Neil Young: Chrome Dreams II
Neil Young follows an album that never was.
Also In The News
|
Published by Penguin, out October 4th, 293 pages, £12. |  |
Monday, 22, Oct 2007 03:44
Reprise Records, out October 29th 2007.
In a nutshell...
Content, reflective, questioning, refined, nostalgic.
What's it all about?
Chrome Dreams II is a sequel to an album which never existed. Its namesake and predecessor, Chrome Dreams, was a collection of outtakes and rarities from the American Bars 'n' Stars album, which Young released in 1977. While the original was only released in 1992, it has long been bootlegged and circulated, forming an intriguing part of Young's back catalogue, in a similar vein to the so-called Lost Six albums - which included On the Beach - before they were issued on CD earlier in the decade.
The work is composed of ten tracks, two of which swagger toward the 15-minute mark, and is a grab-bag of different types of song working to form an overall feel. While there is no continuity of theme, or development of narrative, the album is drawn together by Young's cathartic, rebellious attitude, with each piece sitting in unison a result.
Who's it by
Neil Young has virtually too many studio albums to count, innumerable bootlegs & live albums and two singles. His career has continuously defined expectation, and with his long awaited Legacy boxset delayed once again for the recording of Chrome Dreams II, he has delivered one further twist in the story.
Looking back, it is difficult to know where to begin. The legendary story of the formation of Buffalo Springfield, which saw Young cruising the streets in a hearse to recruit his band-mates, through the epoch-defining Harvest< and Rust Never Sleeps in the 1970s, to the battles with record companies in the 1980s, when he was sued by his label for the dire Trans, Young has remained an idiosyncratic oddity burning across the rock sky.
As an example...
"If heaven had a window/Where the world came shining through/WI would come flying home to you." - Beautiful Bluebird.
Likelihood of a trip to the Grammys
Young's discography is so vast, and carries such weight in the rock cannon, it is virtually impossible to guess where this record will be ranked when his illustrious career finally comes to an end. While it is certainly characteristic of his most recent work, showing an artist content to explore his legacy, while simultaneously exploring immediate topics, it perhaps lacks some of the urgency of his most rewarding work.
As such Chrome Dreams II is likely to be regarded as a second-tier Young outing.
What the others say
"A modest collection of stray songs and new tunes, pieced together in a fashion similar to 1989's Freedom, which in fact is where the 1977 Too Far Gone was finally unveiled - AllMusic.com.
But while Neil Young's self-fractionation abilities are in tact, the low hit to miss ratio of Chrome Dreams II is proof that not all of those personae are still quite as functional as they once were, around the time of Chapter One." - PitchforkMedia.com.
So is it any good?
Neil Young has certainly hit a productive vein in recent years. With Living with War Young stepped up to the plate when he thought younger generations had failed, issuing a blistering treatise against American conflict in widest times. Greendale and Prairie Wind, while not the most engaging of albums also acted as a statement from intent from one of the business' oldest hands that he wasn't ready to settle down yet.
This new work, however, marks the subsidence of this recent creative wave. Some of the older work is overly sentimental and has not stood the test of time. For example, the albums centrepiece Ordinary People was originally recorded for Young's 1980s album This Note's for You, but never made the cut, and its inclusion suggests Young's older self may have had a point.
The track casts a shadow over the rest of the album as well; making what would normally be stand-alone pieces seem inconsequential in comparison. Beautiful Bluebird is overly sentimental and a little trite, while Dirty Old Man slips away anonymously.
Overall, the record is of a high calibre and can be classed as deeply rewarding. Young fans will find satisfaction toward the end as a little more freedom and light is added to the slightly pompous opening volleys, but some dilettante listeners may suffer the first signs of fatigue.
7/10
Christopher O'Toole