Computer Age

If there is one person who can condense all he has given of whether the U.S. Rock the past 30 years, this is Neil Young, its significance is as important as Elvis or Bob Dylan, but with one crucial difference, he has known to remain active and in top form during all stages of a career that is now coming to 40 years.
Neil Young has dealt with all styles of music: Folk, Country, Soul, Rockabilly, psychedelics, Techno, Heavy, and they all brought fruitful results, sometimes discussed, but always interesting.
Much of the legend Neil Young, however, is credited with his band, a band that has always accompanied in their noisy moments in his most epic in its electric discs: The Crazy Horse.
Billy Talbot, Ralph Molina and Danny Whitten, and gathered under the name "The Rockets" was offered a vigorous band concerts in the Chicago area back in 1968, highlighted the strength to get their guitars and start his compositions full of energy .
Neil Young had just begun his solo career after the breakup of Buffalo Springfield and he was somewhat confused regarding the direction they should take their compositions, as shown by the widespread "Neil Young" in 1968.

Young and Crazy Horse met at a Chicago club where he acted and the latter will be proposed to accompany his band for a series of shows, the thing works right away, the group offered a powerful half-Young for the Canadian rhythmic could desfogarse to comfortable with his guitar and his compositions.
The relationship rennet in a first album, "Everybody Knows This is Nowhere" (1969), which would set the basis of Young's electric sound, characterized by rhythmic foundation stone, largisimos developments, and an apparent dirty sound, a certain imperfection in performance characteristic. Topics such as "Down By The River" and "Cowgirl in the Sand" exceed 8 minutes, but could last half hour each and the listener would not perceive the passage of time, songs are captivating, epic, amazing, it's impossible to remain unmoved the feeling of listening to four musicians giving everything they have inside.
The disc contains another great classic, "Cinnamon Girl," one of the best and most evocative compositions Young, reminiscent of their last stage but Buffalo Springfield and Crazy Horse for the sieve.

After this first successful collaboration and Young came back with renewed strength to his solo career, but focused on the Country and Folk, in his acoustic guitar and quieter simultaneously Danny Whitten started to have problems with heroin, Neil Young you would on "Harvest" (1972) a shocking warning: "The Neddle and the Damage Done."
Whitten died of an overdose months later, when Young was preparing a tour with Crazy Horse, his death marked the final race of the Canadian, who signed some of the most shocking and dark discs of his career: "Times fades away," "On the beach "and especially" tonight's the night "a kind of exorcism soaked in alcohol together with Crazy Horse survivors and musicians called for the occasion, the roadie Bruce Berry also died from overdoses in that time is dedicated to the song that opens and closes the album: "Tonight's the Night."

"Tonight's the Night" was the treatment he needed for Young and his band finally bury the past and look forward, in 1975, Frank "Poncho" Sampedro enters Crazy Horse as a second guitarist, with a training set and the group enters in the studio sessions for what would be another memorable record: "Zuma," a whirlwind of power and offering a thousand different nuances to the listener, topics ranging from Country-Rock of "Looking for a love" to short pieces Rock strong and powerful as "Do not cry no tears, but in many areas where the group once again show their full potential, unlikely crossroads of guitars, hypnotic melodies and dense," Danger Bird "and" Cortez the Killer " . For many, the best record of Neil Young.

"American Stars and Bars", the record of 1977 was a strange experiment, with cuts of various periods and themes, especially highlights include an absolute classic of the band: "Like a Hurricane."
In 1978 he published another Neil Young album "Comes a time, this time it was a return to the days of the" Harvest "means the time between folk and country with great songs like the" Comes a Time "or" look out for my love. " Some media in the U.S. and in England by Young gave after finishing this record, seething punk, "comes a time" was an album too commercial, too wealthy, Young it would soon offer a good answer ....

The answer was "Rust Never Sleeps" a monumental record, as are the monuments that appear on the cover, a compendium of the history and also a break with the past, a step taken by the punk in its language, adding a thousand nuances never before seen, showing an energy and a vitality to it and stood light years away from the colleagues of his generation and gave evidence that the "alleged" violation punk. Two sides, one sound, with themes such as "Trash," "Pocahontas," "Ride My Llama, and electric, with songs like" Powderfinger "or" Brothers Welfare. " Opening and closing the disc, "hey, hey, my, my" on acoustic and electric. Without words.
A "Rust Never Sleeps" was followed by a live album, "Live Rust" is necessary to record the direct time.

