Music review: Neil Young – ‘Peace Trail’
With 2016 coming to a gracious close, I decided to write this week’s music review about the latest album by an artist who left an impact on me during my early teenage years.
My fondness for Neil Young began with my first listen of 1972’s “Harvest” and continued to grow with “Long May You Run” from 1976 and “Comes a Time” in 1978.
Even today, I am reminded of how I would rummage through my oldest brother’s album collection to discover the “in” music to listen to at the time.
“After the Gold Rush” was one of the albums I would try to impress my friends with by knowing tunes like “Only Love Can Break Your Heart,” “When You Dance I Can Really Love” and “Southern Man.”
“Peace Trail” is Young’s second release this year and serves as a social and environmental commentary about the ever-changing world around us. Recorded in under a week, the new album finds the 71-year-old singer-songwriter comfortably easing into his 10-song set with a stripped-down sound recorded with drummer Jim Keltner and bassist Paul Bushnell.
“Indian Givers” focuses on the Dakota Access Pipeline protests with Young singing, “There’s a battle ragin’ on the sacred land/Our brothers and sisters had to take a stand.”
“John Oaks” tells the story of taking a firm stand for what you believe in, even though it sometimes has dire consequences.
“Terrorist Suicide Hang Gliders” not only has a cool title, but presents an interesting perspective on the increasing fear of foreigners and heightened paranoia fostered from the unfamiliar.
“Can’t Stop Workin'” temporarily veers away from the protest theme to provide a little insight into Young’s musical drive by announcing, “It’s bad for the body/But it’s good for the soul/Might even keep you breathing/When you lose control.”
“My New Robot” closes the album in a weird sort of way by describing the peculiar relationship between man and a complete technology takeover.
There is nothing here as weighty as “Ohio” from 1970, but Young still manages to get his message across clearly without raising his voice.
Clint Rhodes is the Herald-Standard music reviewer. He can be reached at crhodes@heraldstandard.com.