![]() ![]() Young’s eponymous debut following his departure from Buffalo Springfield sometimes gets a bad rap. Perhaps someone else may one day rise to that challenge. Of course, Young has managed another 15 or so studio albums since 2000, by itself a much larger body of work than probably 95% of the artists featured on Toppermost, but I have to admit that I’ve spent far less time with those releases than with his earlier work, and will defer on selecting a Top 10 from his latter days (aside from a few select shout-outs). Yet … we persevere.įor purposes of this overview, I’ve opted for two separate Top 10s: One focused on his initial ‘classic’ period recording for Reprise Records, running from his self-titled 1969 debut through 1981’s Re-ac-tor and a second drawn from his middle period, encompassing his restless eighties on Geffen Records and his return to form in the 90s (up through 2000’s Silver & Gold). ![]() Even setting aside his work with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (the subjects of earlier Toppermost treatments), it’s an impossible task. Hell, the man has more timeless songs on his unreleased albums than most artists have in their entire discographies. The challenge, of course, is distilling Young’s highly prolific 50+ years of music, spread over at least 40 proper studio albums plus myriad live releases and compilations, into a mere 10 (or even 20) songs. ![]() And while his music in the decades since has been of far more variable quality, including an eclectic and at times embarrassing eighties, a surprisingly respectable nineties resurgence, and seemingly endless post-millennium releases that occasionally struggle for relevance, he has continued to sneak in wondrous gems even on his less satisfying efforts. His peak era (at least for me), lasting from his 1969 solo debut through 1979’s Rust Never Sleeps, is among the most consistent extended runs of music in all of rock & roll, with countless songs rightfully elevated to the classic rock canon and a decade of productivity across myriad styles that places him alongside David Bowie’s comparably enduring catalog from the same period. I’ll take Neil Young in a heartbeat.įrom his mid-60s tenure with the legendary (but short-lived) Buffalo Springfield right up to his most recent crop of new material (2019’s Colorado), Young has been one of the most reliable and essential forces in American music. A prominent music journalist recently ignited one of those silly Music Nerd Twitter kerfuffles by posting the simple question: Bob or Neil? Now, I’m the first to admit being a fair-weather Dylan fan, but it’s hard to deny Dylan’s role as a generation’s preeminent songwriter, perhaps the most noteworthy lyricist of all time nor can one fail to be shaken the power of his mid-60s electric trilogy. ![]()
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