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Rating: Neil Young's first greatest hits. Condensing the colossal work of the artist into a single album was a daunting task, but the choices made are more than appreciable.
There is no need to spend more words on Neil Young, about whom everything has already been said. Just to introduce the album, it is worth remembering that the artist, Canadian by birth, was (and is) one of the most important personalities in rock music. His influence on new generations has been (and is) enormous. He has composed concept albums of enormous stature, alternating "schizophrenically" between studio and live recordings, as subdued as the former are, the latter are raw. He has ranged from country to acid-rock, from folk to blues, from hard rock to grunge.
The greatest hits primarily collects tracks from the early albums, perhaps the most significant ones.
"Down by the River" and "Cowgirl in the Sand" are two long rock compositions, dreamlike and electric. "Cinnamon Girl" is even more rhythmic, almost hard rock. Then comes "Helpless", a track from the "Deja Vu" album by the acclaimed "CSNY", with a more bucolic and relaxed atmosphere.
"After the GoldRush" and "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" are typical folk melodic ballads. The same album also features the famous electric ride "Southern Man". "Ohio", a vehement protest song, reprises the same electric arrangements but combines them with CSNY-style singing.
From "Harvest", perhaps Young's most famous album, the relaxed "Heart of Gold", the sad "Old Man", and the touching "The Needle and the Damage Done" are included. Hats off, we have thus reached the peak of country rock of all time. "Like A Hurricane" is instead an intense electric ballad, distorted sounds (almost grunge) accompanying one of the most beautiful "Youngian" melodies. "Comes a Time" and "Harvest Moon" mark a return to the atmospheres of "After the Goldrush" and "Harvest", but are less successful than the previous ones. "Rockin' in the Freeworld" and "Hey Hey, My My" are hard rock tracks, anthems to freedom and the immortality of the genre.
Overall, it's a very interesting collection, especially for a hypothetical newcomer. However, some of Young's most beautiful songs are missing: from the bucolic "Sugar Mountain", "Tell Me Why", "Harvest", and "Out On the Weekend", to the more spirited "Alabama" and "Come On Baby Let's Go Downtown", from the melancholic compositions of "Tonight's The Night" and "On The Beach" to the more cheerful tunes of "Zuma", from the simple grunge of "Ragged Glory" to the more complex sound of "Sleeps with Angels".
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 Old Man (03:22)
Old man look at my life,
I'm a lot like you were.
Old man look at my life,
I'm a lot like you were.
Old man look at my life,
Twenty four and there's so much more
Live alone in a paradise
That makes me think of two.
Love lost, such a cost,
Give me things that don't get lost.
Like a coin that won't get tossed
Rolling home to you.
Old man take a look at my life I'm a lot like you
I need someone to love me the whole day through
Ah, one look in my eyes and you can tell that's true.
Lullabies, look in your eyes,
Run around the same old town.
Doesn't mean that much to me
To mean that much to you.
I've been first and last
Look at how the time goes past.
But I'm all alone at last.
Rolling home to you.
Old man take a look at my life I'm a lot like you
I need someone to love me the whole day through
Ah, one look in my eyes and you can tell that's true.
Old man look at my life,
I'm a lot like you were.
Old man look at my life,
I'm a lot like you were.
05 The Loner (03:52)
He's a perfect stranger,
Like a cross of himself and a fox.
He's a feeling arranger
And a changer of the ways he talks.
He's the unforeseen danger
The keeper of the key to the locks.
Know when you see him,
Nothing can free him.
Step aside, open wide,
It's the loner.
If you see him in the subway,
He'll be down at the end of the car.
Watching you move
Until he knows he knows who you are.
When you get off at your station alone,
He'll know that you are.
Know when you see him,
Nothing can free him.
Step aside, open wide,
It's the loner.
There was a woman he knew
About a year or so ago.
She had something that he needed
And he pleaded with her not to go.
On the day that she left,
He died, but it did not show.
Know when you see him,
Nothing can free him.
Step aside, open wide,
It's the loner.
06 Like a Hurricane (05:25)
Once I thought I saw you in a crowded hazy bar,
Dancing on the light from star to star.
Far across the moonbeam I know that's who you are,
I saw your brown eyes turning once to fire.
You are like a hurricane
There's calm in your eye.
And I'm gettin' blown away
To somewhere safer where the feeling stays.
I want to love you but I'm getting blown away.
I am just a dreamer, but you are just a dream,
You could have been anyone to me.
Before that moment you touched my lips
That perfect feeling when time just slips
Away between us on our foggy trip.
You are like a hurricane
There's calm in your eye.
And I'm gettin' blown away
To somewhere safer where the feeling stays.
I want to love you but I'm getting blown away.
You are just a dreamer, and I am just a dream.
You could have been anyone to me.
Before that moment you touched my lips
That perfect feeling when time just slips
Away between us on our foggy trip.
You are like a hurricane
There's calm in your eye.
And I'm gettin' blown away
To somewhere safer where the feeling stays.
I want to love you but I'm getting blown away.
07 Heart of Gold (03:06)
I want to live
I want to give
I've been a miner for a heart of gold
It's these expressions I never give
That keep me searching for a heart of gold
And I'm getting old
Keeps me searching for a heart of gold
And I'm getting old
I've been to Hollywood,
I've been to Redwood
I've crossed the ocean for a heart of gold
I've been in my mind
It's such a fine line
That keeps me searching for a heart of gold
And I'm getting old
Keeps me searching for a heart of gold
And I'm getting old
Keep me searching for a heart of gold
Keep me searching and I'm growing old
Keep me searching for a heart of gold
I've been a miner for a heart of gold.
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