Chrome Dreams Changed The Way I Think About Neil Young | Album Review
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- Опубликовано: 9 сен 2024
- Neil Young's legendary 8th album Chrome Dreams was supposed to be released in 1977 but was shelved by the notoriously temperamental rocker for unknown reasons. Now available for the first time, is this the late 70s Neil masterpiece that we've been waiting for?
Joe takes a look at the tracks that make up Chrome Dreams, where they were eventually released and the differences between them. Is this their finest hour? Or are they better served with different treatments elsewhere on Rust Never Sleeps, Comes a Time, Freedom, Unplugged and American Stars and Bars?
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"Carole King... the final nail in the Goffin..." Was that a brilliant pun, or just a coincidence?
Nothing I do is a coincidence. Unless it’s a mistake. - Joe
I love Chrome Dreams.
Neil Young could have had a stellar career just based on the albums he chose *not* to release in the 70s.
"Nail in the Goffin." Well played, Joe.
Nice job Joe. I'm a gigantic Neil fan. This album goes straight to the top 5 easily. Amazing album.
Thank you for reviewing this. I am a long time Young Fan, and found myself almost reluctant to listen to it. There have been SO many releases. Thank you - i will give it a spin - he deserves it.
Great, insightful review, Joe. I wondered why he decided not to release the album in the 70s and you answered my question. I'm also a fan of 'American Stars 'n' Bars." "Will to Love" strikes me as one of the most heartfelt songs he ever wrote-performed. The presence of crackling fire in the background brings to mind the 1971 song "Soldier," when Neil had a piano moved into a large sawdust incinerator on the Pacific Coast Highway, down the hill from Broken Arrow Ranch. I've passed it many, many times. Both songs are deep, lonesome, but emotionally different, off on their own in a sense. Thank you for the post !
I think this is perhaps his best album. The best artists are dynamic and diverse in their approach. Those artists typically end up doing an album that is the best of their strengths all combined and I feel this is that album for Neil. The folk is there, the rock is there, the introspective is there, the political is there… I really with this album was released when it was supposed to be. It would’ve changed his discography a lot but IMO would’ve been for the better.
I enjoy these reviews....but, missing the TLM trio. I get that real life gets in the way but I hope you guys will be getting back to what you do best. 👍
Great channel, love this review, really like On the beach, tonight, Comes a time, Zuma , and I think for me this sits right up at the top table.
Pure class 👍
I'm lucky enough to get promos for review on my channel or Sea Of Tranquility from Greedy Hand/NYA and it's a privilege, I've been a Neil fan for decades and Chrome Dreams was THE white whale in terms of lost albums. I put a vid on "this track was on this release...." etc for people but honestly? Even though only two tracks are unreleased, this is essential.
Great to hear an intro from someone who knows. Not a huge NY fan, through got half way through it, this reminds me it warrants another listen!
Great review. I had also read that Neil offered powderfinger to skynyrd, and though I love them (the original, not the tribute band of the last 30 or so years), I don't think it would have suited skynyrd at all.
A classic ! 5 stars !
Well done review.
My feeling is that while all the music on this is incredible ultimately Neil made the right choices. I like American Stars And Bars and Rust Never Sleeps both better. I like the Rust Never Sleeps versions of those three songs all better two. In addition I don't think this album has the best flow. I can see why you feel the way you do though.
One thing I think should be noted: at over 50 minutes at least one track would probably have been omitted had he chosen to release this. It certainly wouldn't have come out on 3 sides in 1977.
Thank you.
I bought American Stars n Bars the day it was released of course on vinyl.....it is a huge Neil album for me. His country stuff is amazing.....Like a Hurricane of course was so heavy.....i saw Neil/ Crazy Horse on the Rust Never Sleeps tour and was a full fledged Neil fan.....and I saw him play a lot of these songs live....not all but some..... .so this period for me is stellar....Powderfinger is achingly good here......i know this commebt is jumbled but im sure you get the message........thanks for the review!
Ive grown so used to these songs being on other albums that this collection just seems, well strange. I also think Will to Love is a weird choice as the 2nd track as it is a great song, but it just stops the album dead due to its length and hushed tone. For me it's more a side or album closer.
Still there's no doubting the quality of the individual songs here. And if Chrome Dreams had been released in this form back in the 70s it would have been mind blowing, easily a 5 star record. My only complaint is that the album will probably be duplicated in archives vol 3.
