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theironictea
Likewise. Enjoying the new Father John Misty album? Impressive collection of Neil Young, hopefully his sickness is nothing major. Saw him live a few years ago, the best arena gig I've ever seen.
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flash_flem
Good choices, I would say a top up between On The Beach and Tonight's The Night for me. Ragged Glory is probably my favourite he has done with crazy horse so is definitely up there as well. Tbh even his less well received albums like Re-act-or and Trans are enjoyable.
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hawker27
Yep tonights the night is top 4-5 for sure. I love reactor, hawks and doves and american stars n bars also. Reactor and ragged glory is crazy horse at their best imo. Shots, surfer joe and opera star rock my socks off. Least enjoyable I got to say would be a letter home, harvest moon and storytone.
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flash_flem
I like Harvest Moon but A Letter Home is probably his worst for me along with Everybody's Rockin'
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UnquietNights
Hi Andy I leave you our new single Constellation of She/George Best City https://unquietnights.bandcamp.com/album/constellations-of-she-george-best-city All the best Unquiet Nights
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TheUselessGolem
Mmm, good question. I think that up to 1972 or '73, Stephen Stills was an *awesome* songwriter. Crosby and Nash wrote their share of good songs too, and those three voices in perfect harmony sure are special, but overall I don't think those guys can compare to Neil, be it in terms of songwriting, singing, arranging, choosing band members... the whole music thing, basically. But I do really like their debut and Deja Vu. A '73 Hawaii album would've been amazing if it had materialized (See the Changes, Through My Sails, Human Highway, Traces, Hawaiian Sunrise, Wild Tales...) and the '74 tour has its moments (based on boots I've heard, at least - really looking forward to the official compilation), but after that CSN lose me, for the most part. How about you?
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TheUselessGolem
Oh yeah: Ordinary People, Powderfinger and Cortez, from your own list. That makes 21. All too easy to let them pile up, isn't it?
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TheUselessGolem
Oh, and Captain Kennedy, Harvest, Bad Fog of Loneliness... there's eight to match your ten now.
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TheUselessGolem
Right on indeed - Bound for Glory and On the Beach were just outside my own top-ten reach - also The Old Homestead, No Hidden Path and Hillbilly Band. I think those were the closest contenders. But I love the variety and sweep of all your picks. Loose Change is another of those that's hard for me to place - the second half is among the best the Horse ever put to record, and I love the song part too, but where to rank that exactly as a song in itself? So cool to find someone who'd rank it so high, though. It really is quite thrilling to find someone who listens to Neil in (apparently) just the way I do. How did you first get into him?
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TheUselessGolem
Anyway: 1. Will to Love; 2. Human Highway; 3. Misfits; 4. Sixty to Zero (full '87 version, though the abridged take on Freedom is stunning too); 5. White Line; 6. Like an Inca; 7. Mideast Vacation; 8. I'm the Ocean; 9. American Dream; 10. Till the Morning Comes.
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TheUselessGolem
Inevitably, though, as you say, this is a "right now" sort of snapshot. There are probably another eleven or twelve songs swirling around the edges that, depending on the weather, my mood, the position of Saturn relative to Ganymede and Titan, etc. could swing onto this list without much trouble. And then, as with any other great artist, songs I've overlooked or neglected or forgotten keep waking up to show or remind me how much ass they kick. So I'm not as confident with the order and selection as I was with the albums, but these are all songs from the topmost reaches for absolute sure. And not surprisingly, man, your picks are awesome! The only one on it I didn't consider seriously myself is Hitchhiker because I don't love Neil's vocal delivery on Le Noise, but I'm eager to hear the Indigo version (Neil's voice in that era was a frighteningly expressive thing) and, as you see, its chorus ranked anyway.
