Neil Young - Live at Massey Hall (CD/DVD)
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Free Music Notes for Live at Massey Hall (CD/DVD)
Free Music Review: aka The Essential Acoustic Neil Young
Hit: 5 Stars
This a really outstanding performance, especially if you like the "sensitive" Neil of the early 70s. Three songs are previously unreleased by Neil Young: "On the Way Home," "Bad Fog of Loneliness," and "Dance Dance Dance." Two songs are from the great never-issued-on-CD _Time Fades Away_: "Love in Mind" and "Journey Through the Past."
The set starts off light, with the tossed-off "On the Way Home." I'm not surprised that this wasn't released; it's not bad, but it's not very good either. Then follow "Tell Me Why," "Old Man," "Journey Through the Past"... and a knockout solo version of "Helpless." Emotionally, it's just downhill from there: every song gets a little darker and more helpless than the last. You can really feel the Doom Trilogy years stretching out before him. It's compelling listening!
The "suite" is interesting - it seems as if "Heart of Gold" started out as the middle-eight of "A Man Needs a Maid." If he'd kept it that way, he'd never have had his only #1 hit. "Maid" and "There's a World" both fare much better for the lack of orchestral overdub bombast that sunk the album versions.
"Bad Fog of Loneliness" starts off a little perfunctory, but veers darker and better. It's nice to have it out. The acoustic versions of "Down by the River," "Cowgirl in the Sand," and "Ohio" are really amazing, as good as the full-band versions in their way. "Dance Dance Dance" lightens the mood at the end of the encore. It's slight, but very effective in context.
My only complaint is that tracks begin with the stage banter relating to them, so you have to sit through two minutes of chatter before he starts singing. I'm glad it's there, but I'm going to have to make a music-only edit for normal listening. I like having the stage banter, but it would be best to have it on a separate track from the song, I think. A very minor complaint in any case.
The DVD has great bonus material - song lyric manuscripts, Johnny Cash Show videos, etc. - but the concert video itself isn't very good. You see much more footage of a running reel-to-reel tape recorder than of Young. The cameraman obviously has no idea what he's doing. When you do see Young, he looks freakish. (Partly due to his posture - he had a crushed vertebra during the tour and was wearing a back brace.) It's a standard Shakey lo-fi job.
Free Music Review: Live at Massey Hall - Intimate and Accessable Live Neil Young
Hit: 5 Stars
The second release from the Archives Series is Neil Young, alone, playing acoustic guitar and piano and singing his heart out to his native Canadian audience. This release is suprisingly accessable for a Neil Young record, and I would recommend it for those who are just getting into his music. Neil rarely sounded as good and the song selection is terrific.
Since his move to the states in the previous decade, Neil already had some success with the Springfield, had released a fantastic rock album and had toured with the Horse and had released some early solo albums, growing in stature with each year, the unique singer songwriter was on the verge of superstardom that would come with the release of his "Harvest" album.
Had Neil released these performances as a live album, instead of Harvest, which could have occured, who knows how Neils musical path would have continued from 1971.
These performances are nothing short of brilliant and I enjoy this side of Neil over the Live at the Fillmore from the previous year. There is actual footage, albeit shakey, on the DVD componant which is an improvement from The Fillmore release.
The audience finds Neil in perhaps the prime of his vocal abilities and listening to his then new songs such as "Old Man" and "Heart of Gold", which were to become great hits for him, in the early stages, this is important historically to Neil fans and quite interesting too.
"Don't Let It Bring You Down" is one of my favourite Young songs from the early 70's is a real highlight. Other tracks that standout for me are "On The Way Home" which opens the show and an appropriate choice of song in "Journey through the Past". "Bad Fog of Lonliness", the lost gem can also be found here. 2 Crazy Horse rockers "Down by the River" and "Cowgirl in the Sand" are reinterpreted by Young is shorter and equally passionate acoutsic versions. "Dance Dance Dance" comes of great live, this offcourse released by a Youngless Horse back in the day.
This release is a must have. It is interesting from a historical point of view, contains passionate and brilliantly performed songs and is Neil Young at his most accessable, laid back and in the early stages of his prime.
Free Music Review: 24 and there's so much more
Hit: 5 Stars
Neil Young in his grungey prime - performing LIVE at Massey Hall. 1971. Age 24. A beautifully remastered CD and DVD of Neil Young unplugged long before MTV coined the term. Neil performs much of the Harvest Album solo on a darkened stage in his native Canada. Switching between several vintage Martin guitars and a Steinway piano, Neil performs his haunting music with passion and artistry. His Young voice is strong and clear. His flatpicking guitar work inspired. Drop-D tuning never sounded so good, as Neil re-tunes his guitars between each song.
