Welcome back to the CD Odyssey. I’m up early to seize the weekend. I had planned to watch the women’s Wimbledon final live but missed it by…that much.
So, having spoiled the outcome (I turned the TV on during the trophy ceremony) I will return to the safe and welcoming arms of music.
Disc 1750 is…Freedom
Artist: Neil Young
Year of Release: 1989
What’s up with the Cover? Neil Young, 43 years old here but with a haggard look that suggests closer to 58.
“Yeah,” Neil retorts, “but the hat suggests youth and enthusiasm.”
No, Neil, it does not.
How I Came To Know It: I’ve been a Neil Young fan for years and have a lot of his records. This is one of ‘em. I knew the song “Rockin’ in the Free World” and also “Wrecking Ball” so it was a bit of a known quantity.
How It Stacks Up: I have (or have had) 24 Neil Young albums. This may seem like a lot but it is only slightly more than half of his studio albums. Neil is prolific. Of the 24, I’ve sold two, and three others remain unreviewed. One of those is #1, and the other two I’m not sure. For now, “Freedom” comes in at 14 but it could be as low as 18 on a good day, as it sits equal among many other “good, not great” Neil Young records.
Rating: 3 stars
In Ang Lee’s Incredible Hulk movie soldiers have a code to alert everyone that Hulk has escaped a military facility and is on a rampage. The line is “angry man is on the loose” and it applies well to Neil Young’s “Freedom”.
“Freedom” is Neil at his angriest. Not that Neil was ever going to be a fan of the vibe the 1980s gave off, but it is clear by 1989 that he’s fed up and not going to take it anymore. The result is an album that mixes angry hard rock, mixed with stark and stripped-down tales of love and loss.
The record gets off to a rocky start, with a loose and ranging live version of “Rockin’ in the Free World”. Halfway through I started doubting why I had ever loved the song. The production is hollow, with distracting background cheers that make it feel like it was recorded on someone’s phone at a festival, and that person is now making you watch it.
The problem is not the song, however, it’s that live version. The record ends with the studio version and it is just as amazing as I remember it, with its distressing observations of homelessness, poverty, and drug abuse wrapped up ironically in patriotic imagery of freedom. For Neil, rocking in the free world looks a lot like fiddling while Rome burns.
“Crime in the City (Sixty to Zero Pt. 1)” doubles down on Neil’s “life sucks” vibe. It’s nine minutes long and ranges through crooked cops, good cops struggling, and evil record producers looking to take advantage of starving artists. It is just generally depressing throughout, but they strong lyrics and insistent and intricate guitar work together make the depression a joy to listen to. Mostly. Three minutes in a noodling saxophone makes an appearance that is unwelcome.
Other than that saxophone, Neil mostly avoids the late eighties production challenges that beset so many other artists around this time. The record doesn’t have a lot of bottom end, but it avoids the tinny sound of the time, and the lightness of the mix matches well with Neil’s airy vocal style.
While the record features a lot of poverty and social criticism, Neil at his heart is a romantic, and there are some touching love songs. “Hangin’ on a Limb” and “Wrecking Ball” are both slow, deeply vulnerable songs, featuring lovers who cleave to one another through hard times. “Hangin’ on a Limb” is lifted by the guest vocals of Linda Ronstadt. “Wrecking Ball” would be beautifully remade by Emmylou Harris on her 1995 album of the same name. Neil’s version is great, although no one can compete with Emmylou’s quaver, and most people probably associate the song with her at this point.
Despite plenty of good songs, and some great guitar work, at 60 minutes the record tends to drag in places. This could be easily solved by killing the live version of “Free World” and maybe cutting down on the over six minute long “No More.” No more isn’t quite enough of a directive here, Neil. Think in terms of less.
However, overall this is a solid effort, and while there were times when I wanted Neil to lighten up, that’s not the kind of record this is.
Best tracks: Crime in the City, Hangin’ on a Limb, On Broadway, Wrecking Ball, Rockin’ in the Free World (studio version)
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