release date: Oct. 5, 1980
format: cd (2003 remaster)
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,06]
producer: David Briggs, Tim Mulligan, Neil Young
label: Reprise / Warner Music Group - nationality: Canada
Track highlights: 1. "Little Wing" (5 / 5) - 2. "The Old Homestead" - 3. "Lost In Space" - 9. "Hawks & Doves"
11th studio album by Neil Young is perhaps an attempt to make something with both qualities of Comes a Time (Sep. 1978) and the recent well-received live albums with more electrified folk rock but it comes out as something like a second chapter to American Stars 'n Bars (Jun. 1977) as being more of a collection of leftovers. Also, the songs for the album were recorded over a long period from Dec. '74 to Jul. '80. The result is (once more) not one of the Young's best albums. Although it's not entirely bad, it does signal the start of a difficult period of the 1980s characterised by experimentation and some lesser albums from Neil Young. The first track "Little Wing" is almost better than the famous Hendrix track (this is not a Hendrix cover, though) and is in itself a small masterpiece but that high standard is not kept throughout. The style is mostly singer / songwriter folk and country rock but some of the last tracks on the album forecasts his attempts in the 1980s with blues rock, and although this isn't bad, it's neither really an unforgettable Neil Young release.
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5 stars ]
