{"id":74147,"date":"2022-07-11T13:01:04","date_gmt":"2022-07-11T17:01:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/panm360.com\/?post_type=records&p=74147"},"modified":"2022-07-14T15:05:59","modified_gmt":"2022-07-14T19:05:59","slug":"neil-young-with-crazy-horse-toast","status":"publish","type":"records","link":"https:\/\/panm360.com\/en\/records\/neil-young-with-crazy-horse-toast\/","title":{"rendered":"Neil Young with Crazy Horse – Toast"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I\u2019d been given the assignment of reviewing Toast \u2013 the newest release from Neil Young with Crazy Horse. I stared at a blank page for quite a while before getting that first line down. I\u2019d previously written reviews of bands I\u2019d never heard of, and artists I hadn\u2019t spent much time with. But the feelings, thoughts, and reactions to their music brought the words out easy. Now I was to write about a man I affectionately referred to as Uncle Neil, a person and band whose music is as much a part of my history and identity,\u2014in fact, the world\u2019s and popular culture\u2019s history over the past 60 years\u2014as any national anthem or birthday refrain.

We all have our own memories with his music. His lyrics have become a part of our culture\u2019s language and idioms. Many of the bands and artists we listen to today are all his descendants. And, at this very moment, somewhere on the planet, a bar band is performing one of his songs. Yes, this is Neil\u2019s world, and we\u2019ll all just living in it. So, what do you say when you want to say everything? What do you say when you also want to say nothing \u2013 because no amount of words would ever feel like enough. Where do you begin? How do you begin? \u201cWhat would Neil Young do?\u201d says the big poster hanging on my wall.

Ok, let\u2019s begin with the clear, cold facts. Neil Young and Crazy Horse have released a record called Toast<\/em>, an album recorded at Toast studio, twenty years ago, and then shelved. Some songs, though, would emerge on Are You Passionate?<\/em> in 2002. Young\u2019s been doing this over the past several years. Releasing more and more music from his archives to the public. Live performances, studio outtakes, and long-lost albums (Toast is #9 in the Special Release Series, FYI) have been brought into the light. Through these unearthed records, he\u2019s shown that he has more unreleased and thrown-away music in his catalog than most artists have in their entire career. And, of course, Neil keeps making new music too. He released Barn <\/em>with Crazy Horse just last year. And Colorado<\/em> just before that.

Well, who am I to really say? But I\u2019ll say it anyway: Toast <\/em>is solid. It has some soft moments and those classic 10-minute, distortion-filled, rockers that we\u2019ve come to expect when Neil Young and Crazy Horse get together. \u201cThe Horse defines the music without thought,\u201d Neil wrote in his 2012 memoir, Waging Heavy Peace<\/em>. \u201cThe physical feeling of playing with the Horse is like nothing else. It leaves your brain wide open, and you can feel the wind blowing right through it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Throughout his career, he\u2019s made music with many different bands and outfits. Including: CSNY, Buffalo Springfield, The Stills-Young band, The Stray Gators, The Promise of the Real, Pearl Jam etc. And, of course, there\u2019s the beautiful solo, acoustic music he\u2019s made. But he\u2019s always come back to The Horse. “To me, the band is a vehicle to cosmic areas that I am unable to traverse with others,\u201d he wrote.

All that really needs to be said in a review of a new Neil Young record is this: Neil Young has a new record out, if you don\u2019t already know. Go listen if you haven\u2019t already. You might like it, you might not. I doubt Neil cares though. He\u2019s already moved on to the next thing.

“Whatever you think of the music I have made with Crazy Horse,\u201d Neil wrote in 2012, \u201cthose songs are the most transcendent experiences I have ever had with music.\u201d

\u201cWhat would Neil Young do?\u201d Perhaps a better question is, \u201cWhat will Neil Young do?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n