Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Americana (30/06/2012)
Americana is the first studio album from Neil Young & Crazy Horse in nine years. The album is a collection of classic American folk and rocks songs, many dating back to the mid-1800s.
Only a few of the songs on Americana were familiar to me, but in some cases the band have altered their titles and created their own arrangements. So it took me awhile to realised I was listening to 'She'll Be Coming 'Round The Mountain' (under the title of 'Jesus' Chariot'), a song I've heard many times as a children's sing-a-long.
The thing that struck me most about Americana is how raw the production of it is. For the most part, the album sounds like it has been recorded directly from a garage jam. This isn't necessarily a bad thing - brash guitar and rough vocals are what Young is known and loved for; however, at times the songs almost become lost under the haze of distortion.
The album kicks off on a high note with an ambling, folk-rock arrangement of an 1847 folk song Oh Susannah. On the other hand, the bands' take on Woody Guthrie's This Land Is Your Land comes off sounding like a half-hearted camp fire sing-a-long. The highlight of the album came when the band took an entirely different direction with a grizzled, garage rock take on The Silhouettes' 1950s doo-wop classic Get A Job.
Despite being an album of American classics, Americana falls a bit flat when compared to Young's own classic songs - I can't see this being an album that I will re-visit over and over again. However, it could be a mistake to compare Americana with Young's previous work. When it stands alone, Americana is an album of incredibly talented musicians with a legendary vocalist who are clearly all having a whole lot of fun making the record.
Chelsea McIntyre
Only a few of the songs on Americana were familiar to me, but in some cases the band have altered their titles and created their own arrangements. So it took me awhile to realised I was listening to 'She'll Be Coming 'Round The Mountain' (under the title of 'Jesus' Chariot'), a song I've heard many times as a children's sing-a-long.
The thing that struck me most about Americana is how raw the production of it is. For the most part, the album sounds like it has been recorded directly from a garage jam. This isn't necessarily a bad thing - brash guitar and rough vocals are what Young is known and loved for; however, at times the songs almost become lost under the haze of distortion.
The album kicks off on a high note with an ambling, folk-rock arrangement of an 1847 folk song Oh Susannah. On the other hand, the bands' take on Woody Guthrie's This Land Is Your Land comes off sounding like a half-hearted camp fire sing-a-long. The highlight of the album came when the band took an entirely different direction with a grizzled, garage rock take on The Silhouettes' 1950s doo-wop classic Get A Job.
Despite being an album of American classics, Americana falls a bit flat when compared to Young's own classic songs - I can't see this being an album that I will re-visit over and over again. However, it could be a mistake to compare Americana with Young's previous work. When it stands alone, Americana is an album of incredibly talented musicians with a legendary vocalist who are clearly all having a whole lot of fun making the record.
Chelsea McIntyre