It happens about once a year, sometimes twice - Neil Young releases a new album, sometimes with Crazy Horse, other times with friends and relatives and other times with other prominent names like Crosby, Stills, Nash and Pearl Jam, to name a few. Young’s latest release Greendale, as you’ve probably already heard, is like nothing else he has ever done before – ten songs tied together as a rock musical about the fictionious Green family in a town fittingly titled Greendale. Young’s last attempt at tying songs together so closely within the album format was back in his 1973 release "Tonights the Night," songs that reflected in the death of his roadie Bruce Berry. The ten song plot line of Greendale, is sometimes inspiring, other times limp. Told through Young’s earnest voice and raw musicianship, Greendale holds a far chance of hitting Broadway. Tackling cliche' topics of: the environment, revolution, silence to the media, and other snippets of paranoia within today’s post 9-11 U.S. climate, the story is part high-school play, part political campaign.
Now for the music. Like many of Neil Young's albums, a majority of the songs sound similar, as he is recognized to have certain favorite chords. At least half of the songs rumble through the same narrative groove. The story of
Greendale on CD makes Young’s rather clear lyrical directions seem fuzzy and hard to follow for a musical novel, as the songs within the Green saga are wordy and fail to develop the characterization and dramatization that Young usually achieves through select precise words. Beware- there are no yearbook quotes here. Aside from the story, the music is full of energy, but the songs fail to stand up on their own. Young’s achy voice never sounded so good and the rustic vibe set by Crazy Horse partners – Ralph Molina and Billy Talbot, keep it feeling very "home on the range. ‘ as Young handles all the guitar chores. (the other Crazy Horse - Pancho Sampedro was absent from the recordings)
"Bandit," the lone acoustic piece trembles in classic Young acoustic sincerity, is already a keeper. The most high energy song of them all on the recording, "Carmichael" motors forward with a Crazy Horse signature grunge groove intro that provides the song-cycle an immediate sense of urgency. But as the tale winds down, into the final tracks, listening to songs loaded with proper nouns and narratives is just overdone, and has you wanting to hear an epic Crazy Horse tale like "Cortez the Killer" or "Like a Hurricane." However, the bonus DVD is a great own – an acoustic performance of Greendale in Ireland, providing the listener a more intimate version of the story, along side a few candid remarks from Neil himself, most notably his affinity for a dark Guinness.
