Neil Young
Chrome Dreams II
Reprise, 2007
* out of 5
Neil Young should no longer be considered a Canadian. The man hasn’t lived in the Great White North since, like, 1966. That was the year he and Bruce Palmer escaped Rick James in Young’s old hearse and headed to L.A. Young was 21 then, and he has spent the past 41 years worrying about earthquakes and brushfires. For Canada to claim him as its own is ridiculous. And frankly, after listening to Chrome Dreams II, well, the Yankees can keep him.
I have to admit that even the concept of releasing an album entitled Chrome Dreams II was going to put my back up. After all, Young recorded the original Chrome Dreams in the late 1970s, but that record was shelved in favour of American Stars ‘N Bars. So, let me get this straight Neil, what we’re listening to is a sequel to an album that nobody’s heard. Aside from the daftness of such a move, it’s awfully conceited.
The album starts off okay, with Beautiful Bluebird, on which Young sounds like an elderly Uncle Remus waffling on about his little feathery friends. It’s dull, but innocuous. However, by the time we get to the third song, lead single Ordinary People, the album reveals its innate schizophrenic offensiveness.
First of all, at almost twenty minutes, it goes on… and on… and on. It also has really weird production, including the kind of keyboards that sound stolen from a Gowan album and a saxophone solo that may have been the theme to Moonlighting. In a word, the song sounds very eighties, and I couldn’t understand why until I looked into it. It was actually recorded in 1988, but had wisely been shielded from the public until now. That’ll explain the Lee Iacocca reference, then…
What is really irritating about Ordinary People, though, are the hackneyed tributes to the Little Folk, The Common Man, The Average Joe. References to “nose-to-the-stone people” sound condescending coming from a rich Californian rock star. And even when they’re not being pompous, the lyrics are still moronic:
“Out on the railroad track / They’re cleaning old number nine / They’re scrubbing her boiler down / She really is looking fine.”
Ordinary people like trains, I guess. That must be it.
So what gives the one star I’ve accorded Chrome Dreams II? The guitar solo in Spirit Road is excellent. It’s the only point on this half baked turkey where Neil indulges us with a decent and original tune, and with Ralph Molina backing him on drums, you can almost imagine you’re listening to some long-lost Crazy Horse session. Sadly, this does not last.
Finally, it must be said that almost a third of Chrome Dreams II is comprised of leftovers, and it feels like it. It’s a lazy, disconnected album made by a man who, after the success of Jonathan Demme’s 2006 Heart of Gold concert film, really ought to have known better. Neil Young a Canadian? Not until he releases another decent album.
Review by Greg Hood-Morris
Agree? Disagree? Email Greg at criticizegreg@gmail.com
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