release date: Jul. 2, 1996
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,68]
producer: Neil Young
label: Reprise Records - nationality: Canada
Track highlights: 1. "Big Time" - 2. "Loose Change" - 3. "Slip Away" - 4. "Changing Highways" - 5. "Scattered (Let's Think About Livin')"
23rd studio album by Neil Young released as Neil Young with Crazy Horse comes out in a highly productive time for Neil. The album follows the soundtrack Dead Man (Feb. 1996) and Mirror Ball (Jun. 1995) featuring Pearl Jam. His entry into the 90s took off and marked a great period of his with Ragged Glory (Sep. 1990) and his best live release, the 2-disc Weld from '91.
The album here is released only 5 months after his different, to put it mildly, Dead Man, but more so it links with his previous albums with Crazy Horse in the sense that they play on with their feedback hard rock bluesy sound, although, this turns out as a more jam-fed set of songs where they just play on and on and on - much like some of the great tunes on Weld.
Broken Arrow is not one of his critically acclaimed albums, and my 1990s verdict was much on par with a lukewarm reception - I generally found it without much to offer except for electrified jam-sessions. However, I really have changed my feelings quite a bit. Thinking of Ragged Glory and Weld this basically seems more like a stream, or essence of those moments. Neil and Crazy Horse play so tight even when they just jam. There's a kind of mutual understanding of how to mold the spirit they let loose when they first get started, and I find that one can almost touch that on this. It's gentler than both of the other two albums of the 90s, and it may not contain a bunch of classic Neil Young moments like "Pocahontas" or "Cortez the Killer" but songs like "Big Time", "Slip Away" and "Changing Highways" are fueled with the same energy.
I have come to really enjoy this and think of it as just another great 90s album by Neil Young, and if you have once rejected this, you should really give it another chance or two. For me, it's a natural grower and one of my favourite Neil Young and Crazy Horse albums.
[ allmusic.com 2,5 / 5 stars ]
