Great headphone album-made me discover a mono track
This is still one of my favorite albums of all time, and I just discovered how good it sounds in headphones (great stereo spread), however I am listening to Oh lonesome me, and it is in mono-I think I remember that from when I had it on LP. Anyway, I don't think old Neil did any better than here. The songs are all great, and his voice is in perfect shape!

WHEN ROCKERS BECOME SONG-WRITERS...
So, what happened here I think, was that Neil broke his leg or something, and had a release deadline to keep, and he couldn't pick up the electric guitar that he had weilded so flawlessly on his previous release. SO, instead he decided to hit the piano, and focus more on his softer side, initiating a creative flood for softer material, and hence, coming up with a songwriters treasure trove of an album. AFTER THE GOLD RUSH seems to be the favorite for anyone in the singer/songwriter circuit, and well it should be. The range of style on this thing is wide, but subtle. His most covered material can be found here, ONLY LOVE CAN BREAK YOUR HEART, BIRDS, DONT LET IT BRING YOU DOWN. Sure he hits the threshold of dismal here (even for Neil) with songs like the title track and OH LONESOME ME; but he also lets loose once or twice with songs like WHEN YOU DANCE and the silly but cool CRIPPLE CREEK FERRY. Personally I always dug TILL THE MORNING COMES. Its like a minute and a half long, but it says all it needs to say. "I'm gonna give you till the morning comes, till the morning comes. I'm only waiting till the morning comes." And that about says it. Neil somehow manages to shred one through the amplifier with the intense SOUTHERN MAN, and a pair of others stand well also. To make this story short; every song here is an example of quality, and I doubt there is a singer/songwriter around that would disagree. SO, it doesn't rock out like, say, one of the Crazy Horse albums; but it definately deserves repeated listens, and has even caused me to flip the volume up more than once. Classic.

JAPAN REMASTERED VERSION AVAILABLE

A while back, Warner Brothers Japan re-released 12 Neil Young titles. The surprise was that remastered content appeared for the first time on most of them.

The titles & WB-Japan catalog numbers are:

Neil Young WPCR-75086
Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere WPCR-75087
After The Gold Rush WPCR-75088
Harvest WPCR-75089
On The Beach WPCR-75090
Tonight's The Night WPCR-75091
Zuma WPCR-75092
Long May You Run WPCR-75093
American Stars n' Bars WPCR-75094
Comes A Time WPCR-75095
Rust Never Sleeps WPCR-75096
Live Rust WPCR-75097

I picked up most of these, A/B'd them, and found them to be superior to the domestics. However, having purchased the domestic 2002 remasters of "Beach" and "Stars n Bars", I declined the Japan versions of those two titles.

Unfortunately, while the Japan version is remastered, Live Rust is not restored to the original LP's running form, and remains still the bastardized version.

If you own the U.S. versions, and you're a NY fan, I would seriously consider replacing them with these.

'There was a band playing in my head, and I felt like getting high.'
Maybe it's partly nostalgia, but After the Gold Rush and Harvest will always be my two favorite Neil Young albums. Recorded after Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (1969) and before Harvest (1972), After the Gold Rush is considered Young's commercial breakthrough album and contains so many of his best-known songs ("After the Gold Rush," "Only Love Can Break Your Heart," "Southern Man," and "Don't Let It Bring You Down") that many might consider this a greatest hits compilation. With Stephen Stills providing backing vocals and Danny Whitten on guitar and vocals, Billy Talbot on bass, Ralph Molina on drums and vocals, and Nils Lofgren on piano and vocals, the album is a mix of acoustic-folk CSN ("Tell Me Why," "After the Gold Rush," "Only Love Can Break Your Heart") and hard-rocking Crazy Horse ("When You Dance I Can Really Love," "Southern Man"). Album tracks include:

1. Tell Me Why 2:54
2. After The Gold Rush 3:45
3. Only Love Can Break Your Heart 3:05
4. Southern Man 5:31
5. Till The Morning Comes 1:17
6. Oh, Lonesome Me 3:47
7. Don't Let It Bring You Down 2:56
8. Birds 2:34
9. When You Dance You Can Really Love 4:05
10. I Believe In You 3:24
11. Cripple Creek Ferry 1:34

