Neil Young – After the Gold Rush (1970)

Yet another classic. After the Gold Rush is in my opinion the best album of Neil Young. There are some amazingly beautiful and authentic sounding folk songs, some amazing piano ballads and also some more rock-oriented numbers with electric guitars. Neil Young's distinctive nasal vocals sound amazing and I really like the fact that they are actually mixed in a way that sound like he was singing right next to you. I started listening to Neil Young properly quite late. I guess I'm fortunate because of that I had not bought this album on CD back when those were the only format I was buying. I'm now a happy owner of a fantastic old vinyl pressing that is in excellent condition. There's something about a classic album like this that you just have to hear it on vinyl to get you in the right state of mind. The tiny scratching of the needle improves the experience.



I've only later on realised what kind of impact Neil Young has had on many more recent artists that I absolutely adore. Ryan Adams, Wilco and Stephen Malkmus to name a few. I also really like the fact that especially this album gives such a diverse tray of different styles. Where Tell Me Why is a classic country song, After the Gold Rush is a beautiful piano ballad that makes you almost weep out of beauty and authenticity. Southern Man is a great Americana song that you could easily confuse to a Wilco song if the vocals were just a bit different. There are even some amazing electric guitar solos in this song. Till The Morning Comes shows the playful side of Neil Young in a similar sound world as some of the Kinks or The Beatles songs.

Oh Lonesome Me is probably the most country-sounding song on this album. The vibrating harmonicas are great. Don't Let It Bring You Down sounds to me like many of the Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks songs. The album ends in beautifully warm song Cripple Creek Ferry.

Neil Young is also a wonderful live performer. I had a pleasure to see him live a couple of years ago in Hyde Park. He played a long set with lots of old songs. People were generally really excited his later hit songs like Keep on Rocking in the Free World, but personally I was most impressed about his amazingly delicate performance of After the Gold Rush. There's a great live video of him performing it at another gig as well. Another great moment on that gig was when he played Bob Dylan's classic Blowing In the Wind. I may have even weeped a little bit when that song was playing. I also very much enjoyed the long guitar solos and the fact that young was wearing a T-shirt that said something about stopping the climate change.

More recently I have learned to play some of Neil Young's songs myself. I have a high voice, so songs like After the Gold Rush are perfect for me to sing. I think I should learn even more though.

I warmed up to Neil young relatively late, but now he's one of the musicians out there that I admire the most. He has had a fantastic career (even if his best albums were all made in the early 70's) and he still keeps making interesting music.

Listen to the album on Spotify.