Neil Young: "Tonight's the Night" revisited

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Fastnbulbous, Jun 27, 2016.

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  1. Fastnbulbous

    Fastnbulbous Doubleplus Ungood Thread Starter

    Location:
    Washington DC USA
    You'd think after 40-plus years you'd heard every original thought about an album. It's a tribute to Tonight's the Night (perhaps because it was totally ignored at the time) that folks are still finding original things to say about it.

    Pitchfork Reappraises "Tonight's the Night"


    The general understanding on Tonight’s the Night is that it’s dark, it’s depressing, a record about loss and destruction and the end. If you listen to it knowing these things, you’re in for a surprise. Because it isthose things, but it’s also so much more. Tonight’s the Night is shocking the first time you hear it because for a record on the receiving end of so much first-generation rock criticism focusing on its sorrow and grief, it often sounds like a raucous party being thrown by a bunch of lovable knuckleheads having the time of their life.

    Tonight’s the Night is an album not so much about death as about mourning. And while we might like to think of mourning as a dignified pursuit grounded in ritual—a black veil, food at the door, loved ones at beck and call—the truth is that mourning can be messy and out of control and it can sometimes look like something else entirely. Sometimes mourning can even look like a macabre celebration, embracing life with one arm while the black figure of death is curled inside the other. ​
     
  2. ohnothimagen

    ohnothimagen "Live music is better!"

    Location:
    Canada
    The best comment I ever read about Tonight's The Night was in the Shakey bio, courtesy of the author (Jimmy McDonough):
    "To hear someone so f--ked up ranting about the ills of extremism is liberating."

    My favourite Neil Young album. One of my favourite albums by anybody.
     
  3. Fastnbulbous

    Fastnbulbous Doubleplus Ungood Thread Starter

    Location:
    Washington DC USA
    QFT. Shakey is probably the best music bio I've ever read, and I'd say that even if I didn't care for Neil Young.
     
  4. Rne

    Rne weltschmerz

    Location:
    Malaver
    Masterpiece.
     
  5. Stone Turntable

    Stone Turntable Independent Head

    Location:
    New Mexico USA
    +1 x 1000

    Along with the music (has any rock this brilliantly s#$t-faced ever sounded so pristinely good?) Gary Burden's original release package is an amazing work of Total Album Art — the insane vampire-ish cover shot, the fuzzy degradable black-ink blotter paper cover, the black inner sleeves, the black Reprise label. the bonkers funereal Mickey Rooney insert, the “Goodbye Waterface” deadwax inscription...

    The bravest and most utterly contrarian of the Ditch albums.

    [​IMG]
     
  6. majorlance

    majorlance Forum Resident

    Location:
    PATCO Speedline
    Tonight's the Night was my gateway drug into Neil Young in the summer of 1975, before which I'd only heard "Heart of Gold" and his CSNY tracks. Not quite the fuzzy-headed hippie I thought he was!

    I do disagree with the OP's statement that TTN was "totally ignored" at the time of release. I recall it getting plenty of attention, even if much of it was of the WTF? variety.
     
  7. the sands

    the sands Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oslo, Norway
    A fantastic album. A particular unique mood to it. Neil Young sounds tired and stoned, in a good way... It's just one of those nights. On a good/bad day I'd rank it as my favorite Neil Young album.
     
  8. tmwlng

    tmwlng Forum Resident

    Location:
    Denmark
    Bare and brutally honest, solid and piercing songs. Love this album to bits, cannot get enough of it. Even if it's a feeling that's not particular fun or easy to deal with, it's still a feeling that needs attention. Neil was always good at pinning these emotions. The rawness of Time Fades Away, On the Beach and this one makes for one rough - but necessary - listen. Definitely one of my favorite albums of Neil's.
     
  9. JoeF.

    JoeF. Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Jersey, USA
    I never thought much of that album, but now that it's gotten the Pitchfork seal of approval, I must run out and get it....:thumbsup:
     
    marc with a c and jammincrowe like this.
  10. Fullbug

    Fullbug Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle
    In Shakey, it says that there were packets of glitter enclosed in the sleeve, but I don't think anyone confirmed finding one. Can anyone confirm the glitter packet enclosure?
     
    warewolf95 and Fastnbulbous like this.
  11. Liam Brown

    Liam Brown Forum Resident

    my favourite album of all time.
     
