MADISON, Wis. (AP) 鈥� 鈥淲orld Record,鈥� Neil Young (Reprise)
Neil Young and his longtime band Crazy Horse return to a favorite topic with 鈥淲orld Record,鈥� a double entendre title for an album that not-so-subtlety focuses squarely on the fate of the environment.
This is 76-year-old Neil Young in full-on Earth/grandfather rocker mode. And while it could have easily turned into a crotchety rant, 鈥淲orld Record鈥� is really more of an optimistic exhortation.
鈥淟ove Earth/we can bring the seasons back,鈥� Young sings on 鈥淟ove Earth," a gentle romp that almost feels like it could be sung around a campfire. 鈥滾ove Earth/can you imagine that?鈥�
The centerpiece of the 10-track collection is the 15-minute 鈥淐hevrolet,鈥� a reflection by the noted gear-head Young about his changing relationship with the automobile in the face of climate change.
鈥淗ow will it comfort me/burnin鈥� all that fuel again?鈥� he wistfully sings over a heavily distorted lead guitar and signature Crazy Horse sound. 鈥淕one is crowded highway/Lost are the roads we left behind.鈥�
Young has been singing about the fate of our world for more than half a century in the face of climate change, global economic forces and environmentalism. He sang about mother nature being on the run in 1970's 鈥淎fter the Gold Rush,鈥� and in more recent years his message has become more urgent, direct and sometimes clumsy 鈥� see 2014's 鈥淭he Monsanto Years.鈥�
In an effort to keep things fresh, Young and Crazy Horse recorded 鈥淲orld Record鈥� live in the studio without any instrumentation in mind. The end result, co-produced by Rick Rubin, is predictably esoteric for Young, an artist who revisits common themes but seemingly never in quite the same way each time 鈥� for better or for worse.
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Scott Bauer, The Associated Press