"Hawks and Doves" (1980) was a transitional album, a minor work with a range of circumstances, about to leave his company to sign with Geffen, with Crazy Horse record in 1981 the strange "Re-Ac-Tor" recently released on CD and it would not count them until years later, after its pilot phase and in which he recorded his album Geffen techno "Trans" (1982), a rarity in Key Rocabilly: "Everybody's Rockin '" ( 1983), a Country album: "Old Ways" (1985) and the avant-garde and strange "Landing on Water" (1986)

In 1987, Young brought together the Crazy Horse for a long tour, after recording what would be his last album for Geffen, "Life", a record somewhat disappointing and erratic, mixing experimentation of their previous albums with the sound of his classic Banda, a record marked by problems with your company and highly politicized, in the middle was "Reagan" Young was very critical in this record to the U.S. warmongering policy Disc one of transition.
"This note's for you," published in 1988 with The Bluenotes, was another interesting parenthesis in his career, a bold approach to the Blues and Soul that its continuation would years later, the Crazy Horse do not participate but since then it will be to find Frank "Poncho" Sampedro Young assisting in their experiments and breakaways.
In 1989 comes "Freedom," a great record overshadowed by what came later, with an anthem of the caliber of "Rockin'in the free world" and great songs like "The ways of love", "No more" or the hypnotic and strange "Crime in the city."

1990, together with Husker Du, Pixies, Sonic Youth and many other bands, the American rock seemed to be a new golden age, distortion, noise, smoke and hair begin to invade the MTV, Young again located in an uncomfortable situation, his experiments are considered eccentric star falls, again will have to swallow their words ...
"Ragged Glory" is Neil Young & Crazy Horse at 100%, there are no experiments with the Soul, no synthesizers, no acoustic guitars, and banjos, and violins, so that there are four types, which all add up over 200 years, the limited playing Rock, guitars at a hellish, subjects over nine minutes, intensity and emotion without limits, without any concession or complacency, "Country Home", "Love to burn," "Over and Over "or" Fuckin'up "come without problems, the best and most energetic of his repertoire, this disc comes his nickname" godfather "of Grunge, Young again became the mirror of thousands of young musicians.
Inevitably, as has happened to "Rust Never Sleeps" to continue this record is a direct: "Weld" (1991), Sonic Youth took the stage and mingled it would "Arc" with snippets of guitar distortion and couplings, all be called "Arc-Weld.
After the storm comes the calm, time to revisit the sites of "Harvest," Young musicians with the same record in 1992 "Harvest Moon" another delightful album that further lengthened the shadow of Canada.

The suicide of Kurt Kobain, and the phrase "It's better to burn out than to fade away" (from "Hey, hey, my, my") included in his suicide note, part deeply Neil Young, "Sleeps With Angels "(1994) is his tribute to the dead musician, again with Crazy Horse, Young delivers a dark disc, gloomy, such as" Change Your Mind "and" Piece of crap "shine at high altitude.
1995, Pearl Jam, big fan of Neil Young, agree with him in concerts and recording an album together proposed, given the Canadian accepts his surprise, "Mirrorball" (1995) tries to sound like "Ragged Glory" but it is clear that Pearl Jam were not Crazy Horse. Young lower for a disk, the experience of their lives to Pearl Jam.
"Broken Arrow" (1996) again with the Horse shows obvious signs of exhaustion, repeating the formula of "Ragged Glory" and "Sleeps with Angels" but with significantly poorer results, it was time for Young to return spots and their acoustic experiments.
Earlier, following the essential documentary "Year of the Horse" Jim Jarmush, would be issued a new directive, which once again the form, almost inhuman, the band live.
Then, the remarkable "Silver and Gold" (2000) alone, and irregular "Are you passionate?" (2002) with the Bluenotes.
Time will tell whether this article needs a second part, "Greendale" mark a return to News Neil Young & Crazy Horse and the future is still to get out of Young's guitar.