10 Music Artists That Won't Defend Their Own Songs

Throughout his entire career, Neil Young and the mainstream never really went hand in hand. Whereas most labels would tell their artists to have a certain plan for their sound, Neil is dancing to no one's tune but his own, and was set on making only the kind of music that he wanted to hear. That didn't stop him from getting a hit anyway though, and Neil was not really thrilled about it either.

After being the sharper edge of Buffalo Springfield and Crosby Stills and Nash, Young had used his solo career to pump out some of his more mellow tunes, with After the Gold Rush already setting him up as a critical darling. As he turned into Nashville for his next record Harvest though, Heart of Gold became the breakout single that no one really wanted, with Neil preferring the song to be taken in the context of the record. Being a basic acoustic tune, Young also found himself being put in the same category as Bob Dylan, which he did not handle very well.

While Neil always respected Dylan, he knew that he didn't want to stay in this sound for very long either, going heavier on his album Rust Never Sleeps before eventually doing so many genre switches that he ended up getting sued by his own label. Neil's journey to the top may not have been planned this way, but once he reached the height of his fame, he figured that it would be much better to head for the ditch rather than continue on.