Review 1 of 7

Ziggybirds writes:

5of 5 Stars

Another example of why I no longer subscribe. But then this is the magazine that panned Led Zeppelin and other great bands. This is a **** 1/2 star album. The long songs do NOT drag out - in fact, I invite the reviewer to see Neil live on this tour as I already have. This compares to American Stars and Bars. Both electric and acoustic music. Many of the songs are spiritual in nature (not religious, spiritual). While that usually is not my cup of tea - this isn't Dylan's SAVED period. There's one song on the CD I consider a bit of a clunker - and that is why it loses half a star. Spirit Road, No Hidden Path, Ordinary People, Dirty Old Man, Boxcar, The Way etc. are all VERY good songs. If you like American Stars & Bars or Sleeps With Angels, you will like this CD.

Oct 26, 2007 13:37:07

Review 2 of 7

knobtwiddler writes:

4of 5 Stars

Ok, I'll make this simple. As a longtime Neil fan, this is the best thing I think he's done since Broken Arrow w/ Crazy Horse back in the mid/late 90's. Like Chrome Dreams I, it's a variety of all of Neil's styles. Harvesty mellow Neil, rockin out Neil, and even humorous Neil. Definitely worth picking up. I think there's a special version with a DVD out too for those of you looking for a reason to pay for music.

Oct 24, 2007 12:34:12

Review 3 of 7

killax writes:

4of 5 Stars

Wow...RS really missed the mark on this one (surprised?) I thought the album was fantastic from the get go. Although the album is far ranging and an eclectic mix, it still hangs together well. From the eerie, moving sounds of "Boxcar", to the Orbison-like "Shining Light" and the redunkulously gnarly guitar work in "No Hidden Path". "No Hidden Path" is worth the money in itself. You MUST hear this song! It is the only song I know that resonates the same chord as the late Doors song , "When the music's over". This album confirms Neil as one of the best living artists alive to day. Roll over Springfield.

Oct 23, 2007 19:11:49

Review 4 of 7

spookyhorse writes:

4of 5 Stars

What a crap review Rolling Stone! Even if I weren't a big Neil fan, I'd know the reviewer had little business doing so. I was excited logging on today because I figured the much trusted David Fricke would review such a ballyhooed pre-release. I've listened through the CDII four times today and really have nothing to add to the reviews posted by other readers. They are spot on. This is like a greatest hits release from various other records, without an actual hit (yet!). There are very obvious previous session outtakes here. The guitar workouts in Ordinary People and (slogs? what the....) No Hidden Path are glorious and must be heard. Boxcar, oh what to say about Boxcar.... I played three times in a row. It is my favorite right now. I really expected more of a Chrome Dreams I sound, instead of the pleasant surprise This Note's For You and Are You Passionate (I'm a Believer)vibe much of this carries. But I'm not complaining, I'm just saying. Rolling Stone, please discipline your reviewer accordingly.

Oct 23, 2007 14:33:58

Review 5 of 7

NotMozart writes:

4of 5 Stars

good god, what has become of Rolling Stone? Babyshambles gets the same review as Neil Young? Look back in time at your Led Zeppelin initial reviews, people. Listen to it more than once. Babyshambles isn't even in the same HEMISPHERE as Neil. Let David Fricke review all music like Peter Travers does all movies. Those are the only two respectable people left at this Britney-Spears-obsessed magazine. At least you got the Springsteen review right. This guy should be up for a performance review and a demotion to mailboy.

Oct 22, 2007 18:37:33

Review 6 of 7

Tay06 writes:

5of 5 Stars

I don't understand this review at all. While RS will give Prairie Wind 4 stars without even blushing they give this 3. This is the most exciting music I've heard from Neil Young since Sleeps With Angels. It probably deserves 4 and a half, but I'd rather round up to 5 than go to 4. Beautiful Blue Bird sounds like he's sittin in a pile of horseshit on a hay bale with a couple of friends singing an old time country song. I'll take that any day over Kenny Chesneye. Boxcar is haunting, and stunning. There's already been enough said about Ordinary People. Shine Your Light is gorgeous. There's been mixed feelings about The Believer, but I definitely 'feel' it. It makes me want to move, and it's a departure. That's what is so great about the guy. Almost 62 and still ready to throw something out there he know will probably get thrown back at first listen. The one two punch of Spirit Road and Dirty Old Man take him back to the garage. And what a great place it is. He truly rocks out, and brings the garage, cars and all down with him. Ever After is a simple little song that leads up to the stunning No Hidden Path. It's the type of song you expect to see at a Neil Young concert, where the band sort of steps back and just watches the mad man jam in his own universe for close to 14 minutes. The Way closes the album on a soft and serene note, which may sound hopeful, but really makes the listener feel more lost and hopeless even with the children promising to show you the way home. Great album, and if Neil Young keeps this vein of creativity going then we will be in for a great few more in no time I'm sure.

Oct 22, 2007 00:37:02

Review 7 of 7

tomcar54 writes:

4of 5 Stars

what a snide, ignorant and unworthy review tr this one from the Village Voice Reflective Neil and Pissed-Off Neil finally share some space on a revitalizing 'sequel' by Richard Bienstock October 16th, 2007 3:00 PM Chrome Dreams II, on which various Neils commingle to an extent not heard on record since perhaps 1989's Freedom, immediately comes off as the 61-year-old artist's freshest effort in years, even as it's steeped in Young-ian oddball mythology: The "II" in the title is in deference to the Loch Ness monster that is Chrome Dreams, an unreleased late-'70s "album" that has been credited as the original home of now-classics like "Powderfinger" and "Like a Hurricane." But Young is also nodding to more verifiable history: The new record is front-loaded with three '80s-era tunes ("Ordinary People" in particular has, in the ensuing years, been deified by Neil-philes), while the backing musicians gathered here are alumni of past Young bands the Stray Gators, the Bluenotes, and of course, Crazy Horse. But whereas Chrome Dreams II is to some extent an amalgam of Young musical tropes, its songs are lyrically of a piece, with Neil in many places waxing overtly (albeit secularly) spiritual. If the titles—"Shining Light," "Spirit Road," "No Hidden Path," "Ever After"—don't drive the point home, the imagery surely does: Young throughout is traveling along windy roads and long highways, keepin' the faith and prayin' in the trees, putting his trust in the "great spirit" and looking for his "way back home." The differences lie in how he gets there. "Beautiful Bluebird," a newly recorded version of a song that dates from the sessions for 1985's Old Ways, rambles with a gentle if slight country-rock lilt, while the train imagery that runs through "Boxcar," another revitalized tune from that decade, is bolstered by a steady snare drum and sharply picked banjo. Though Young can tend toward the sentimental—as on "Shining Light" and "The Way," the latter making CD II, inexplicably, his third consecutive studio record to end on a tune that features a choir—scattered throughout the disc are among his most exhilarating and idiosyncratic electric rock songs in years. The 14-minute "No Hidden Path" is an extended showcase for Young's beautifully strangled guitar lines, while "Spirit Road" is driven by a distorted, jangling riff and propulsive backbeat, over which he balances quasi–New Ageisms ("A speck of dust in the gia

Oct 18, 2007 13:39:05