The Smiley Smile Message Board

Recently bought this and "live rust" on vinyl. Anyway, these albums are great and capture the state of rock and roll in the late 1970s.

Yep, both of them are beautiful, beautiful records. Live Rust may be the closest Neil has ever come to doing a "greatest hits"-style live show.

Live Rust is amazing with its energy even if it does have most of Neil's workhorses. Comparing Neil Young and BBs live shows from this period are like night and day.  I like it that the man has truly never gotten complacent with his music and career.

Have you seen the Rust film? If not, you gotta.

Its on my "to do" list, I watched the "Into the black" clip on youtube and was blown away.

Exactly. Neil Young is one of the most consistently fearless performers out there. The fact that he has been unafraid to fail is probably what has allowed him to ease into his later years with more dignity than many others in his peer group and with more artistic triumphs and, at times, commercial successes.

Great example recently was Neil backing out of the Buffalo Springfield reunion to work with crazy horse.

A great one-two punch those two albums are. Need to watch the Rust Never Sleeps film also. Went to see Neil Young: Journeys at the cinema last week and was taken aback at how fresh and challenging his performances were (I didn't see any of the Twisted Road solo shows so the concert footage was mostly new to me).

What's the best Neil Young album to start with? I only know 3 or 4 songs of his.

I would say either After the Goldrush or Harvest. And then, after that, Everybody Knows This is Nowhere.

Agreed. Alternatively there's a box with his first four solo albums, very good price. They show off many of the sides of NY at that time and are all different, but not in an unfocused way. That was my introduction to NY and I'd recommend it to anyone.

After the goldrush and harvest do little for me. They are my least favourite Neil albums. Go for On the Beach, Zuma,  Tonights the night, Ragged Glory or Weld. In fact just start with Ragged Glory, possibly Neil and crazy horse' finest hour.

Personally, I say start with the ones that the vast majority of people like the most. Then go exploring and find out what your own personal favourites are.

While I do prefer On the Beach and Tonight's the Night to Harvest, I don't think either is a good place to start, especially not TTN. Doesn't mean they're not fantastic albums, just that ... idk it's like saying Smiley Smile or Love You is the best way to get introduced to the BB's, ya know? All just IMO. 

Agreed. Tonight's The Night is my second favourite Neil Young album and probably in my Top 20 albums ever. But I would never recommend people starting with it.

Ach, don't waste your time paddling in the shallows, jump right in the deep end!

I'd start with Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere.

Can't go wrong with that one.

My faves:

1. Zuma
2. American Stars N Bars
3. Ragged Glory
4. Rust Never Sleeps
5. Sleeps With Angels
6. On The Beach
7. Tonight's The Night
8. Psychedelic Pill
9. Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere

I'm obviously partial to Crazy Horse.... I just feel we get the true Neil when he's with those guys.

First few Neil-less Crazy Horse albums are pretty great too. First one with Danny Whitten is a classic in it's own right.

I don't hear much love for American Stars N Bars a lot, but the trifecta of "Star of Bethlehem" - "Will to Love" - "Like a Hurricane" is one of my favourite things in his entire discography. Seeing NY&CH twice this summer and I've not been as excited for gigs this much since... well the BB's at Wembley last year, but still pretty damn exciting. Yet to meet a fan that share's my love for the Broken Arrow album. Someday...

Oh, man! I absolutely LOVE Broken Arrow. If I didn't love The trio of Ragged Glory/Sleeps With Angels/Psychedelic Pill just a wee bit more, I'd have put Broken Arrow far up on my list..... I think, and this is what happens with Neil and The Horse: is that they're so awesome together, and when they're on an extended roll, you start being able to take them for granted a bit.... I think Neil and The Horse has to be something special: an event! .... Broken Arrow came right after or before Year Of The Horse and too soon after the monumental Sleeps With Angels, and I think it just tempted the fates a bit timing-wise and I remember it being (unfairly) written off as "more of the same" from these guys.... But I love it. Big Time, Loose Change, Slip Away, etc etc..... All top of the line stuff! I sort of feel like Zuma and Broken Arrow are something of two peas in a pod. Both albums give me the same sort of feeling.

LONG LIVE THE HORSE!!!!!!!

Amen! Neil on his own is stratospheric but with The Horse he's flying right next to the sun, for want of a better analogy. I love all his 90's albums, Mirror Ball and the Dead Man OST included, but I can see what you mean, when you've got Ragged Glory and Sleeps with Angels and not to mention the heaving, monstrous majesty that is Weld it's not surprising Broken Arrow and the like didn't kick up as much of a fuss as they should have. Speaking of "two peas in a pod" thing I often get a feeling from most of the 90's albums that sort of echoes some of the 70's albums, like Ragged Glory evokes a sort of Everybody Knows This is Nowhere Vibe and Sleeps with Angels is a bit Tonight's the Night-y in places. Harvest Moon conjures up images of a darker version of Comes a Time moreso than Harvest in my mind. I can definitely sea Broken Arrow having a Zuma vibe. Listening to Old Ways right now and I'll be damned if Misfits isn't one of Neil's best odd-ball pieces of music ever :lol

"time fades away" is another great example, with Neil rejecting the audience's desire to hear harvest live.

That's true. And I really like Time Fades Away but oddly enough Neil hates it.

I think Neil hates it mainly because he hated that tour. All the assholes screaming for "Heart Of Gold" and he went out with a bunch of studio musicians and regretted not just taking Billy and Ralph from Crazy Horse. I know he kept screaming and yelling at the band to play harder every night and Ken Buttrey had band-aids and gauze all over his hands from blisters. Also, the musicians demanded more money partway through the tour. So, it's no wonder Neil hates the album. It's a bit uncomfortable hearing all these songs that the audience didn't know and every single element seems to be fighting Neil the whole time....... But the songs are fantastic.... Don't Be Denied especially. There are live versions from the CSNY 74 thing that are even better, and Crazy Horse did it several years back and it was great with them too.

True. I guess I shouldn't have said "oddly."  :lol

Man, that was a rough period for Neil but he produced some incredible stuff.

That 1974 CSNY tour was rough for Neil as well since the other members "used" his material.

Man, the rest of the European tour has been cancelled :-[ I'm glad I already saw Neil and the Horse once this year already but it's pretty bummed me out to say the least. I hope it's nothing too serious.

Frank Sampedro broke his hand with only 7 shows left. Bad timing for you, unfortunately.

That's a real shame. Well I can still be glad I saw them on this phenomenal tour once already, beats moaning about it at least.

Getting blown off the stage by The Beach Boys every damn night probably didn't help either  >:D

That too! :lol :lol :lol

Though, I'd be willing to bet Neil got some perverse delight out of watching Stills n Crosby getting their asses handed to them.... Nash probably wasn't offended.

There is a vast range of material with Neil.   I would suggest picking up Weld and Harvest Moon together just to get started on the process of discovering the many sides of this versatile character.  Then branch out from there.

Or weld and dreaming man. I prefer those wonderful solo performances of the harvest moon songs.

Or weld and dreaming man. I prefer those wonderful solo performances of the harvest moon songs.

 A new Neil Young listener cannot go wrong with DECADE. It made me a fan for life when I was 16. It will do the same for you.

  Great self-written liner notes, and a superb gateway into any album (solo, Buffalo Springfield, Crazy Horse, CSNY) Neil was involved with 1966-76, except TIME FADES AWAY, which he ignored.

good call.  decade is a good place to start if you are new to Neil