Neil Young - Le Noise

A new Neil Young, produced by Daniel Lanois, drops Sept. 28th.  A new Neil Young is always an iffy proposition.  I love Neil Young, but with a few exceptions (Freedom, Harvest Moon), I really don't love any record he's made since Rust Never Sleeps.  I keep buying them and I keep on ending up disappointed.  He's earned the right to be eclectic but more often than not his records come off as poorly thought out.  Some great tracks, sure, but great albums have been a bit scarce of late.

That said, I do like the new album Le Noise.  It's a solo record in the truest sense but it sure ain't acoustic.  If you're looking for Harvest part 3 move on.  In fact this is closer to the rawest sounding Crazy Horse that you can remember.  The part you need to get over is that it is just him, no band.

So is this any good, actually yes it is.  In some spots it is very good.  There's nothing gimmicky here, just Neil and the songs.  I think that actually pays off most of the time.  Sign of Love, Walk With Me and Angry World are early standouts for me and the whole album is a good listen.  What I miss is the band.  These songs are pretty high quality-wise and I can't help but think how this would all be as a Crazy Horse record.  Oh well, I should be happy for what we have.  Neil Young fans need to grab this one.

Daniel Lanois discusses the making of Le Noise


Angry World


Love and War


Sign of Love


Neil Young's Le Noise comes out September 28th.