Customer Reviews

After the Gold Rush

5 star:		(97)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This was the album the prolific Neil Young released right after his first flirtation with CSN&Y, and once again he shows just how wide and deep his musical talents are. All we aging sixties kids all have a copy of both this album and his "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere" album; it is standard issue for older babyboomers. Indeed, out of the welter of so many artists with so much in the way of incredible and unforgettable music, Neil Young stands alone as a sixties icon, someone who has consistently done the music his way, and with great sincerity, consistent authenticity, and a singular verve. No one has produced the range and quantity of memorable songs and melodies, as has Mr. Young, who has always produced what he wanted on his terms, and has never sold out to commercialism or tried to appeal to the mainstream audience.

Here we have so many terrific songs like "Tell Me Why", "After The Goldrush", and his smash hit, "Southern Man", that it is hard to remember that this is just one of several such albums he released in short order over a three or four year period. IN a number of other songs, such as "Only Love Can Break Your Heart", which Linda Ronstadt later did a great cover of, Neil's genius and guitar virtuosity shines, as it does in songs like "Don't Let It Bring You Down", "Birds", "I Believe In You", and a personal favorite of mine, "When You Dance". Young may well be an iconoclast, someone who is unpredictable, unreliable from a business sense, and something of a prima donna, but he always plays straight from the heart (and groin), and one knows that the guy playing that axe so masterfully is absolutely in control of the incredible sounds emanating from it. Wow! Put this baby in the CD player and listen as the CD illustrates why Neil Young will never die! Long may his chrome heart shine!

Yes, it's a very good album. But the "editorial review" by Steve Knopper above the customer reviews is very annoying. He writes, "He's equally passionate with trippy riddles (has anybody figured out what 'We've got mother nature on the run' means in the title track?)."

Huh. Well. The line is actually, "Look at Mother Nature on the run in the 1970's." Gosh, what DOES it mean? That the environment is threatened by our species?

In the shadow of his crushing success with Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Neil Young released this solo album using some of his best studio friends to produce a landmark album that was a runaway best seller at about the same time as CSN& Y's "Déjà Vu" was dominating the charts. There are a lot of memorable songs included in this album, all written by Young, and Neil's trademark guitar twang is audible everywhere. Also quite evident is his strange, eerie voice, which would be almost laughable were it not so memorable and also so effective a vehicle for his music. It drifts out at you like an echo in an alley, invading your private spaces as much as entertaining you.

The album opens with "Tell Me Why", a plaintive ballad delivered in a mostly acoustical format. Next is "After The Goldrush", a dreamy, sometimes nightmarish reflection on the state of the country at the turn of the seventies. Also included are ""only Love Can Break Your Heart", a long and rocking version of his famous "Southern Man" effort, including the afterward of "Till The Morning Comes". He does a terrific cover of Don Gibson's classic country song "Oh, Lonesome Me", and depresses us all with "Don't Let It Bring You Down". I simply love his song "Birds", and also like the rock treatment of "When You Dance". Finally, he delivers what has become a standard folk-rock ballad, "I Believe In You", which with "Cripple Creek Ferry" rounds out the album. This is a classic Neil Young effort, and like his work with Crazy Horse, is essential for any serious sixties rock fan. Enjoy!

Neil Young's After the Goldrush stands as one of the most complete albums in rock N roll's mythology. He laces social commentary (Southern Man, After the Goldrush)with beautiful songs of anguish (Only Love can Break Your Heart, Oh, Lonesome Me). This album shows that Neil Young has few boundaries as an artistic voice. His backing band (Crazy Horse) lends a graceful accompaniment, but it's Young's show. Southern Man is quite frankly one of the most important rock songs of all time. It has a patented Young minimalist guitar solo and lyrics which cut straight to the heart of America's "silent majority" racist attitudes. Alternately, with Birds, Young still looks for hope through love. This album is essential for aspiring singer songwriters. All of the selections have a logical fit and tremendous aural dynamics. Young feels no need to create complex song structures; he bypasses this. His playing is emotive and instintive. The lush landscape resonates far after you stop listening to the pithy 30 minute gem. I wish he did a sequal to Goldrush instead of Harvest.

I must say, I agree with David Ludd, that the editorial review does not do this classic album justice, and Neil's phrase about 'mother nature on the run' is so obviously an ecology statement that it is bewildering how anyone claiming to be a reviewer could see it as a 'riddle'.

Neil's versatility is legendary, and the man who gave us one of the most beautiful love songs ever written, Harvest Moon, and the rock anthem Like A Hurricane, built an incredibily solid foundation with this timeless album.

While we all have our favorites, this is one of those rare albums where you could almost pick a track at random and it would be a classic.

To me, the man has never put out a bad album, but this is one that will ensure his musical immortality.

