An extremely prolific artist – he has released one album per year since his first record in 1968 – Neil Young has not slowed down with age, quite the contrary. Between forgotten lives, unreleased studio albums and reissues of all kinds, the rocker continues to release new records. After three consecutive albums with Crazy Horse – the last, World Record, was released just a year ago – the septuagenarian delivers a rather special project. During a small solo tour given last summer in California, Young had fun playing rarities from his rich repertoire, the “deep cuts” that his fans have been clamoring for for years. It is from this material that he draws today Before and After, a sort of album of covers of his own songs. We are intrigued by this exercise, from an artist who has never stopped moving forward: revisiting songs, the oldest of which dates from 1966, in versions that are often less good than the originals.
For what ? Of course, the songs are magnificent, but we already knew that. Except for If You Got Love, which was supposed to appear on Trans in 1982, but had disappeared by the time the album was released. The voice is more fragile, the guitar and piano playing less assured, but this album has some beautiful moments. Particularly in the cover of Homefires, a rarity from 1974 released only in 2010, whose text takes a new turn “I am no longer the same man as before, I have learned new things and I hope that it shows” . And above all I’m The Ocean, one of his greatest songs, in which he sings “People my age don’t do what I do” which rings even more true today than thirty years ago.
Before and After (Reprise/Warner Records)
This would be one of Neil Young’s least favorite records. Unavailable for decades (it was only re-released in 2016), this live performance from 1973 has a very particular tone. It was recorded during the triumphant tour carried out by the musician after the colossal sales of the album Harvest, released the previous year. However, we could not imagine a record further from the latter than this Time Fades Away, the first stage of the famous “Ditch Trilogy” released by Young between 1973 and 1975. Badly depressed, under considerable pressure, Neil Young did not let filter from this series of concerts only completely new songs, which he played very little afterwards. With the notable exception of three melancholy pieces played solo on the piano (Journey Through the Past, Love in Mind and The Bridge), Time Fades Away is made up of angry and grinding pieces, saturated with electricity and negative waves. A thousand miles from Harvest and its careful climates, the musicians, identical, let go of steamy hair on these desolate songs. Masochists that we are, we ask for more, the potion is so good. There are some of the most moving titles of the man’s career, such as the autobiographical Don’t Be Denied or the dark L.A., the best sung definition of the City of Angels. Crosby and Nash, Loner’s traveling companions, support him vocally on the apocalyptic Last Dance of almost 9 minutes. Embellished with an additional title, the notoriously bizarre Last Trip to Tulsa, this uncomfortable but crucial record benefits from a repressing for its 50th anniversary.
Time Fades Away 50 (Reprise/Warner Records)