Neil Young - Trans
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Free Music Notes for Trans
Free Music Review: Trans is Neil's Most Under-rated Work
Hit: 5 Stars
If you don't like this, you're not the real deal Neil fan.Free Music Review: quite a bizarre album, but Neil's passion and quality songwriting can't be denied
Hit: 4 Stars
Neil Young has become notorious for the abrupt genre-hopping he has done, particularly throughout the '80s. That said, "Trans", which was originally released in December of 1982/ January of 1983, is a pretty bizarre album any way you look at it, and it's an album that you can't easily summarize.
The majority of "Trans" finds Neil going in a highly-synthesized direction, definitely New Wave-ish, but tracks such as "Computer Age" and "Sample and Hold" also have a distinct Europop feel. On all six of the album's 'high-tech' tracks, Neil used a vocoder to give his vocals a computerized effect--it's generally very effective, but the downside to it is that, frequently, the lyrics are incredibly hard, if not impossible, to decipher just by listening. This is atypical Neil Young stuff for sure, but you can tell he wasn't joking around. It's become well-known among fans that Neil Young was experiencing great frustration in the early '80s at his inability to communicate with his son Ben who was a quadriplegic suffering from cerebral palsy, and you can very much detect this theme on "Trans" in the lyrics to several of the songs, as well as with the back cover which shows what appears to be an electronic variation of a human heart. The difficulty in merely making out the words that Young is singing is a drawback, but still, "Computer Age" is atmospherically arresting and extremely catchy; the ominous "We R In Control" is powerful; and "Computer Cowboy", though a bit sluggish, is also highly effective. The ominous, robot dating service-themed "Sample And Hold" is also undeniably catchy, although the "Trans" CD I have contains the 8+ minute version which does drag in spots. On the down side, "Transformer Man" does sound quite thin and off-the-mark; and the stiff, robotic remake of "Mr. Soul" doesn't work very well and is pretty pointless.
What makes the album as a whole even more strange is that there are also three additional tracks, with 'regular' Neil vocals, that seem to have come from an entirely different project. Two of them are relatively conventional pop-rockers--the ballad "Hold On To Your Love" is wonderfully tuneful and uplifting; and the album-opening "Little Thing Called Love" is an irresistibly catchy confection with a somewhat tropical flavor, and notice at the end of the bridge the appearance of the very same acoustic guitar riff that would later re-emerge as the main riff on the song "Harvest Moon". The edgy, looping, 9+ minute album closer "Like An Inca", despite the slightly distracting, rattling acoustic guitar strumming (come on Neil, what the heck), is otherwise excellent, with a great harmonized chorus, a commanding lead vocal from Neil, and highly memorable, mysterious lyrics; the song, which bares an uncanny resemblance to Steely Dan's "Your Gold Teeth", is also interesting because it's basically structured in typical 'epic Neil' style, but Neil's usual 'mad soloing' is replaced by sliding leads and fluid guitar soloing that Neil obviously didn't (and couldn't) play.
With the exception of "Mr. Soul", Neil doesn't deliver any of his trademark noisy guitar soloing here. Don't get the wrong idea though--even with the abundance of synthesizers/ electronics on the album, there are still a lot of guitars. There are prominent, crunchy guitars on "We R In Control" and "Computer Cowboy", plus smooth double-tracked guitar on "Computer Age".
All in all, "Trans" is definitely a worthwhile record from Neil Young, thanks to his obvious passion and his consistently high quality songwriting.
Free Music Review: Listen with an open mind and be surprised!
