In the last LTTE from Sept 23 Neil himself has (indirectly) confirmed the title "World Record" for the new NY&CH album: Neil Young Archives
The Pink Moon title came from Neil's site: "Now, coming from the Horse fifty years later, we have ‘Pink Moon’. That’s our next studio album." Presumably changed to Colorado because there was already another Pink Moon album. Opinion: Colorado is a better album title than Pink Moon... Pink Moon is a better title than Barn... and Ragged Glory is a million-times-better album title than any of them.
Yes, and another opinion: it's not as powerful a title as Purple Rain (by Prince). Why? Because Purple brings to mind a richer mental image than Pink, and Rain brings to mind a stronger feeling than Moon. And rain is dynamic (it moves!), whilst moon isn't. (I know the moon does really move... but in our imaginations, it doesn't). That's why A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall is a great title whilst There's A Moon Out There is kind of neutral. Similarly, "Neil and the Shocking Pinks" is a wickedly-effective band title, but "Neil and the Pinks" sounds a bit weird (and bland). Rust Never Sleeps and Sleeps With Angels are excitingly evocative titles (due to "rust" and "sleeps" and "angels" — colourful words that instantly fill our minds with feelings and images). Colorado is good in a different way — because it has some pizazz to it. The word itself is like a beautiful object to admire. (A bit like "pizazz"). "Dancing across the water" is a more evocative lyric than "sailing across the water", and "crowded hazy bar" is clearly more substance-packed than "I was in a bar with lots of people". And the first four lines of A New Day For Love lose the listener before the Monsanto album has really begun. One memorable lyric from Barn is something about "banners rippling in the rain". But good luck remembering a single verse lyric from Walk With Me or Rumblin'. All of this yakking is irrelevant if meaningful writing is defined as "lazily writing down the first few thoughts that enter our head when the full moon strikes and we turn (or should that be: mutate? Or transform?) into werewolves". And no, none of this is meant to be a prophecy about World Record (tbc) — because the truth is Neil's comments about it have me cackling with glee. The records built around a "wtf?" concept (Greendale, Earth... ) are so often the ones I really fall in love with.
Yes, TW is using old info. The album is definitely WORLD RECORD. Expect an announcement and the first single in a few days
Oh, I don't know. I think he used the moon quite effectively in another one of his albums. But I get what you are saying.
I agree — Harvest is a great title (both with and without Moon!). And I think Harvest Moon is a lovely song, too — the one track I really like on the studio album compared to the Dreamin' Man '92 album. Put Harvest next to Moon, and the combination of words sets off a whole firework display of imagery in our brains. That's different to if the album was called "White Moon", or "Big Moon", or whatever. Which wouldn't be terrible — just a bit bland by comparison. The songs would have to do all the work, rather than getting a headstart from their titles! It's about the same, isn't it? I think the time is coming when he'll have to start singing in his deeper range (à la Trans Am, Welcome Back, Mr Disappointment, and Bandit) more often. Which itself would be far from a disaster.
Even if it was accidental, it’s still a brilliant marketing move to get the completest to double dip on format.
It’s an interesting question. Let’s assume it was purely artistic— would you continue to tweak an album between formats if there was a change you wanted to make? Or would you go with consistency?