Oh yeah, and i think Joe meant to say, Emmylou Harris is an incredible backing singer, lead singer and songwriter!
Stuart
Thanks Joe. I was going to pass on this one because I already own this stuff in one form or another. Your thoughtful review won me over and now I see the light.
I’ve loaded up on Gene Clark based on your recommendation and so glad I did. White Light is one of my favorites.
Take a listen to this trilogy of Nick Lowe albums: The Impossible Bird, Dig My Mood, and The Convincer. They blew me away.
Maybe it’s one of those things where music that comes out when you are in high school is more meaningful, but I love Rust Never Sleeps. It came out between my junior and senior year. We all had a copy of Harvest, but I was 10 when that album came out. Same with ATGR. Comes a Time came out when I was a teenager, but just more of the same. Everyone had freaking Decades. But Rust Never Sleeps felt like ours. We cuspers didn’t live in that time of protest or back-to-the-country hippie idealism. We were the aftermath-bored kids in suburban PA. My husband is nine years older, so he did. He has never been able to get into guitar-assault raw proto punk Neil. We recently watched a vid of the CH/NY 1991 show in Buffalo, which was basically the same show we had seen in DC that year. I was blown away. He thought it could have used an acoustic set. (I’ve seen acoustic Neil many times, and shows during his f-u record company albums in the early ‘80s, sigh. Nail in the Geffen w/those, lol.) But the immediacy is the point. I find dissonance so moving. Like trying to hit a note but missing it. Attempting perfection but not attaining it. Anyway, as always appreciate your reviews and getting fresh takes on music I grew up on. Love how you are all so knowledgeable!
I love it! I am definitely of the opinion that Neil Young really should’ve stopped after Rust Never Sleeps, and if he had released Chrome Dreams at the time he was going to in the 70s, it would’ve just cemented that! Nice one, Joe!
Also, that Goffin Coffin joke got a got a good chuckle out of me! 😂
I haven't checked it out yet but I will be eventually. It was cool to hear your take on it, maybe a bit different than I would have thought.
Totally agree on Powderfinger... Brilliant.
Hi Joe, I've just bought it, still to listen to it, i'll let you know what i think about it...
Joe, sounds like you'd also really like the Archives release Hitchhiker. That is amazing and very intimate and stripped down. A few of these overlap with what was on Chrome Dreams. Over on my channel Amity Tracks I'm in the midst of my multi-episode overview of Neil's music. Nice review!
Can't forget to mention Stringman, the surprise that lit up Neil's fantastic Unplugged album. And I agree that we have a better Powderfinger here, but maybe a weaker Look Out For My Love, which should not have been the closer; that should have been Stringman.
Nail in the Goffin! Was that lovely wordplay intentional?
Is Neil the godfather of grunge?
I gotta check this out. I honestly had the same feelings you’re describing for Homegrown
it's great, listen to it 5 times since i bought it, it's among his best, maybe 4th/5th in my top ten, definetely a grower
I'm with you, I wish Neil had put it out "as is" in 1977. It's a 5 star record, regardless of it being cannibalized for later releases.
Interesting. Like A Hurricane and Lookout For My Love are two of my all time NY songs, as I’m sure they are with many. Now off to RUclips to check the difference.
Completely forgetting this is RUclips:)
I do agree it holds together as a great Neil Young album. The only problem I have is I still prefer some other song versions especially Powderfinger on Rust Never Sleeps. It just kicks ass in that version. I also like the version of that song done by the Beat Farmers which also kicks ass.
Better Then The Geffen Years.
Way better. Hate to break it to Kram, but while the 1989-1998 stuff is pretty good and fine, it just isn’t spectacular except for some individual songs.
@@curly_wynI somewhat disagree with that because of Harvest Moon, which is a 4.5 star album.
In the summer of 1972 I bought a Neil Young bootleg double album called “I’m Happy That Y’all Came Down”. Someone brought a tape recorder to a concert in February of 71and recorded it. It was just Neil on acoustic guitar and some piano and harmonica. The album contained a lot of not yet released material, including Old Man, Heart of Gold, A Man Needs a Maid, and The Needle and the Damage Done. The sound quality was of course poor, but I listened to it over and over. I loved the rough and raw, stripped down quality of it. So much so that when the Harvest album was released 6 months later, I was quite disappointed in the studio versions of those same songs . I never did buy Harvest despite NY being my favorite artist at the time because I so preferred his acoustic, lone voice sound. My interest in Neil Young waned after Harvest and in fact I never bought another one of his albums. I still love the first 3 and the bootleg though.
