Who has kept up with Neil Young?

Im a moderate fan and the last I bought from him was Fork in the Road. Shocked to see almost a dozen albums since that one.
Anyone follow Neil and buy everything? and if you do please comment on his releases these past 10 years.

 

Peace Trail is worth owning. Get it on LP. If not, download the 24/192 high -res version.

 

"Psychedelic Pill" and "The Monstano Years" are the only ones I have come back to. For me, the rest were one spins and then onto the shelf.

 

I just listened to The Visitor on vinyl last night - love it, especially "Forever" which is really up there as a NY song. Of the post Fork albums (with the caveat that I LOVE Fork, really one of my favorites) I would say Psychedelic Pill = classic, must have for everyone; Chrome Dreams II = see Psychedelic Pill; Americana = I love it the way I love Re*ac*tor which means YMMV; Storytone = okay, beautiful sounds but didn't always get me in - a bit too much of his old man voice on that one; Letter Home= kind of a novelty; The Hitchhiker = duh! I don't have to tell you how crucial this is; Le Noise = very good but I don't find myself going back to it as much; Whatever the first POTR one is called = 1/2 great 1/2 terrible, like Hawks & Doves...

 

Psychedelic Pill was fantastic! hang on...Was that before 'Fork in the Road'? Nope! Worth getting for Neil's long jams...

 

I enjoy Psychedelic Pill and Americana.. The others, not so much.

 

I think you'll see every single person saying you have to get Psychedelic Pill...

 

He'll yes. Great album if you like long jams.. And the horse. Americana is a fun rough hewn companion piece to it. Good garage rock.

Chrome Dreams II is good as well

 

I buy every new album as they come along. Some of them I never actually play all that much (Chrome II, Le Noise, Earth) but the collection remains complete. I like Fork and Peace Trail best. I don't dislike the newest album yet strangely feel no urge to play it. If I had any sense I would haved got off the bus after Silver and Gold.

 

PP is his best album in years IMO.

I never buy a Neil Young album these days unless I have heard the whole thing.

 

i've bought them all, hoping for a return to form. other than archive releases, i've been disappointed in them all.

 

Really? Chrome Dreams and PP do nothing for you?

 

Happy to see a variety of positive takes — there are an awful lot of disgruntled naysayers lurking on the forum when it comes to latter-day Neil.

My two cents:

Le Noise: B+
Americana: A-
Psychedelic Pill: A+
A Letter Home: C
Storytone: B
The Monsanto Years: B
Earth: B+
Peace Trail: B
Hitchhiker: A+
The Visitor: B

 

I bought a few after "Fork" but played them once, maybe twice. They just didn't do anything for me.

All they really did was make me go back and play some of his older albums.

 

Peace Trail and The Visitor are excellent, I always look forward to new Neil.

 

I havent heard all but I haven’t liked anything new really since Greendale.


Thats not counting CDII or Hitchhiker.

 

Good thing he has had so much archival stuff really to fill in the gaps.

 

I've lost touch since the Toblerone Paperweight

 

Last one I bought was Rust Never Sleeps.

 

Yup.

 

I'd say he's one of the few artists who can be accused of being over-prolific.

From what I've heard, his last two decades of music-making have been his strongest and most consistent. Although most of his classics come from the 70s, his output was very erratic at that time.

Evey so often he'll release an album that is outstanding rather than just good/enjoyable. Psychedelic Pill and Le Noise fall into that category for me.

 

so, so much to listen to. lots of great archive stuff too. i have found things to love in everything he's done over the last 9 years since fork in the road. the following recommendations are general opinions, but truthfully i suggest listening to it all and making up your own mind.

studio:
le noise - buy it
americana - stream it
psychedelic pill - buy it (must own)
a letter home - skip it
storytone - stream it (though a VERY personal NY album, it hasn't clicked with me)
the monsanto years - buy it (polarising, i love it)
peace trail - stream it
hitchhiker - buy it
the visitor - buy it

archive:
dreamin' man live '92 - buy it
a treasure - buy it (must own, IMO. i listen to it a lot)
live at the cellar door - stream it
bluenote café - buy it, or just listen to this:

 

I bought the live albums Cellar Door and Massey Hall in the past 7 years but no original releases since Silver and Gold in 2000. Massey Hall is such a superb sounding recording.

 

Thanks for the helpful responses, all!

But, remember... Chrome Dreams II was pre-Fork (Yes, I'm looking at you Steve G and No Bull)

Neil now has almost as many albums as Prince, the one artist I have EVERYTHING of, every note, song, download, exclusive, album, semi-official, Music Club, etc. So I can relate to keeping up with a prolific artist and wanting it all, and actually enjoying it all. I'm just not there with Neil, but I wanted some input on the most recent output.

One question: what's the difference between the 2 versions of Greendale (2003 and 2004 re-release), other than the DVD? And the color of the artwork? Is there any reason to need both?

 

Petered out in the early or mid-80s. And it's very rare that I listen to the stuff I liked from before then. Lost most of it in a CD-age vinyl purge and have replaced very little of it. Not poo-pooing him. I'm sure there's plenty of good material since then. Just lost my momentum with him.