Audiophile sonic quality in both the cd and dvd. The acoustics of this intimate stage were beautifully captured from the original recording. The Mixing of voice, instrument, and crowd are among the very best live recordings I have ever heard. You can feel the bronzed acoustic strings slapping and bending across well-worn steel frets. You feel the strain as Neil reaches for a high note. Album highlights include memorable renditions of: Old Man, Ohio, Needle and the Damage Done, Cowgirl in the Sand, Down by the River, and a lovely medley of A Man needs a Maid & Heart of Gold performed on piano.
The DVD is artistically filmed by mixing still photographs with actual concert footage and a recurring vision of a vintage reel-to-reel tape player spinning its reels in front of a microphone. The filmmakers ironic imagery suggests the origin of this wonderful soundtrack. Neil is captured in the full glory of his youth. Long stringy black hair covering most of his face as he performs from a quiet seated posture. It feels as though Neil is performing for you in his own living room. The DVD is dark and almost film-noir in its grainy newsreel quality. Despite the obvious limitations of the archived film clips, the tight close-ups of Neil performing are emotionally moving. The passion of this young genius is palpable as he pours himself into each of his musical creations.
I cannot help but see a haunting resemblance between sight and sound of Neil at Massey Hall in 1971 and Kurt Cobain's unplugged performance on an MTV stage 30 years later. A talent worthy of imitation. A talent worthy of this beautiful reprise of his early work.
Free Music Review: Live At Massey Hall is Essential
Hit: 5 Stars
I'm not a big fan of live albums. Unless it's a band I truly love and can't get enough of like Pearl Jam, Fugazi, and yes you guessed it, my favorite artist ever, Neil Young.
My favorite live album of all time is Young's Live Rust (which is perfectly complemented by the equally amazing Rust Never Sleeps DVD). I listen to it all day at work while trapped in front of two computer monitors. I listen to it religiously when I go to bed at night. I listen to it all the damn time and my ears are still not burned out from the performance. Live at Massey Hall 1971 might not be as electrifying, but if I ever lost my copy of Live Rust, Massey Hall is next in line to replace it.
Massey Hall is an acoustic solo performance of seventeen songs, and handful being piano fronted tracks like "Journey Through The Past," "There's A World," "Love In Mind," "See the Sky About To Rain," and the two for one track "A Man Needs A Maid/Heart of Gold Suite." When it comes to acoustic renditions of his own songs, Mr. Young is second to none.
"I'm gonna sing mostly new songs tonight." Massey Hall is a great documentary performance to hear Young perform future classic songs for the first time like "Old Man," "A Man Needs A Maid," "The Needle and the Damage Done," and "Heart of Gold," which all ended up on Harvest the following year. Other highlights are stripped-down versions of "Ohio," a shortened "Cowgirl In the Sand," and Buffalo Springfield's "On the Way Home." The true gem on the release is the rare "Bad Fog of Loneliness," which Neil explains was originally written for his performance on The Johnny Cash Show.
This is a no-brainer for all Neil Young fans. The DVD video quality isn't all that great. Looks like a grainy 8mm transfer, and it's kind of artsy, showing shots of Young's ranch while he plays, and other miscellaneous footage. But the audio disc is essential, especially to hear Young talk before each track, explaining his songs, talking and interacting with the Canadian crowd. This is one great performance that you need to hear!
Free Music Review: Sowing the Seeds for Harvest
Hit: 5 Stars
This is a tremendous CD which I whole-heartedly recommend. Neil Young announces before the fourth song that he will be playing "mostly new songs tonight." Five of the new songs would appear on the following year's "Harvest" album, which for my money, is Neil Young's finest. Did the audience realize just how extraordinary was this batch of new songs? Did Neil himself have any inkling of the phenomenal acclaim and acceptance "Harvest" would receive?
The songs are all performed solo by Neil, twelve on guitar, six (counting track 7 as two) on piano. (Unplugged, if you will, decades before that term was coined and turned into a marketing tool.)
One of the most interesting piano tracks is "A Man Needs a Maid/Heart of Gold." Neil introduces the song by saying "some people look at their life and say, well, my life is like a movie," then jokes that "this is like a showtune from my movie," perhaps foreshadowing the heavy production "A Man Needs a Maid" would receive on the studio album. However, the spare rendering here is superior, in my opinion. Then midway through the track, Neil segues into a stark version of "Heart of Gold," previewing what can arguably be called his definitive song.
Standout tracks with acoustic guitar include "Old Man," "Needle and the Damage Done," "Cowgirl In The Sand," and "Ohio." But one could as easily point out highlights by repeating the entire track list. Guitarists especially will appreciate how the songs are played in this solo acoustic format. The sound quality of the recording is superb.
There are several new (at the time) songs that didn't wind up on Harvest or any other album. Of particular note is "Dance, Dance, Dance." In the verse you will recognize the seeds of a later more well-known song.
That Neil has remained relevant all these years -- from CSN&Y to Harvest to Rust Never Sleeps to the Pearl Jam collaborations to last year's "Living With War" -- makes this CD much more than a nostalgic look at the past. I highly recommend it.