4. Neil Young & Crazy Horse Psychedelic Pill
Youngs reunion with the clattering juggernaut that is Crazy Horse yielded some interesting results. June saw the release of covers LP Americana. With its sense of distorted nostalgia, it didnt purport to offer any idea as to where a rejuvenated Young wanted to go. The trad folk songs given a typically raucous and occasionally abrasive touch up by some of rocks great survivors were enough to tide people over. Although it was a nice little curio, many saw it as a play for time before Young made with the original sounds. Without resting on their laurels, Psychedelic Pill appears a short four months after. Opening with the 27-minute Driftin Back, the albums ambition and vitality didnt stop there. Spread over two discs, the album is in possession of two more sprawling missives: Ramada Inn and Walk Like A Giant both clock in at 16 minutes. The former lacks the bite of the records opening track, eschewing the bitter modern commentary for a faintly morose retelling of past days that could have been better, but then again, they could have been worse. The latter does exactly what its title suggests; stomping around with reckless abandon and enveloped in those classic Crazy Horse vocal harmonies. The last five minutes of the track crash and burn into a doom-laden noise-fest that takes its time getting to where it wants to go. Psychedelic Pill is an album of many moods. It veers from cautious optimism, to sadness and to those odd moments where you feel anythings possible. Young and Crazy Horse continue to run free. Long may it continue. http://youtu.be/WmHljOmSw6I
Joseph Viney
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Currently undertaking NCTJ (journalism qualification), do a lot of music writing and very interested in literature, film, current affairs and anything else in between. Find me on Twitter - @jjviney
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