Neil Young - The Visitor

Neil should keep doing what he does, I agree, that's why I buy some of his albums.
My critique may be that of a fellow artist, also, nothing wrong with being a Neil fan for 20+ yrs and noticing that a certain "go to" impulse in an artist may not have the oomph it once had, in its 40th+ yr. I found this year's Farm Aid set didn't do much after the inspired opening.
I'm excited by further creative Neil Young material, PEACE TRAIL kinda does that.
MORE epic guitar Neil is fine but I'm saying that it is never going to touch what he did . . . I hope that he doesn't do much more "repetitive" inspiration and becoming cliche'. I'd like to see our hero keep weird and exploratory and ODD in his senior yrs. We have 1960s-2000s Neil, I want our man to continue in a samish vein but turn some things on their head.
Neil could do it, he's that amazing.
Anyway, that's just my opinion.
I'm all for more of the same if he's "inspired". I don't need any more third rate versions of canonical material, which is how I'd categorize some of the music he's made lately.
I would WAY RATHER see Neil become an exploratory, avant-surrealist!
But of course, Neil must do what Neil wants, I wholeheartedly agree
just yakking it up on a forum, nothing to see here.

 

Yeah what I heard of the Crazy Horse tour certainly didn't lack for energy or rock 'n' roll dynamics. I think it's more a physical health thing not so much about actually being able to physically play hard rock for two hours or achieve "youthful intensity". Plus Crazy Horse has been sludgy their whole existence, it's kind of the point. I thought Psychedelic Pill and Americana were top notch, a shame he hasn't kept recording with them.

 

I wonder about Billy's health, too...it seems like it's been along time for recovering...perhaps retirement was in the cards after his stroke.

 

Looking at the varied responses here, I guess this Visitor didn't come too late to cause a stir after all.

 

I'm so glad Neil is still with us. He does what he does and reminds us of the rock & roll ideals and jamming/spontaneous spirit of the 60's. I pay attention to this spirit and accept the imperfections.

 

Well said. I've been a fan since Buffalo Springfield and it's been a great ride.

 

Neil Young News: Ralph & Billy - 2017

 

Nice to see that Ralph and his baseball caps... Billy Talbot looks good.

 

Wasn't The Visitor the name of an earlier version of the song Eldorado?

 

Saw Neil with Crazy Horse in Cologne in 2013 and felt the energy was there.
Tracks like the great Ramada Inn surely came across quite impressively (as did other, more subtle titles like Surfer Joe... or even Heart of Gold). Great setlist, too.
I can vividly remember, some people around me feeling almost physically attacked by the high-volume guitar strokes ("giant steps") during the prolonged ending of Walk Like A Giant.
I thought it was a great show.

 

That's a great photo.

 

Me Too! The Best Ride!

 

I saw 2 shows in the pacific northwest and thought they were stellar. the big amps were on stage, the big chords were crashing out on the crowd...what could be better?

at the Vancouver show, during the coda of "walk like a giant", someone was being lifted out of the crowd due to a medical emergency. I distinctly remember those chords crashing as this poor unconscious person was being passed (crowd surfed) to the front rail.

 

You owe me a keyboard for that one. Mine's drenched in coffee.

 

Be careful what you wish for!

 

I can imagine that ;-)
...also that moment, before he came onstage, when the covers were slowly lifted above the giant prop amps and you could see those indicator lights glowing in the twighlight, and the anticipation grew...
A few minutes later the band plus roadies entered the stage and started singing the German national anthem, before the show began. Very strange, indeed.

 

Neil Young‏Verified account @Neilyoung 5m5 minutes ago
let earth become a rainbow of people blending all the colors as they choose - The Visitor

 

Gulp. More "Children of Destiny"?
I would heed the voice of a Visitor who had wisdom to share.
Generic phrases of positivity have their place, like facebook memes.
Neil could surely ride off into the sunset being a grandfather of mushy hippy positivity . . . maybe the world needs him to be that person and he's feeling it and heeding the call.
Perhaps Neil's "The Visitor" serves the same purpose "Luke The Drifter" did for Hank Williams or we're getting a "character" record, kinda?
Who knows?!?!

Neil Young = Not your grandfather's Neil Young

 

I give him a lot of leeway with the environmental stuff, but the boat's starting to shake a little.

 

If the songs are good I'll follow Neil past the jaws of hell !

Neil Young Acceptance Speech | Canadian Songwriters Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony

 

I don't mind if it's political - Just not too literal. More like "Ambulance Blues" than "Let's Impeach the President"

 

I saw Neil & Crazy Horse at SPAC, in upstate NY, on that tour.

The few songs from Greendale I'd had access to didn't click for me, so I hadn't heard the whole album. But I'd seen reports that they'd play the whole thing uninterrupted, so, I thought I knew what to expect...but was still unprepared for the show. The songs I hadn't liked as recordings didn't improve live, and the others...meh.

I felt like I was somehow stuck at a school play even though it wasn't my kid's school. SPAC made a fair amount off me on beer that night.

I'm glad I hung in there, though, because in the encores we got "Hey, Hey, My, My", "Powderfinger", "Like A Hurricane", and "Rockin' In The Free World", and I went home happy.

Neil's absolutely free to do whatever he wants. He's an artist, and I respect that. But I choose which routes I'm going to ride along for.

 

I was at Massey Hall Saturday night and Neil was there (with Daryl Hannah) sitting beside Bruce Cockburn in the 4th Row (Centre)
He gave a speech at the end of the night that was loose and cool and very nice overall. He was very appreciative and sweet. It was a wonderful evening overall (and I got to meet Alex Lifeson after the show)

A great Saturday night out in the presence of Neil Young and like Randy Bachman sang before he gave him his award "long may you run"!

 

Agreed. I totally get that...it's just that someday, looking back...my buddy will probably have fond memories of seeing the legendary Mr. Young...not everyone used the internet in 2004, so he didn't have a clue of what the show would be like...