Hit: 4 Stars
Ok, firstly i wanna say that the inlay scares me a bit. Just wanted to get that off my chest. Now, if you would hate anything by Neil without huge guitar jams, this is perhaps not the best purchase for you. However, if you are a Neil collector or a fan of early 80s music, this is a very good example. The computer takes some getting used to but is mesmerising. He uses the sounds produced as an actual instrument, not just a series of voices. The technique is brilliant and really adds to the ambiance of the album. Tho some of the tracks aren't as strong as the others, there are some classics here. Little Thing Called Love may not utilize the computer but is an astounding opener, yet does not prepare you for the next 4 songs. Computer Age is better than good and a nice opener into the real revelations. We R In Control is less good but the vocals make up for it because the effects are so different. Then Transformer Man which is an amazing track. The Unplugged version merely strips it down. Here it is already a beautiful track but the vocals add a haunting quality to it which elevated it to the same standard as the Unplugged version. Computer Cowboy is nothing compared to what came before but is still interesting due to the sounds made. Hold On To Your Love is another track without the ol' computer and is very good but not quite as good as Little Thing Called Love. Sample And Hold gets annoying quickly in my opinion. 8 minutes is too long for this track and although the lyrical concept is interesting, along with the effects yet again, i am not sure i like the track that much. The new version of Mr Soul is a great example of what can be done with existing material. This version makes it sound more mysterious and dirty, which is good. Of course, because it is Mr Soul, the tune itself is excellent. And then comes the closer, the epic 9 and a half minute Like An Inca. This is the best track on the album and is a sprawling, mysterious, hypnotic track. It is coming close to the best of Neil. it is simply very very good.So, when you finish listening to Trans, what do you think of it? I thought that it doesn't deserve the criticism levelled at it because it makes a progression. I like a lot of Neil's 80s work because it is so varied and shows his skills as a songwriter. Anyway, the computer effects on Trans enhance the songs no end. They add a certain quality which make the album very interesting. It would also be intersting to hear the album re-recorded normally, without a computer. Because I am sure the computer vocals cloud people's judgements. Listen to this with an open mind and be pleasantly surprised.
Free Music Review: this is neil young ???
Hit: 4 Stars
I remember when I got this how blown away I was. One day while I was playing it softly at about 165 decibels and my room mate came home and asked 'who the hell is this ? and I said Neil Young. He said this is Neil Young ???? I've never been a huge fan of heavy duty synth music but this was not the usual dose of redundant drum machines and mindless lyrics I heard too much of during the worst decade ever for rock and pop - the 80's (thanks MTV). At the time I was recovering from a very serious neck and back injury and got a Commodore 64 computer to give me something to do and was beginning to learn to play computer music on it so perhaps that has something to do with my affection for Trans. It was also during the Reagan years and my big brotherish paranoia was in full swing so a song like We're in Control (A song about computers controlling everything) was very with the times I thought. Computer Cowboy was way ahead of it's time and eerily predicted what we know so well now with computer geeks writing viruses, spyware and all the stuff that makes the internet such a freak show now. I see some were disappointed by Sample and Hold (was there another version of this - if so it's news to me) but it was easily the strongest track on the album. Mr Soul was ok simply because it's a good song even if I sang it. Like an Inca was good but really didn't fit in at all with the album. The rest of the songs were pretty weak which is why I only gave it 4 stars.
Bottom line is that it's far from Neil's best and far from his worst but the real beauty of it is that it proves perhaps more than any other album he made (except for On the Beach maybe) that you never know what Neil will do next and that he's always willing to gamble instead of playing it safe like most of the corporate rock bands of the era seemed to be doing then. Thank you Neil for making life bearable during a very difficult time for me during the dawn of the sell out era.
Free Music Review: It's still one of my favorites in spite of the S&H remix...
Hit: 4 Stars
I first heard this material on Neil's "Berlin" concert special (on HBO, I think, but don't hold me to that...) and I went right out and bought this album. Like many others at the time, my roommate thought Neil had finally lost his marbles, but I didn't care. I loved the record. The melodies and lyrics stuck with me. Since then, I've read several accounts where he discussed the true roots of this project being his son Ben and how he responded to Neil's use of the vocoder as a means of communication. Keep that in mind and look up the lyrics for "Transformer Man". For me, it deepens my appreciation of this album.
After owning Trans on LP and cassette, I found the German pressing of this CD 12 years ago and I've held onto it ever since. I agree with the person who issued the warning to those who loved "Sample and Hold" because it was remixed with a techno dance beat and stretched another 3.5 minutes! I haven't seen a US release of this album yet, but if/when there is, I hope it comes with this dance mix as a bonus track and the original version where it belongs. (Hello, Rhino!) The original mix of "Like an Inca", along with the other tracks written or recorded during this time would be great, too.
Then I'll come back and give it the fifth star.
Aside from that, this is still one of my favorite NY albums and one of my favorites from the 80's. To me, this is as much of that era as the Rush synth albums, Tron, War Games, and the like.