Neil Young
Chrome Dreams II

What a strange album. Really hard to categorize, a perfect example of the ups and downs, not to say semi-schizophrenia, of this Youngian decade. I feel like saying: what a great album it would have been. It’s not. Not completely. There are plenty of things to say. Let's start from the beginning.

"Beautiful Bluebird". As pleasant as it is, I don't like it, it’s too much already heard. Absolutely unnecessary to revive this song made in international harvesters '84. More than anything, it's the wrong opening, it immediately misleads those expecting an album akin to Silver & Gold. But I don’t want to dwell on it too much.
"Boxcar". Already better, probably the album should have opened with this track, also fished out from a troubled past. Short and intense, correctly recorded, spiritually felt. Again, I wouldn’t linger on it for too long.
"Ordinary People". It's simply the track for which this album is stirring up dust among fans. It’s a historic track born with the Bluenotes in 1988, and here recorded in a new version, moreover longer, a good 18 minutes. This is indeed a track that deserves to exist. The question is: does this new version do it justice as the one we were used to in those raw period bootlegs? The answer is difficult, and every listener will decide for themselves. As far as I'm concerned, the track is properly recorded. The cleanliness, the polish of the studio has tailored a perfect suit for it, proceeding in a crescendo that drives a new listening. What is missing, the raw bluesyness of the Old Black, is something that is absent in other songs, and I’ll repeat it often. But in this case, if it was a choice, it wasn’t a wrong one. After all, the old version exists, somewhere, and we trust it will officially exist in the Blue Note Café in one of the future Archives. The impression is that "Ordinary People" was absolutely the track to which Neil and colleagues paid the most attention. I point out that it is the song where Neil's voice performs best, presenting a reverb and depth that contributes to the sonic impact, while elsewhere, the exact opposite happens.
"Shining Light". The first of the new songs. Imagine it acoustic guitar & voice, and you’ll understand how wrong the arrangement is and how degrading the electric guitar arpeggiated like a music box is. The charm of this nocturnal ballad is thus clipped. First song with potential far superior to what it was given.
"The Believer". Underrated song. Some it evokes nightmares called Are You Passionate. I think that, had it been in that 2002 album, it would have been the best song. Here it doesn’t disgrace at all, much less for its diversity, given the radio-style with which the album is conceived. It’s a warm and brief rhythm interlude, recorded as it should be and lacking nothing. And if the objection is that it goes unnoticed, I reiterate that, before this, there are others.
"Spirit Road". Second song whose potential is disastrously devalued. Listen to it in the tour concerts. Raw and mean as it should be. It should have been recorded with a session à la Ragged Glory. With Crazy Horse. With a second guitar whirling to fill every void instead of an anorexic beat at the far end of the right speaker (or left, I don’t even remember anymore). With the Old Black. With a voice echoing here and there instead of dulling and being constantly flat. Just like the bass line, which rises only in some moments, in some high tones, but then it’s even hard to follow. Listen to it in the tour concerts. It drives me mad to hear it this way on this album."
"Dirty Old Man". Frankly speaking, the most useless song written in the last decade. I overlook all the defects of the way it was recorded, such as to annul every attempt to be a diversion for rocking out. The kinship with "Piece Of Crap" is not even worth mentioning. At least at the sound level, in concerts, it delivers something more.
"Even After". Here is an example of a song that goes more unnoticed than "The Believer". It’s the faire of gaudiness. Yes, it doesn’t disgrace. Yes, it can be intoned while drunk at the pub, as a friend pointed out to me. But it's not "Dirty Old Town" by the Dubliners. It is the antithesis of "Dirty Old Man", yet it’s the same thing: one of the most useless songs of the decade, but country and therefore more forgivable.
"No Hidden Path". The second pillar of the album. In my opinion, the song that guided the other new ones, at least the electric ones. Here, contrary to what was heard before, the choices work. The arrangement, the second guitar down there keeping rhythm, the choirs, the cadenced tread of Molina's percussion. It's a little brother of "Down By The River" or "Change Your Mind." 14 minutes that are all listened to and become inevitable in the concert setlist. What Young was missing these days was a piece like this, epic ride style, evocative verses and choruses, and pretext for electric digressions. Chromed dreams. It’s utterly useless to argue whether or not it lives up to illustrious predecessors.
"The Way". Clever or reckless, Neil, to get burned with songs that ignite the fans? This track should be handled with care. At first glance, you might be horrified. If you have the patience to listen to it to the end and pay attention to the orchestration, you might even consider it the least obvious and most brilliant track of the entire work. I venture to define, against every opinion I have read and heard, that "The Way", if not the most brilliant track, is at least the most underrated. The piano loop is remarkable. The small dissonances, the noises, the guitar echoes are genius. The children's choir is what distinguishes it, making it a peculiarity. I hear nothing ridiculous in it. It’s a beautiful song, and if all the others had been cared for in this way, I wouldn’t be dwelling so much on Chrome Dreams II, resigning to a 3-star rating for not having to do a mathematical calculation, which I fear is the only way to judge this album.

Malcolm85