G. Merritt

"Don't Let It Bring You Down"
Oh my people, I have been very busy of late. Aside from the daunting task of saving humanity, I have been asked by reknown editors to submit my reviews for a book they are considering. It will be called, "Metamorpho: The Seering Stone Reviews". Catchy title, ey? And, many of them will be culled from the very reviews my fanatical fans have read on these very pages! Oh, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking why you should pay for old, retread reviews? Not so my people! Proofreaders will be on hand to spice things up and apply the honored Hemingway method of economical writing (still popular in Florida and France) to my masterpieces. Of course, I will have final approval. Don't I always? ;)

But, to the point, this is about Neil Young's folk-rock paragon "After the Gold Rush". This one stands out and is notable for the obvious growth in songwriting and lyrics. In this offering, Neil Young discovers the piano, and how that instrument can augment his compositions in many wonderous ways. He utilizes this for quiet, reflective mood. But also, as an integral part for his externalized topics. We have varying degrees of emotion in love. We have dismay and elevation. We cover the gamut of human concerns here. This is what makes it so extraordinary.

There are many interpretations of the title. Ask yourself what comes after the "gold rush"? Certainly that could apply to the depletion of mother earth, but also to what comes after that initial fascination and "rush" of emotions with new love. A clever title. And Neil is more than competent to deal with these issues.

He begins with "Tell Me Why", a straight on folk tune. But I am taken with the lyrics here. The imagery and superb lyric of "sailing hardships, through broken harbors" is a wordplay of the highest form. But then, a familar Neil Young dilemma enters, "Is it hard to make arrangements with yourself? When you're old enough to repay but young enough to sell"? Again, Neil's constant challenge: that old netherworld between childhood and adulthood. This theme plays out in many of his songs.

Next is "After the Gold Rush", a mournful piano excursion dream that encompasses medieval times, the apocalypse, and leaving a dying planet. "Look at mother nature on the run". Indeed. Next up is "Only Love Can Break Your Heart". A beautiful soft folk-rock ballad that, for all it's simplicity, conveys the wisdom of mature truth. How true. Only love can, and does, break one's heart.

"Southern Man" then gives Neil a chance to not only express his outrage towards historic treatment of the black man in the south, but also gives him a chance to qualify that transgression with blistering lead. Notice here how his admonitions change voice. He takes on the voice of a southern bossman. But, taking liberties such as this makes the whole song work on a visionary level.

Next, Neil asks us to wait "Till the Morning Comes". A very, short bouncy tune, it begs further investigation. Obviously, not telling you who, what, where and why, leaves it up to your mind to interpret what it means. Artistry at work folks! We then proceed onwards to that Don Gibson classic "Oh Lonesome Me", which conveys lost love and loneliness perfectly with slow moving piano and harmonica. All the gold miners have long gone home after this composition.

Next song is a gem. Depressing signs and ominous situations beg an inner reflection of truth. "Com'on down to the river of sight", Neil urges. The truth, finally revealed -

"Don't let it bring you down,
it's only castles burning,
find someone who's turning,
and you will come around".

"Birds" is a beautiful piano and chorus composition. It's about love that has died and the need to fly away. It is in a song like this that Neil has the ability to show courage, compassion and the strength to move on. This is why he is such a superb songwriter. He then rocks, just a bit, with "When You Dance You Can Really Love", a romantic joy romp which leads into the plea of a dissolving relationship with the waltz-like "I Believe in You". A last stand perhaps?

Neil then returns to the south with "Cripple Creek Ferry". A short snippet that conveys so much about relationships. In his own way, Neil knows that he is a gambler in love, just as we all are. The gold rush is over. It is the second half of the cruise. He hates to lose but, after all, he is on a "cripple" boat at best. With Neil, all these connections and visions come into play. I think this is one of the reasons he is the artist he is today.

In many ways, this was an overwhelming and gigantic step in Neil Young's career. I have loved it from the moment I heard it, and it has lost nothing over the years. If you like folk rock, even tempered and balanced with reflection in full supply, then this is definitely one of the very best. Beautiful and one of a kind, I recommend it highly! Now I must get back to the proofreaders about my reviews. We are fighting about the inclusion or exclusion of the word "the" in one of my reviews. I fear this may be a long process and you might see my book in, hmmmmm.... maybe five years? Oh well.....

Turning -----keep the faith, Metamorpho ;)