Friday Release # 124
The 41st album by Neil Young and the 14th in collaboration with "Crazy Horse", Young's veteran backing band that has been with him for over fifty years!
The album's recordings were documented in a film directed by Young's current wife - Daryl Hannah, and was released with the album, see here:
The name of the album "Barn" derives from the place where it was recorded, an old barn located somewhere in the Rocky Mountains, which was converted into a recording studio. The barn also appears on the album cover and in a clip released for the song "Welcome Back", one of the mesmerizing tracks on the album that lasts about 9 minutes.
Young's all-too-familiar signature sound can already be heard in the opening song "Song Of The Seasons." The harmonica and acoustic chords threw us straight into the days of “Harvest” and they proves the impact the place and the atmosphere had on the writing process, which was undoubtedly influenced by the magical landscape. And if you need further confirmation on the matter, then it comes right when Young opens his mouth with the words: "Looking through a wavy glass window / In this old place by the lake… I see that nature makes no mistake."
But make no mistake this album certainly does not stick to the formula of the opening song.
We have the bluesy jam of "Shape Of You" and "Change Ain't Never Gonna", the raging grunge of "Heading West" and "Human Race", the romantic folk of "Tumblin' Thru The Years" and more.
And with Young as with Young, the words always have a lot of meaning: in "Change Ain't Never Gonna" he sings about saving earth and global warming, "Canerican" is a love letter to Canada and America and the role they played in Young's life, "Shape Of You" Is the anthem of the aging and authentic hippie, who even in the twilight of his life continues to dream and adhere to the values of peace and love.
For Listening: Spotify, Apple Music