Neil Young - On the Beach
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Free Music Notes for On the Beach
Free Music Review: Never Looses its Unique and Darkly Profound Feel
Hit: 5 Stars
The last album in Neil's "ditch trilogy" provides a remarkable insight into Neil's music and his personal life and it is one of Neil's best albums.
"Walk On" is that real catchy country/rock pop tune with riffs and hooks, a style Young seldom showcased. "See The Sky About to Rain" had been around for a number of years and is a tender ballad with some nice steel pedal guitar and organ work. "Revolution Blues" is Neil at the top of his game. The banjo comes out on "For the Turnstiles" along with Neil singing in a real high pitched voice, it has a real rough charm to it, as does most of Neil's stuff. "Vampire Blues" is a little bluesy rock number. The title track is a moving and atmospheric delight, close your eyes and immerse yourself for 7 minutes. Some great lines in that song. "Motion Pictures" is a raw acoustic ballad with some nice guitar fills, some honest lyrics and a nice melody. The closing track would be one of his finest compositions, a near 9 minute acoustic narrative song, more organic, earthy and moving than any of Bob Dylan's tunes of similar length.
This album is best listened to at night.
Free Music Review: ...and the only sound that's left after the ambulances go...
Hit: 5 Stars
...is my jaw dropping. Thank you Neil Young for finally getting "On the Beach" out on CD. The remastering is amazing--you can hear everything so clearly. After 6 months of listening to it, this has joined "Tonight's the Night" as my favorite NY album(s).There really isn't a bad song. "Vampire Blues" is a bit shallow, both musically and lyrically, but I can't seem to get it out of my head either. "See the Sky about to Rain" is touching. "Revolution Blues" is a great rocker, both in spirit and sound. "On the Beach" is cathartic. "Motion Pictures" knocks me out. "Ambulance Blues" is Neil Young's "Desolation Row." I'm not sure why it's a transcendent song, but it is.
You'll notice that three songs are name 'blues,' but only one of them (vampire) actually qualifies as a blues song. My take on it is that the whole album is actually a blues album. It's just a new type of blues. Like the ocean on the cover, it's a *sky blue*. Neil Young is channeling music to address his and the world's problems. He emerges better than we could have expected.
Free Music Review: Quite Possibly Neil's Best Album
Hit: 5 Stars
I've had a copy of this album for awhile, dubbed from well worn vinyl. Upon listening for the first time, the very first thought to enter my mind was "why in God's name is this no longer available?" This album is nothing less than a masterpiece. A slow, gloomy masterpiece of despair, but a masterpiece none the less. Sure its no surprise that "On The Beach" didn't do well on its initial release - it wasn't "Harvest", and his newfound pop fans hadn't the faintest idea what Neil was capable of. But "Tonight's The Night" had a similarly lukewarm reception, and it later became one of his most loved albums, while "On The Beach" seemed undeservedly destined for obscurity. "Tonight's The Night" is a fantastic album, but "On The Beach" is every bit as essential, if not superior. Buy it. Buy it now. This new remastered edition sounds fantastic, its amazing what they can do these days in the restoration of older recordings. Its about time this fine album was made available, and the fact that it now sounds better than ever certainly doesn't hurt.
Free Music Review: Neil Young At The Absolute Top Of His Game
Hit: 5 Stars
Of the four albums from Neil Young's back catalog finally being released on CD in August 2003, "On The Beach" is by far the most sparkling jewel of the lot. Neil's fan's having been waiting a long, long time for this great album to get a CD release. My old vinyl copy sounds like hell after all these years, so I jumped on this the day it was released. (In fact I jumped on all four of the reissues the day they were released, but the other three do not come close to "On The Beach".) I don't even know where to start in singing its praises. Every song is good, most are great, "Walk On" and "Revolution Blues" are fine rockers, "See The Sky About To Rain" is lovely, and "Vampire Blues" takes a great swipe at the oil industry. ("I'm a vampire baby, sucking blood from the earth. I'm a vampire baby, sell you twenty barrels worth".) But it is on the later, quieter songs that the album shines the brightest. The final three songs, "On The Beach", "Motion Pictures", and "Ambulance Blues" are simply stunning. I rank this album as being in the top three or four in Neil's long, illustrious career. No fan should be without it.Free Music Review: Available at last!
Hit: 5 Stars
If you're a fan of Neil Young, you've probably been waiting for this album to be available on CD for just as long as I have, and you certainly don't need me to tell you it's one of his best. Well, here it is, and it's every bit as good as you remember.This album and its companions took some critical hits at the time of their releases because so much of the world wanted Neil to keep releasing _Harvest_ again and again. But as he wrote in his liner notes for _Decade_, when he found himself in the middle of the road with "Heart of Gold", he got so bored he headed straight for the ditch. He might have added that that's where he wrote some of his best stuff.
I used to have this on eight-track[!]; I haven't heard it in at least fifteen years and I still found myself singing along with it from memory. The lovely "See the Sky About to Rain" is worth the (unusually low) price of the entire CD, and "Ambulance Blues" is another of my favorites. But this is just a great, great album from beginning to end.
Too bad it took so long, but it was worth the wait. Thanks, Neil.