old as the crazy horse fellows) let me tell you drumming in a rock band is quite physical and not easy as you age.the bits i have heard of ralph during the PP era(and that album in general)lead me to believe crazy horse as a unit is through.not saying he couldn't play a song or two on a new record etc.

 

not being privy to neil's creative process,but having read a lot about and by him as well as listening to his music for well over 40 years i think his process has always been a bit "off the cuff" i think things come to him quickly and he records them.he usually does not over think it. for me it works with regards neil about 70% of the time.

 

Ralph commented himself on the 2013 tour that he doesn't find drumming tiring.

Yes, your point is sensible: they are all getting old, which brings its own challenges. Clearly they can't be expected to jump around with the same physical energy they did 30 years ago. But I don't think there is yet reason to write them off, especially based on the latest recorded evidence we have (the clip I posted in a comment above -typical of the tour- shows neither Crazy Horse or Neil lacking in either intensity or energy).

 

ah hell, ralph has been speeding up and slowing down for 50 years now.

I think neil and the horse could give it one more go round. maybe stay away from some of the "rockers" like ritfw. give the old voice a chance to shine. I like promise of the real in some respects, but there's a lot I don't like (vocals, bass player steppin' in time, the damn CONGOS).

 

the visitor
the loner
the last trip to tulsa
the old laughing lady
the restless consumer
the needle and the damage

 

Yeah the congas have to go. or only play on a few songs, not every damn song. and the recent farm aid performance made me notice how weak/generic they are on backing vocals. But, very good rhythm section and Lukas is good. I think Neil needs their energy.

 

Lucas is talented . . . but there's a little too much "cock" in his playing . . .something generic and even immature about his playing. He doesn't play Neil's type of Rock well. imho.
Micah is an average musician

 

The particularly-poor backing vocals at the last gig can probably be mostly explained by the bad monitor mixes that have plagued the Farm Aid concerts.

Lukas sounds alright when he is frontman, playing his own style of music, but I don't think his electric guitar playing compliments Neil's particularly well. Water and oil. Also the fusion of the three guitars on The Monsanto Years and Earth has the side-effect of filling in all the gaps in the sound; the same gaps that are a huge part of what makes Neil's lead playing so special.

 

Lest we forget, Ralph and Billy are both older than Neil himself.

I quite enjoyed Peace Trail myself, even if it is a bit of a 'throaway' Neil album. It reminded me a bit of Silver And Gold, but that may just be 'cos Keltner plays on both.

How is Billy Talbot doing these days, anybody here know?

 

Great post! I agree 100%. The Horse were (are) very far from being over the hill. Such a silly claim.

 

Does everyone forget how sludgey and slow and slightly uninspired the Horse were last time around? Even Psychedelic Pill is not a great album.
Neil needs vision right now. The "Epic" 20 minute versions of songs is getting really tired and a little cliche'. He needs to focus on a different content, freshen things up.

 

The only thing Neil "needs" is to keep being Neil.
That means doing whatever the heck he wants.
Why change now?

PS: Long live Crazy Horse!

 

I was at at this gig and remember thinking that Rick Rosas didn't look well.

 

I remember reading/hearing a quote once about how the whole idea of "celebrity" is that we (the public and media) fall in love with someone because they dared to be themselves, then once they are famous relentlessly push them to become what WE think they SHOULD be.

Twisted, but true.

Anyway I'm not going for it and will happily join you at the "Let Neil Be Neil" rally - just let me know the time and place.

 

Promise of the Real

 

Although I agree Psychedelic Pill is not consistently great, I suspect most fans consider it to be one of the more exciting albums from the last ten years.

As for 2012-2013, I thought it was a good tour that peaked very early. That said, 2013 also featured some great performances. This version of Ramada Inn gradually builds to a thrilling climax, featuring some of Neil's most exciting lead guitar in recent memory:

 

I loved Ramada Inn and Walk Like A Giant and that is quite a chunk of that album. I saw the Horse version with Rick Rosas and backing singers August 2014. A special (dark vibe) but GREAT concert!

 

He's put out 5 studio albums since PP and the 20 minute songs. Peace Trail consists of 10 songs with a total running time of less than 40 minutes.

 

After After The Goldrush.

 

Saw that incarnation aswell and even though I would have preferred “the real” CH I think it was fantastic. I agree on the vibe but I imagine it was down to Neil doing these shows with a slightly different approach in acknowledgement to the fact this wasn’t actually Crazy Horse even if billed as such.

 

Slightly back on topic, it'll be interesting to see what this project turns out to be.

Around the time of Peace Trail coming out last year, I was told that he already had two more albums written if not partially recorded. Good to know he is still stockpiling material.

 

It's all speculation, anyway...

I've been to incredible Neil Young that featured killer setlists and, lo and behold...the mooing herd of humanity exiting the venue (typically someone's drunk wife) was loudly b*tching about not hearing "Heart Of Gold" or some other song that THEY PAID TO HEAR...or some drunk hick b*tching about "THEM SUM-B*TCHES SINGIN' 'BOUT IMPEACHIN' THE PRSIDENT" in the CSNY documentary footage.

Hey...tough $hite. Suck it up, cupcake... I took a buddy to see Neil Young on the Greendale tour back in 2004 ... when the show ended (only 3 encores of non-Greendale material)...he was FURIOUS. Complained the whole way home.
At one point, he said "You KNEW what this show was going to be like, didn't you?"
His behavior was absurd.

Suck it up, Sally (I was told this after finding hair in a venison roast in Pennsylvania...I will never eat venison again! )
Don't buy the ticket, don't take the ride. Nobody forced you. It's all on YouTube these days for you to preview before you decide if you want to buy it.

 

And he;s only ever done four studio songs longer than 15 mins. The three on PP and Ordinary People. (No Hidden Path and Change Your Mind were just under 15 mins, but I doubt anyone thinks they were weak). PP was pretty much a one-off.