Album: On The Beach
Artist: Neil Young
Born: Toronto, Ontario
Released: July 1974
Genre: Americana
Influenced: Teenage Fanclub, REM, Mercury Rev, Lambchop, Radiohead, Yo La Tengo
On both this album and Tonight's The Night, the emotional rawness is the most striking aspect of the songs, once you really tune into the lyrics. On The Beach was recorded later but released first and is pessimistic but defiant, with Young literally turning his back (as the cover depicts) on the wealthy Laurel Canyon hippies, critics, bandmates and hangers-on that wore him down. Young would never match again the songwriting peaks of this album, but his guitar workouts with Crazy Horse on Zuma and Rust Never Sleeps show that he never stopped evolving in the second half of the 70s. This is one of my favourite Young albums, mainly because he avoids his country or hard rock (Crazy Horse) leanings and focuses more on the songs. It's also more hopeful than Tonight's The Night.
I think Ambulance Blues might be one of the most profound songs ever committed to celluloid, its sprawling structure taking inspiration from a Bert Jansch guitar riff, as Young celebrates his musical beginnings at the Riverside folk club in Toronto with the likes of Joni Mitchell and Gordon Lightfoot. Walk On is a brilliant riposte to his critics at the time, including a light-hearted dig at Lynyrd Skynyrd. Revolution Blues is more stark and the first of three "blues" songs, giving an insight into his frame of mind while living in Nixon's America. For The Turnstiles explores a dystopian future of business corrupting the music scene (he was jaded from a CSNY tour, but his vision is prescient) and I love the banjo melody. Vampire Blues is probably the most bleak cut on the record and the mood doesn't lighten much on side 2, though the run of songs from On The Beach to Ambulance Blues is arguably the highlight of Young's prolific musical output. The sound of those three tracks is heavily folk influenced and the tone is confessional. Once he'd got all this off his chest, to such brilliant effect, he was ready to walk on.
On both this album and Tonight's The Night, the emotional rawness is the most striking aspect of the songs, once you really tune into the lyrics. On The Beach was recorded later but released first and is pessimistic but defiant, with Young literally turning his back (as the cover depicts) on the wealthy Laurel Canyon hippies, critics, bandmates and hangers-on that wore him down. Young would never match again the songwriting peaks of this album, but his guitar workouts with Crazy Horse on Zuma and Rust Never Sleeps show that he never stopped evolving in the second half of the 70s. This is one of my favourite Young albums, mainly because he avoids his country or hard rock (Crazy Horse) leanings and focuses more on the songs. It's also more hopeful than Tonight's The Night.
I think Ambulance Blues might be one of the most profound songs ever committed to celluloid, its sprawling structure taking inspiration from a Bert Jansch guitar riff, as Young celebrates his musical beginnings at the Riverside folk club in Toronto with the likes of Joni Mitchell and Gordon Lightfoot. Walk On is a brilliant riposte to his critics at the time, including a light-hearted dig at Lynyrd Skynyrd. Revolution Blues is more stark and the first of three "blues" songs, giving an insight into his frame of mind while living in Nixon's America. For The Turnstiles explores a dystopian future of business corrupting the music scene (he was jaded from a CSNY tour, but his vision is prescient) and I love the banjo melody. Vampire Blues is probably the most bleak cut on the record and the mood doesn't lighten much on side 2, though the run of songs from On The Beach to Ambulance Blues is arguably the highlight of Young's prolific musical output. The sound of those three tracks is heavily folk influenced and the tone is confessional. Once he'd got all this off his chest, to such brilliant effect, he was ready to walk on.
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