  12. Joti Cover

    Joti Cover Forum Resident

    Yes, love everyone's comments here.... TTN was a record that was rarely off my turntable in the 70s.... really real performances. My gang were all watching Neil Young back then 24/7 to see what he'd do next and he didn't disappoint..... Nils Lofgren was a wonderful extra element on this one as well.... His piano and guitar really add to the mood - polished but not overly so ... The music has its own very cool and varied dynamics. tempos etc ... . The drums and bass lock in nicely as well.... loose yet tight. Yes, a masterpiece.
     
  13. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    A little over-rated lately. It's just so cool to like this one, notice that.
     
    Beatles_Apple likes this.
  14. Kevin j

    Kevin j The 5th 99

    Location:
    Seattle Area
    it was a 5 star record when it came out, a 5 star record when i discovered it in 1993, and it's a 5 star record in 2016.
     
  15. FangfossFlyer

    FangfossFlyer Forum Resident

    Location:
    York, U.K.
    For me, it is his best album and I have rated as so ever since I bought my first copy way back in 1975!

    Richard
     
  16. cwd

    cwd Forum Resident

    Location:
    Clarksville, TN
    Back in the 80s Rolling Stone did a piece on the greatest albums of all time and I had a TT (before I got out of vinyl for years and then back into it a few years ago)-I went out and bought a lot of them at The Great Escape, a used media store in Nashville that at the time was right off Vanderbilt University, and TTN was one of them. Real crappy set-up combined with a low patience level (wanting hits and fm radio tracks all the time) led me to conclude it was dreck and I gave it away with a whole bunch of other lps later on. Listened to it a few years ago again and got hooked. Finally got a non-popping copy from the recent box set-had to go through three to do it. Just a powerhouse of an album. Like Booker's bourbon--raw, unfiltered, barrel-proof, and you gotta treat it with respect.cwd
     
    steelinYaThighs and sami like this.
  17. Fastnbulbous

    Fastnbulbous Doubleplus Ungood Thread Starter

    Location:
    Washington DC USA
    Maybe neglected is a better description. Reprise sure as hell didn't give the record any help
    .
     
  18. mtruslow

    mtruslow Forum Resident

    Location:
    Towson, Maryland
    "Tonight's The Night" is one of his best without a doubt. I kept waiting for a physical issued remaster that probably won't ever come so I bought the download off of Pono. Which, incidentally, sounds great. (Not an endorsement of Pono however) If Neil ever relents and releases a physical disc of TTN I'll still buy it.
     
    Fullbug and GuidedByJonO))) like this.
  19. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    There was a new LP cut, reissued in a box set of four albums. Did you hear about that one?
     
    LUNACHUCK likes this.
  20. mtruslow

    mtruslow Forum Resident

    Location:
    Towson, Maryland
    Yes I did friend. I don't do vinyl. I've been hoping for a CD or DVD Audio but no chance apparently.
     
  21. gramfan

    gramfan Forum Resident

    Location:
    gainesville,ga,usa
    Spookiest pedal steel,too.. stoned barrelhouse piano,mic pops,tequila and hamburgers recorded in a seedy studio...
     
  22. LUNACHUCK

    LUNACHUCK Forum Resident

    I'm keeping my fingers crossed that On The Beach & Tonight's The Night will get stand alone vinyl reissues outside the box set. I need them both!
     
    jdrueke and Joti Cover like this.
  23. Fastnbulbous

    Fastnbulbous Doubleplus Ungood Thread Starter

    Location:
    Washington DC USA
    Then there's Nils Lofgren's performance. His solos on "Speakin' Out" in particular are scintillating.
     
  24. John Porcellino

    John Porcellino Forum Resident

    Location:
    Beloit, WI
    My favorite album by one of my favorite artists, a top ten record for me for sure.
     
  25. boboquisp

    boboquisp Magic Prism Eyes

    Location:
    NE Ohio
    Hello/Goodbye Waterface.
    He was a friend of YOURS.
    A sparkle was in his eye, but his life was in his hands.
    He tried to do his best, but he could not.
    This album is loaded with so much more than the great music...it's so freakin' real.
    He even comes clean about stealing from the Rolling Stones IN THE SONG ITSELF! Who does that?
    One for the ages in my world.
     
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