Label: Warner Music (Japan), WPCR-75096
Style: Folk Rock, Country Rock, Hard Rock
Country: Toronto, Ontario, Canada (November 12, 1945)
Time: 38:22
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 256 Mb
Neil
Young ended off the seventies on a great note. Before releasing the
live album Live Rust, Young finished the decade that was perhaps his
most successful with one of this finest works up until then and remains
now, ‘Rust Never Sleeps’. Although the album was recorded live on the
tour of the same name, it consisted entirely of new material and with
most of the audience track removed and later overdubbing, it felt like a
studio recording but with a rawer, more intense and intimate feel of a
live performance. Young makes some of his most memorable work ranging
from the gentle, cryptic folk of the opening track to a heavier, rocking
alteration of the same song to conclude. Divided into two separate
sections, acoustic first and electric tunes on the second half with his
famous backing band Crazy Horse, Rust Never Sleeps is one of his most
unique and self representative works.
Opening with powerful,
atmospheric My My Hey Hey (Out of the Blue), the albums distinctive tone
is set. Possessing the infamous line “It’s better to burn out than to
fade away”, an inside look at the music industry and an era as well as a
modest salute to the King Elvis Presley and embracing the modern punk
age with a nod to Johnny Rotten, the track is one of Young’s most
prominent and for good reason. Thrasher solidifies the albums brilliant
start with a beautiful, warming and intimate story telling song with
some of his best and most descriptive lyrics that read like an
autobiography with lines such as “And I was just getting up, hit the
road before it's light; trying to catch an hour on the sun, when I saw
those thrashers rolling by; looking more than two lanes wide I was
feeling like my day had just begun” and a excerpt from the final verse
“But me I'm not stopping there got my own row left to hoe; just another
line in the field of time”. Ride My Llama and Pocahontas are also both
wonderful songs that fit along side his best, especially the latter. The
majority of the lyrics are written cleverly, sometimes laced with
obscure metaphors, imagery and passages that may have numerous meanings,
but are bound to make the listener think. What to think about depends.
The
electric second half is highlighted by Powderfinger, which actually
works as a transitional song in the middle with its blending of softer,
mid tempo melodies with heavier guitar parts. One of Young’s undisputed
highlights, the five minute plus song combines a folk country melody
with mesmerizing guitars including a remarkable, yet straightforward
solo and Young’s distinctive tenor. Only contending with the opener and
Thrasher, this track leaves the longest lasting impression.
(sputnikmusic.com/review/12378/Neil-Young-Rust-Never-Sleeps/)
01. My My, Hey Hey (Out Of The Blue) (03:47)
02. Thrasher (05:39)
03. Ride My Llama (02:30)
04. Pocahontas (03:23)
05. Sail Away (03:48)
06. Powderfinger (05:29)
07. Welfare Mothers (03:48)
08. Sedan Delivery (04:38)
09. Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black) (05:15)
