I first became aware of Neil Young when Heart Of Gold was a hit in 1972, then forgot about him until an Old Grey Whistle Test appearance a couple of years later with the epic Like A Hurricane.
So I was late to this, Young's first post CSNY album and his most successful, certainly being more familiar with Harvest Moon from 20 years later.
Starting with Out On The Weekend, a listenable but not memorable number, we quickly get to the classics - Harvest, A Man Needs A Maid, and Heart Of Gold - all sounding as good as ever. Are You Ready For The Country rocks along going nowhere, before the lovely Old Man comes along. There's A World and Alabama are reasonable, if not Young classics, but we move to the powerful The Needle And The Damage Done. The album concludes with Words, a longer gentle end to the album. It's not my favourite Neil Young LP, but it is one I'll keep returning to.
4* - some average tracks, but enough great stuff to deserve this
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