Neil Young
Lucky Thirteen

THE REVIEW

Envy is an ugly beast. 

David Geffen knows something about it as he could only envy the records Neil made for Reprise... Young offered him only marginal things with a sound decidedly outside the typical artist’s schemes… after all, Neil is not one to mess with; he’s a character to whom you can’t impose anything, let alone give precise contractual deadlines...you wanted me to release 5 albums for you? Here they are, but don't tell me they suck because that's all I could give during this so messed-up period of my life (my son with brain damage... health problems... etc...).

Between '89 and '92 Neil had already returned as a huge point of reference for the entire rock movement (albums like Freedom, Ragged Glory, Weld, and Harvest Moon can be counted among his best works...) when in '93 Geffen tried to "skim cream" with a kind of "Best of '80," churning out this "lucky thirteen" which, to be honest, didn’t have that much luck...after all, looking for the best in the worst period of our Dear One's career is not an easy task, and to be honest, the choice of lineup could have been better by a hair…(but that, coincidentally, was compiled by Young himself, as if to say, I could surely have included something else, but you really bug me).

Excluding "Sample And Hold" and "Transformer Man," which have a sense and an "intimist" meaning for Neil, and "This Note's For You" that already dates back to the period of musical rebirth with the excellent blues of the self-titled album (incidentally already labeled Reprise), the other pieces fail to convey the poetry and melancholy that usually envelop Young’s songs. The sound is always too clean, artificial, studied, and synthesized, even in songs with a country mix like "Depression Blues" and "Once An Angel," you can feel the total lack of the true soul "sweet and rough at the same time" we are used to and WANT to hear coming from the artist’s records.

The rest of the album includes two  live tracks with the Shocking Pinks "Get Gone" and "Don't Take Your Love Away From Me"  somewhat negligible, even two pieces from "Landing on Water," the most synthesized and "screamed" album by Young, "Around The World" and "Mideast Vacation," commercial rock  excerpts from "Life" of '87. The album concludes with an admirable live with the Blue Notes ("Ain't the Truth") and the beautiful and harsh "This Note's For You".

The lineup is strictly chronological, a journey through the '80s, from the darkest period to glimpsing the light that will later shine on Neil Young's career.

A piece of advice I can give to those who have never listened to Neil Young is not to start with this album, because it would certainly not encourage you to follow an artist who has given so much and will still give a lot to the world of Music.