Video: Neil Young – “Angry World”
Aww yeah, Neil’s getting weird again. The first thing you hear is a vocal loop, then two crunchy Gretsch parts from a distorted White Falcon, and then Neil’s voice: “Some see life as a broken promise / Some see life as an endless fight / They think they live in the age of darkness / They think they live in the age of light / It’s an angry world and everything is going to be alright.” No drums, no bass, nothing but Neil. The lyrics aren’t as subtle as we could hope for, but at least they’re not stupid. I’m excited about the new album, Le Noise, due September 28 on Reprise (WMG).
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It seems the official album tracks are leaking out everywhere now – I’ve hunted around and been able to hear a few more (‘Love and War’/’Peaceful Valley Boulevard’)NPR is also streaming ‘Walk With Me’.
I should really wait to give my two cents, but I’ll go ahead and at least proclaim that ‘Love and War’ and ‘Peaceful Valley’ are two of the finest pieces Neil has ever composed. And that’s saying a lot.
Let alone the fact that ‘Hitchhiker’ will finally get an official release.
Ahhh…what a great time to be a Neil Young fan.
I like this a lot.
It’s a really strong cut. Are the other songs available also just Neil and his guitar / piano / whatever? Does he have any other musicians on the album? I could def. buy this if the remaining songs approach this caliber.
No band at all on any of the tracks – just Neil and one guitar – two acoustic songs and six electric ones
Plus Daniel Lanois’ loops and “atmospherics.” And I hear at least two guitars in the above song, regardless what Neil and Lanois have said in interviews.
I tend to agree that there’s at least two guitars layered on this track, Jake. And first-take vocals no doubt too.
I do wish Neil would work a little harder on his lyrics.
Yea I agree with that point. But he’s always gone with gut instinct and first takes throughout his career – ‘If you think you stink’ type mentality. He seems so in-the-moment lately with each project from ‘Living with War’ on up through 2010 – well maybe not ‘Chrome Dreams II’. Aside from “Fork in the Road’ whick mostly sucked ass, I’ve been pleased with his output since ‘Greendale’.
The lyrics are absolute garbage, and there are definitely guitar overdubs. Just listen to ‘Walk with me’ streaming on NPR. Living With War(original) was so bad he had to release 6 months later ‘raw’. America the beautiful is absolutely pitiful. At least the raw version strips the choir and said track away. CD II had more variety and was pretty decent. Fork had some moments, but overall not great. Since the early 80’s, he has always been hit or miss. Le Noise sounds like it will be more miss.
Anything produced by Daniel Lanois should be viewed with great suspicion. I hate him. Most overrated, dullest sounding production style ever.
Wow – here comes the hate – Bob even comes right out and admits it
There’s nothing in the lyrics to ‘Angry World’ that I disagree with in terms of what Neil is trying to get across
Daniel Lanois has produced some great stuff and some overproduced/not-so-great/bad stuff – he’s like Neil in that sense to me
Neil Young continues to stand tall and far above what is considered cool/popular/marketable/whatever…he’s a treasure to rock and roll and to the idea of art itself – whatever that means – I’m thankful and so glad that he is still here making music
I’m still trying to get the “great stuff” that Lanois produced. Was it the Raffi records? It’s only because he helped produce those gigantic, money-printing albums for U2 that he is so revered. U2 would have broken huge at that time regardless of who made those records. They were just poised to do so. The songs on Unforgettable Fire and Joshua Tree coupled with their live show and slow build fanbase…anybody could have made those records hits. Lanois stuff is just so boring and sterile. He created a recognizable sound, I’ll give you that. Just such a bland one. Adult-alternative plastic dry-fuck. The list of artists he sucked the life out of is long. Neville Bros, Dylan, Emmylou Harris, Willie Nelson…the lowest points of all of their careers.
One thing I will make clear, I love Neil Young. I love that he does whatever he wants, releases what he wants with no over analyzing. There is no damage control for him. It is our choice to buy it or not. I would rather have a new release every year instead of waiting 4 years for the next album. But, he really does have a ‘shakey’ catalogue, especially over the last 10 yrs…Are You Passionate? Prairie Wind? Really? Terrible albums, and when was the last time you listened to them and thought..wow…fantastic, be honest. Of course there are great tunes on each, but as a whole…pretty stinky. As for Daniel Lanois, I think the guy is amazing. I’m not 100% convinced on the pairing of NY and DL yet…I am glad NY has branched out to a new producer…we’ll see. There is no question DL is top notch, listen to any of his albums..Acadie sounds as if it was recorded this year…nevermind 1989. His work on Dylan’s Time Out of Mind was great. I believe it gave Dylan the kick in the ass he needed to get back on track and make great records, which he has done ever since. And Bob, if you think anyone could have shaped Achtung Baby, you are very very wrong.