Hitchhiker and Prairie Wind would be good Neil albums for you
I think Stringman is one of Neil's most stunning songs and this version is as good as the one on Unplugged. Pocahontas on Unplugged is hard to top but the Chrome Dreams version is very good. Agree with you overall - 5 star lost classic. Neil in his 70s prime.
Goffin-coffin- Freudian slip are intentional wordplay?
You’ll never knowwwww
I too am a very big fan of American Stars n Bars - I just love the more rowdy country songs on the first side. Neil had Chrome Dreams assembled as an acetate, but that's as far as he got with it. I'm glad he held off and did those Crazy Horse/Bullets sessions.
Gosh, I'm just the opposite. I think Side 1 of American Stars 'n Bars is fine, but nothing to write home about. Side 2 of that album is the real star. But overall, Chrome Dreams is easily the more impressive track listing.
Pocahontas seems to be the same live take as on Rust never sleeps, but without the added overdubs.
I liked the Goffin Freudian slip! ;)
I might've lost count but I think this is the 27th album he's released since your Neil Young listography
When are you doing BOC 👋
Someday
i thought it was real good , but i think i liked american stars and bars more than most!! neil should have told carole "tapestry was a nice little album , " 🐯🐯
She was already a has been by than ! 😆 🤣
Haven't heard it... yet. Is Stringman not on the US release? Didn't hear it mentioned.
It is. I probably should have mentioned that. - Joe
@@TastesLikeMusic Thanks for the reply
Why should I have to spoil the party? I'm a very big Neil fan but not into some of these songs. First, I've heard all of the songs before and some are better elsewhere or many tend to be songs I think are Neil's weakest. I see Joe's points and Carole King was way too harsh However... Nothing Chrome about it. The album should include songs like the Beautiful "Love in Mind" "Bad Fog of Loneliness" and "One More Sign" which are very personal songs but just better songs than some of Chrome Dreams' personal songs. 4 stars to me but many songs are below average for Neil. Unlike Joe, I feel Powderfinger was originally great but the song is still great just not nearly as good.
Powderfinger - 10
Like a Hurricane - 10
Will to Live. An eerie delight. One of his best. 10
Look Out for My Love - 10
Pocahontas - 9
Star of Bethlehem 5
Too Far Gone - 4
Hold Back the Tears - 4
Homegrown - 4
Captain Kennedy -5
String Man - 7
It’s strange , there is a track list on the back . And then the actual songs to the right . Two tracks dont appear on the actual album . So what is the actual version ? The one presented to us is 50 minutes. To long for an album and maybe to short for a double. Then there’s homegrown album recent release that shares certain tracks with this. Regardless , wonderful heartfelt review Joe. That version of powder finger isssss sublime .
The handwritten list on the back is just an alternate tracklist he had in mind. If you have an NYA account, you can actually assemble that list.
@@Cpayne30 thank you ! That makes sense. I do have a NYA account i just never get a chance to go there , but when i do it’s mind blowing and a little intimidating :)
powderfinger is the best song neil ever wrote
One of the best songs *anyone* has ever written.
I think Powderfinger is his best song too. Hard to believe he was going to give it away to LS. Other great songs for me are Old Man, Mr. Soul, and Cowgirl in the Sand (slow or fast).
I wouldn’t have agreed with you until I heard this version. - Joe
I would like to hear kram’s take on this, I already know Jason’s 😂
Jason goes as high as 3.5
It's a great record. What album did Carole King hear? Because this wasn't it.
I remember waiting for this album to come out and had to settle with American Stars & Bars which is just OK. Now I don't need this album and it has a crappy cover.
I tend to exclude Captain Kennedy and Stringman on my Chrome Dreams playlist. Good songs, but these versions sound like outtakes to me and I think the album is better structured without them. That leaves 10 superb tracks that would fit perfectly in a vinyl record, five tracks on each side.
Stringman is definitely not demo-like. He doctored that live version up with various overdubs.
@@Cpayne30 To my ears, it sounds a bit rough.
Should i spent my hard earned cash on 8 songs that were already released i thinks it is a cash grab but those neil young fans are there to be milked
Just stream it