Neil Young
Freedom

THE REVIEW

“Freedom” is the album of redemption, Neil Young's return to the limelight.

It emerged in 1989, at the end of a decade in which Neil tried to destroy his myth by embracing new genres: from the electronics of “Trans” to the rockabilly of “Everybody’s Rocking”, yet without leaving a mark. It was released, not coincidentally, in 1989, riding the wave of events that brought a wind of freedom to various parts of the world. The leading anthem is the renowned “Rockin’ in the Free World”: a track as driven as in the good old days, stripped of any rhetoric, with lyrics depicting Reagan-Bush’s America as a desolate land, ready to ignite. A track that made history, especially in the devastating version Neil delivered on "Saturday Night Live," a seal on his resurrection.

The year of release is also significant for the musical context of the period: American alternative was about to surface, and Neil Young was its undisputed inspiration. Not surprisingly, Sonic Youth, Pixies, and Dinosaur Jr paid tribute to the Canadian that year with the tribute album “The Bridge”.
The sound of “Freedom” is extremely varied and eclectic. The electric assaults that would envelop the subsequent “Ragged Glory” – a true milestone of the grunge era – are confined to the already mentioned “Rockin’ in the Free World”, the vitriolic riffs of the distorted “Don’t Cry”, and the solo that seals the anthemic “No More”. The political vein is present in the Dylanesque “Crime In The City (Sixty to Zero Pt. 1)”, a drawn-out fresco of the decadence of certain American metropolises. This episode is nothing short of majestic, and it derails into unexpected folk-jazz realms.

Elsewhere, Neil retraces the bucolic paths of “Harvest”, in sublime ballads like “Too Far Gone”, “Hangin’ on a Limb”, or the martial “The Ways of Love”, accompanied in the latter by the soothing voice of Nicolette Larson. But the man from Ontario can enchant without necessarily reconnecting the threads of the past. In this sense, the soulful/blues vein that supports both “Wrecking Ball” and the cover of “On Broadway” by the Drifters is splendid, while the visionary “Eldorado” updates the atmospheres of "Zuma” with exquisite Spanish elements.

As captivating as a sunset on the West Coast.