I agree with you on the last ten years of Neil stuff. Actually I would say more like fifteen. There are great songs in those records though. I will spare the people here another U2 rant. I was only making a point. Personally, I wouldn’t be caught dead listening to Joshua Tree, let alone Achdung Baby. But seriously, Time Out Of Mind? That stuff is the worst Dylan ever. I’ll take the Jesus stuff over those late 80’s records. And others are worse. The Neville Brothers never recovered from that piece of shit Yellow Moon that Lanois produced.
Time out of mind was 1997…not late 80’s. And really…The Neville Brothers? It wouldn’t matter who produced them, they will always sound like crap.
I’ve thought Neil has been a little lost since David Briggs died in 1995. He’s done good stuff since then, sure, but I think he’s been more or less re-treading the same “first take, no rehearsal” spontaneous recording baloney since Broken Arrow in 1996. When it works, it’s awesome. But more often than not — especially lately — the muse comes up short and Neil’s output could stand a little (sometimes a LOT) more craftsmanship. Work harder, dude.
But I like the way this Le Noise stuff sounds.
The great U2 records (Unforgetable Fire/Joshua Tree) would not have sounded the same without him producing – sorry I love those two albums.
Of course Briggs can never be replaced, but come on. Greendale was a breath of freash air in 2003 – what a record – I get it on all levels and love it 100%.
Are You Passionate pretty muched sucked donkey balls.
Prarie Wind is a deep deep album that requires repeated listenings coupled with an open heart towards life’s regrets/mistakes/joys/etc.
I could keep going on but I’ll just steal an analogy I saw on another site – Neil’s music continues to be like waves crashing on a beach. Some are great – some fizzle out – but there’s always another one coming along right after.
The man is an amazing force – Niko Bolas
Just watched the video for “Hitchhiker”
http://neilyoungnews.thrasherswheat.org/2010/09/new-le-noise-video-hitchhiker.html
Getting really excited for this album now…
Yea – when I saw this live back in May I just fell out and lost it.
Archives II better have ‘Give Me Strength’ and ‘Everybody’s Alone’ and ALL of the incredible stuff he was churning out like water from a tap in the mid 70’s. That’s why ‘Hitchhiker’ resonates to me – it was written decades ago.
I don’t know – I had three beers at lunch since I took today off and my grammar seems to have gone down with the beer.
Who else on the planet has been able to write so many great songs with three chords – maybe a few more sometimes? ‘Hitchhiker’ is ‘Rockin’ in the Free World’ slowed down. Actually reverse that.
Ever hear “Like an Inca” off Trans? I hate it in the context of that album (it’s not robotic), but it’s clearly Hitchhiker’s sibling.
Well that’s probably the one song off Trans that I like – the vocoder stuff just doesn’t do it for me, but when taken in context of what Neil was REALLY trying to do – communicate with his son – he’s forgiven 1,000 times over.
Look how the Bridge School was founded not long after Trans’ release. God bless ’em.
Neil’s had many songs used as “twins” with different lyrics – ‘Hey Hey’/’My My’ & ‘Western Hero’/’Train of Love’, etc.
I was just trying to touch on the fact that so many of his songs are simple beyond belief and often contain the same chord progressions. But he has a gift of making each song different/unique and good DESPITE the simple changes and repetiveness.
I’m starting to think that Jim O’Rourke was present during the mixes here – I don’t know – some of what I’m hearing sounds like Yankee Hotel Foxtrot – come on with the canned echo shit
I just listened to the full stream of Le Noise on NPR @ work. While it does sound better than what I had expected, there are still a few stinkers. And I agree with you Jonathan about the echo crap…Lanois talks about his revolutionary soundscapes…really, it sounds like a guy pushing buttons in the dark with his toes.
I wish it was weirder.
When I finally hear the CD next week in my super cool mancave with a TobaccoMaster assisting, I’ll have a more informed opinion. But for now – there’s nothing I haven’t heard before in terms of production tricks and studio effects. The songs have gotten stuck in my head which says a lot for the songwriting (one of the songs reminds me of Cinnamon Girl in a way), but listening to the Daniel Lanois interview clips, it’s clear that he thinks they reinvented the wheel with this record.
I’m not talking about the two acoustic tracks – ‘Love and War’ and ‘Peaceful Valley Boulevard’ are top notch Grade A Neil he Did-it- Again type songs. Seriously. Listen to those two songs. Twice.