Neil Young’s albums ranked. Discuss

[Beedster 3,222]

Continuation of my retrospective journey through 70s music, I found some of these rankings surprising https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/nov/05/neil-young-every-album-ranked

[Chiliwailer 808]

Nice to see On The Beach and Tonight’s The Night ranked so highly (but then that’s offset by other rankings like Time Fades Away for example), I love those albums and I’m a huge NY fan, but I’m not a fan of judgment lists so have no idea what I’d rank and where - plus that’d change weekly no doubt 😬

[howdenspur 128]

I like NY's earlier (60s/70s) output and Rust Never Sleeps takes me back... Slightly surprised that Harvest is so low.

[Beedster 3,222]

4 minutes ago, Chiliwailer said:

Nice to see On The Beach and Tonight’s The Night ranked so highly (but then that’s offset by other rankings like Time Fades Away for example), I love those albums and I’m a huge NY fan, but I’m not a fan of judgment lists so have no idea what I’d rank and where - plus that’d change weekly no doubt 😬

Yep, totally agree re On The Beach.

I think the rankings are for no other reason than to start threads like this

[Beedster 3,222]

1 minute ago, howdenspur said:

Slightly surprised that Harvest is so low.

Agreed, perhaps more a provocation than legitimate ranking?

[wateroftyne 3,540]

Arc... #31? Le Noise.. #14? LOL

Nice to see a bit of daylight between Trans and the bottom of the list. I really like that record. 

Old Ways has Misfits on it. For that reason it should be above the likes of Storytone and A Letter Home, etc.

[Dankology 93]

They seem to have missed out all of the live albums - which seems to miss the point a bit.

I know some purists don't rate them but Weld and Unplugged are often my go-to records for NY. And Year of the Horse has some beautiful moments.

[wateroftyne 3,540]

9 minutes ago, Dankology said:

They seem to have missed out all of the live albums - which seems to miss the point a bit.

This kind-of lists usually don't include live albums...?

[Dankology 93]

9 minutes ago, wateroftyne said:

This kind-of lists usually don't include live albums...?

Yeah but most artists' live albums aren't back catalogue re-defining like old Neil's.

Crime in the City on Weld, Transformer Man on Unplugged, When Your Lonely Heart Breaks on YOTH - all completely vitalize tracks that don't quite work on their original LPs. For me anyway... whenever I'm trying to get someone into Neil Young it's always the live albums I point them to.

[howdenspur 128]

Live albums are usually excluded along with "best ofs", though Rust Never Sleeps is live.

[Beedster 3,222]

9 minutes ago, howdenspur said:

Live albums are usually excluded along with "best ofs", though Rust Never Sleeps is live.

That classic from Steve Coogan "What's your favourite Beatles album?" "Best of the Beatles"

[Beedster 3,222]

On The Beach currently on rotation loudly chez Beedster, glorious day, all the doors open, warm sunshine flooding in, kids calm, dog snoozing in the sun. Life could be worse 

[wateroftyne 3,540]

1 minute ago, Beedster said:

glorious day, all the doors open, warm sunshine flooding in, kids calm, dog snoozing in the sun.

Canterbury in New South Wales, then..?

[Beedster 3,222]

1 minute ago, wateroftyne said:

Canterbury in New South Wales, then..?

Amazingly No, Kent. And Mrs Beedster has hoofed it for the day also, which means me, the kids and the dog are going to be listening to a lot of Neil Young - After the Goldrush up next, then I'm going to explore some of the stuff on the Guardian's upper echelon that I'm not yet familiar with

[Dad3353 8,186]

Neil Young..? Rank..? Now there's something that I could agree with. 

[Beedster 3,222]

5 minutes ago, Dad3353 said:

Neil Young..? Rank..? Now there's something that I could agree with. 

You’ve always got something positive to add 

[wateroftyne 3,540]

8 minutes ago, Dad3353 said:

Neil Young..? Rank..? Now there's something that I could agree with. 

Isn't this the part where you randomly post stuff you believe to be superior?

[Beedster 3,222]

5 minutes ago, wateroftyne said:

Isn't this the part where you randomly post stuff you believe to be superior?

Virtuoso 5-string DB clip that has nought to do with the thread alert

[Dad3353 8,186]

Sorry, lads, for the participation. I'll best keep my lowly head below the parapet then, eh..? Discuss..? Hmm... 

Edited November 8, 2020 by Dad3353

[Beedster 3,222]

7 minutes ago, Dad3353 said:

Sorry, lads, for the participation. I'll best keep my lowly head below the parapet then, eh..? Discuss..? Hmm... 

Objective discussion welcome, given the breadth of styles he’s recorded, I defy anyone to say there’s none of his music that they like, or at least appreciate in musical/historic terms. His lyrics in songs like Alabama and Ohio still resonate with current US politics, perhaps less so after yesterday however  

[Old Horse Murphy 764]

I loved this one but they appear to have missed it off  

 

 

[Dad3353 8,186]

There's not much 'objectivity' in discussions of the sort, by the very nature of the subject, I'd say. As for his (NY...) output, I've not gone out of my way to search for much, as what I've come across, from the 'Crosby' days on, has been, at best and with generosity, patchy. A passable acoustic player, modest singing voice and shocking electric guitar, there's not much left save some of the poetry, much of which I find mawkish and trite (subjectively, naturally...). As for the 'live' stuff, it's painful to watch, and more so to hear, more so still to try to listen to. Maybe I've just been unlucky, and seen only the bad video and film work. Maybe.
To be fair, I'm comparing against giants, so it's difficult to maintain credibility in such company. I'll spare you the list. I've nothing against the fellow, personally, and I'm sure he'd not be offended by my remarks; he's definitely not even close to being one of my 'heroes', though; sorry. 

Edited November 8, 2020 by Dad3353

[Beedster 3,222]

11 minutes ago, Dad3353 said:

There's not much 'objectivity' in discussions of the sort, by the very nature of the subject, I'd say. As for his (NY...) output, I've not gone out of my way to search for much, as what I've come across, from the 'Crosby' days on, has been, at best and with generosity, patchy. A passable acoustic player, modest singing voice and shocking electric guitar, there's not much left save some of the poetry, much of which I find mawkish and trite (subjectively, naturally...). As for the 'live' stuff, it's painful to watch, and more so to hear, more so still to try to listen to. Maybe I've just been unlucky, and seen only the bad video and film work. Maybe.
To be fair, I'm comparing against giants, so it's difficult to maintain credibility in such company. I'll spare you the list. I've nothing against the fellow, personally, and I'm sure he'd not be offended by my remarks; he's definitely not even close to being one of my 'heroes', though; sorry. 

An improvement on 'rank'

[Beedster 3,222]

Not to annoy Dad, but because it's a truly great vocal performance of a truly great song 

 

[Dad3353 8,186]

I agree, The Band are excellent. They raised the game for Dylan on many occasions, too.  I can't help hearing 'Knocking On Heaven's Door', here. 

Edited November 8, 2020 by Dad3353