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TheUselessGolem
Agreed, an all-time pick is brutal. I guess the list I finally drew up is pretty representative of what I love most about Neil, but I dunno. I was thinking about it for hours yesterday! Among other difficulties, I find it hard to decide how the crazy guitar freak-out tracks should rank. On the one hand, the solos on Change Your Mind are basically the best guitar work I've ever heard from anyone, while the grooves on 1973 live versions of Cowgirl (and the Road Rock take too, for that matter) sound like golden dusty miracles, but when you boil either song down to a solo acoustic thing, I'm not quite as impressed. It's that old, tricky distinction between "song" and "arrangement" - where's the line? Then there were songs I adore (Danger Bird, Cortez, Ambulance Blues, The Way) that also didn't quite seem to belong on such a list because they feel like such integral parts of the *albums* they're on. It's hard to decide how much of the appeal is placement and how much is pure songwriting.
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TheUselessGolem
I'll think about those song picks and get back to you tomorrow. I look forward to seeing yours! Seems safe to presume we'll both have I'm the Ocean featured.
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TheUselessGolem
1. On the Beach; 2. Tonight's the Night; 3. Hawks & Doves; 4. American Stars & Bars; 5. Zuma; 6. Greendale; 7. Broken Arrow; 8. Sleeps with Angels; 9. Mirror Ball; 10. Landing on Water. I'd say the top five are quite steady - I've lived with the '70s work awhile now and all those albums still impress me in new ways - while the next are slightly more recent discoveries & favorites, but I really do seem to prefer them even to Everybody Knows This is Nowhere, After the Gold Rush and Rust Never Sleeps. Once Homegrown finally comes out, I'm sure that'll barrel right to the top. I've also got high hopes for Oceanside/Countryside (I loooove most of the songs on Comes a Time, but could do without those stringed-up arrangements) and Island in the Sun. And Times Square and Toast. Neil is a madman...
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TheUselessGolem
Gonna have to think about the top ten songs, but yeah, great idea! Quite a bit of overlap between our lists, and I agree that Harvest & Moon aren't perfect records by any means. I do love both, but as you can see, neither is in my top ten. Harvest Moon could make the top 15, though.
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TheUselessGolem
And, ahh, if I may be so bold (and if it isn't just reflected directly in your charts) - ten favorite Neil albums?
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TheUselessGolem
Anyone with 326 plays of Hawks & Doves and 87 of I'm the Ocean is a friend of mine. Cheers, Andy, from one committed Neilhead to another!
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kanyemilkhotel
both of those are great, 'hourly daily' espesh, but mate, 'hi-fi way' is their best album
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simonramsey
Great taste. I'm gutted that I missed Neil Young and Crazy Horse this year. I was in the UK at the time...which was also great, but it wasn't 20 minutes of Cortez the Killer!
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kanyemilkhotel
yeah deffs man. their first AA show this year, so it's about time. my brothers seen them twice already though! hahaha
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presstoplay85
3 shows!!! Mate so envious, do you reckon the boys wil mix it up a bit? with such long songs i think max 15 going by the US shows? Ill be there at the Perth show not worried that it is their first show of the tour cause theses guys cant dissapoint
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presstoplay85
Yeah Walk Like A Giant is a huge song, Ramada Inn is a huge song, Shes Always Dancing has that 70's vibe, we say it quite often but have you heard better Neil and Poncho guitar interplay on any other album? This is the two at their very best. There was the spirit of Briggs and the old days throughout this record, the more I listen to it the better it is, but I could listen to the Horse play all day if I could, I'm glad a group of people make this music, its really something else to get lost into
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tangerine843
dirty projectors were on that dark was knight CD.. also played at the made in america festival.. they are ok.. haven't really delved into them so worth a try..
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presstoplay85
neil and the horse should hit australia for soundwave next year, i reckon neil loved the big day out trip and know for a fact he digs playing to the youth. cant wait for their next album
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presstoplay85
you heard any of neil and horses new songs on the us tours? sounds like we are in for some more epics
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filippeeters
I totally agree! And likewise of course. You remember me that I should play Neil Young more often :)
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