SO, working backwards:
#85 - Neil Young - Freedom
This 1989 release from Neil Young just barely qualifies as "80's". It represented a rebound for Neil, after an eclectic string of experiments. There was the country album, the rockabilly album, the electronic album.... offerings that led to a lawsuit from his record label from making being non-commercial and musically uncharacteristic. Of course, he went on to record a blues/jazz/horns album.... All good stuff (IMHO), but he was all over the place.
Freedom brought it back to basics. As Wikipedia notes: Freedom was a "critical and commercially successful album in the mold of his 1979 classic album, Rust Never Sleeps". Allmusic said it was was the album Neil Young fans knew he was capable of making, but feared he would never make again".
Freedom only managed 1 hit, but it's the iconic "Keep On Rockin' In The Free World" which reached #2 on the Modern Rock chart. Looking at iTunes, over the past 25-ish months, the average playcount Freedom is only 1.9 plays/song. That somewhat surprised me.... in fact, it is the least listened to Neil Young album I own. Contrast "After The Gold Rush", at 10.1 plays/song.... hmmmmmmm
Recapping:
#92 - Tom Petty - Full Moon Fever
One to the photo: This one is totally random.... This was taken out of a car window, driving west on I-70 in Indiana at sunset. Back around 2004, IIRC. I guess it is similar to yesterday's photo in the sense of being a slow shuutter speed. but has no connection to Neil Young at all.
3 comments:
Neil Young was a monster in the 70s, when he was depressed and angry. In the 80s he found peace and calm, which was great personally but didn't do much for his music. "Cowgirl in the Sand" or "Cinnamon Girl" beats "Rockin in the Free World" by a mile. I think your brother once called Neil Young "the Jack Nicholson of rock and roll." Clever, and accurate too. Two artists with long careers whose first 10 years were WAY better than their last 30 years.
I do give Neil Young credit for becoming the godfather of post-punk/grunge music in the 90s, thereby teaching a new generation how to rock.
I don't rememeber my brother saying that, but I rememberNeil Young's video for "Wandering" from the "Everybody's Rockin'" album.... There's a definite Jack Nicholson vibe there.
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