Just as Neil Young's ferocious second album was a dramatic contrast to his folksy debut, so is his third album, After The Gold Rush, a complete contrast to that. Certainly, his work on Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's Deja Vu album may have lead him to dip his toe back into the waters of these folksy rockers, and he does a very fine job of it here. Some of his best soft, gentle, rolling acoutic numbers are here - Tell Me Why, When You Dance I Can Really Love - are here, complete with splendid rolling acoustic guitars and beautiful vocal harmonies. The beautiful, spirited title track is also a standout, with its gentle piano work, and perhaps Neil's finest vocal. The only real rocker here is Southern Man, one of Neil's most famous songs, and a fine little rocking protest - sparking Lynyrd Skynyrd's famous comeback in Sweet Home Alabama - with a spirited jam at the end of the song. Another highlight is the inspired run through the country standard Oh, Lonesome Me. Although, aside from Southern Man, the longish guitar jams that made Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere so great are completely absent from this album, we get instead Neil's masterful folk ditties, which are just as satisfying. Another major revelation - indeed, perhaps the highlight of the album, and certainly it's distinction - is the uniformly excellent piano work. Nils Lofgren - along with Neil himself and others - turn in fine performances on the instrument, lending such songs as the title track and Southern Man a distinctive air. Overall, one of the man's best efforts.

Neil Young has made a lot of classic rock albums through the years: Everyone Knows This is Nowhere, On the Beach, Tonight's the Night, Rust Never Sleeps, Sleeps With Angels, etc.

But I don't think Neil has ever made an album as beautiful as After the Gold Rush. "Tell Me Why" has gorgeous vocal harmonies and an achingly lovely lead vocal from Neil. That last statement is also true of the title track and "Only Love Can Break Your Heart."

And this album also contains one of Neil Young's best extended rockers to balance out all of the mellow songs that dominate this cd (Southern Man).

There is also a cover of "Oh, Lonesome Me" and a tender "I Believe in You." The tempp picks up with "When You Dance You can Really Love,: and the cd concludes with a song reminiscent of the Band (Cripple Creek Ferry).

This is a short, but sweet Neil Young cd. It is worth your dollars.

This was Neil Youngs third solo album although whether you can call it a true solo album when you have Crazy Horse backing you is open to debate. And i welcome fellow future reviewers to debate this minor point. Anyway it isnt important. What is important is the music. nils lofgren plays on this album. Of the 11 tracks on this 10 are neil compositions, the other one is a cover of don gibsons Oh lonesome me. I dont know the original but this is a good if sad song. The standout tracks of a generally very good album are the title track and Southern Man which prompted a response from Lynyrd Skynnyrd with SWeet Home Alabama. They thaught Neil was slagging the south. Either way it is a class number. Is this a better album then Harvest. Well Harverst was more successful commercially but i think this is a better album and in my humble opinion is his best early album along with Deja Vu released the same year as this one with Crosby,Stills and Nash and Zuma from 1975. This is a class album and a great introduction to the legend that is Neil Young.
I got this album after i heard a reference made to it in a film. Cate blanchette thaught billy bob thorntons character looked like neil young from his After the Gold Rush album. I was intrigued enough to go out and check it out. I am glad i did and glad i saw that film. Neil young is a legend and this album, Harvest, Zuma and Tonights the night will tell you why.

Canada's answer to Bob Dylan is famous for experimenting with not only different styles of music - but entirely different genres. It would be simple if he was crap at one type and brilliant at another, but it isn't that simple with Neil. He's had strong sales and critical approval/acclaim with them all, so deciding his greatest studio or live achievement is made all the more difficult. There is the album that created grudge music (E.K.T.I.N.), his most popular and best folk album (Harvest), his most underrated rock album (Zuma), his unique tilt at the blues (On the Beach), the acoustic and electric bliss of the live Rust Never Sleeps, his deep and contemplative country skits on Tonight's the Night and so on. But all are aquired tastes and cannot be definitively ranked above another.

However, every fan of Neil Young recognises that ATGR has a certain lure: maybe just one or two songs are memorable to them, but aren't enough to constitute Young's best piece of music in their opinion. But with these opinions combined, and the fact that no album before or since has summed up Young's emotive techniques and delivered them in perfectly in every way, therefore no Neil Young fan can truly deny After The Gold Rush's status as the quintessential chronicle and the go-to album for any aspiring fan.

Length - 35:09
It's apparent that profound thoughts were swirling all through Neil Young's head when he recorded After The Gold Rush, an incredibly deep and beautiful album. From the very first verse of Tell Me Why, (Sailing heart-ships through broken harbors, out on the waves in the night, Still the searcher must ride the dark horse, racing alone in his fright. Tell me Why, Tell me why.) I become overwhelmed by an uncanny blend of feelings- nostalgia, solititude and a somewhat bittersweet sense of joy. It's strange what great music does to you. Although the lyrics at times can be esoteric, the music is always right there, lilting and swaying, conveying the feeling of the songs accurately. To me, this album is, quite parodoxically, enigmatic and distant, and at the same time, warm and intimate. The highs and lows (lows as in feeling low, not bad music- I love this entire record) of this album are acutely poignant, and there is not one piece of filler inbetween the mastery exhibited on such tracks as After The Gold Rush, Only Love Can Break Your Heart and Don't Let Tt Bring You Down. My favorite moments of the record include the sharp satirizing of Southern Man, the crestfallen lines of "It's Over, It's Over" on Birds, the wonderful "It's only castles burning" refrain of Don't Let it Bring You Down, and the whimsical coda, Cripple Creek Ferry. This is, without a doubt, one of the greatest recordings of its musically fruitful generation. I recommend it to everyone.