New Neil Young album, The Monsanto Years, streaming at NPR

http://www.npr.org/series/98679384/first-listen

Although as many know here, this one was not recorded with Crazy Horse, I'd say if you like Psychedelic Pill, you'll like this one. Truth be told, I only found one song difficult to get through musically, but the rest of it is pretty good as far as late career Neil goes.

 

Lyrically atrocious, as expected. Sonically, not dissimilar to Crazy Horse.

 

Nearing the end of the stream, and there's some really good songs on here. I might even purchase this at some point. Real shame about the sledgehammer lyrics though.

 

I find you really can't judge Neil Young on one listen. I have loved some of his albums the very first time I heard them, but others did little for me the first time but came to be favorites (On the Beach for one). I'm not hearing a lot of magic just yet on this one, but I'll probably buy it and I have no doubt I'll come to like it fine soon enough. Sooner or later I always do with him.

 

I like this one 100000x more than Storytone.

 

The music is great and the lyrics are easy enough to tune out -- I dig it!

Those solos in "New Day For Love" are smokin'! And Lukas absolutely shreds on "Workin' Man" and "If I Don't Know" -- really cool to hear Neil let someone else rip guitar while he chugs on rhythm.

I've said it about a million times, but the title track has something really special going for it. As wild as the lyrics are, the melody is beautiful and the guitar interplay is some the best I've heard on a Neil record in a while.

Overall, solid effort. Nothing earth-shattering, but far from offensively bad.

 

Maybe he will put out an instrumental version.

 

Amen to that...

 

OK. Just got through the stream, ignored the lyrics and focused on the songs.

Yeah. Solid. Quite solid.

Maybe the first since "Pill" that I will buy on release day as opposed to putting on my future to buy for completest purposes list.

A "solid" buy for me...

 

I bought 5 tickets for Neil in Camden NJ 7/16 and received an email notice that I have 5 cd's coming to me. Merry Christmas

 

I watched the DVD yesterday, really enjoyed it.

Yet again his official store is totally inept at making the downloads available on release day. Had to email them this morning as they are still pending on my account. I had to do this with Storytone and the 2 tracks that were supposed to come immediately with preordering this album

 

I received an email with a link for the mp3 download but am still on the lookout for the Pono download.

 

Sounds to me like the strongest of his loud-guitar albums since...I dunno, Mirror Ball? In terms of hooks and melodies it's stronger than Psych Pill, and the overall sound reminds me of Drive By Truckers, more countrified than CH.

The Monsanto issue only turns up on about half the album, for those concerned about that. And "People Want to Hear About Love" is a great comeback to whatever criticism he'll get.

 

The lyrics to most of his recent 'protest' material have been dreadful-eg Living With War where the words often read like attempts to parody the protest song genre. My criticism isn't about the actual views ( a matter of opinion whether or not you agree with him) but the lyrical approach is baffling.

 

I think he's taken Dave Edmunds' album to heart: "Subtle as a flying mallet"

 

It's sad that perhaps the only modern artist to address politics explicitly gets attacked for it. Perhaps people prefer the deafening apolitical silence that one hears everywhere else? Not sure what people really expect from protest music. The lyrics are extremely sloganeering and meant to be incendiary within the context that they are heard. "Hell no, we won't go!" isn't exactly supposed to come across as Shakespeare material. I don't think Young is a saint or anything, but I appreciate it for what it is. Not to mention that he has never been particularly "literary" even with his nonpolitical stuff.

 

Anybody know if this is an HDCD, or did he give up on it for good?

 

Surely there's room in-between protest and apolitical silence. Lyricism doesn't have to go out the window to make a point - Bob Dylan is a case in point. Also disagree that Neil was never literary. I would cite "Thrasher" or "Powderfinger" as examples of the genre.

 

After The Goldrush, Will To Love, Thrasher, Old Laughing Lady, Powderfinger, I'm The Ocean, Down By The River, Cowgirl In The Sand, Lost In Space, Like A Hurricane, Ambulance Blues, Dangerbird, Pocahontas, Harvest etc etc. must be by a namesake, then. Or realistically, a very different person.

 

I doubt it, Bob Ludwig did the mastering.

 

Has any Neil Young online store album purchaser received their Pono high res version download email yet?

 

"T-Bone"

Got mashed potatoes
Got mashed potatoes
Got mashed potatoes
Ain't got no T-Bone
Ain't got no T-Bone

Got mashed potatoes
Got mashed potatoes
Got mashed potatoes
Got mashed potatoes
Ain't got no T-Bone

Got mashed potatoes
Got mashed potatoes
Got mashed potatoes
Ain't got no T-Bone
Ain't got no T-Bone

etc. etc.

 

Nope but did get the mp3 email link this morning.

 

Woke up to find my iTunes (don't tell Neil ) purchase available for download. I really like the album but like Neil I lean so far to the left that I tip over.

 

Yeah, the song T-Bone is really showing Neil at his artistic peak, that one song is why he has (had) millions of fans around the world.