Customer Reviews

Freedom

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I think, Freedom is maybe not Young's finest record, but it's the record wich shows his diverse talents the best. Freedom is not a country-rock album like Harvest, or a guitar-rock album like Everybody knows this is nowhere. Freedoms shows the most famous two sides of Neil Youngs: the Dylanesque singer-songwriter, a loner from Canada (a song like 'Too far gone' on this album is a good example),the second is the (electric) guitar player, godfather for bands like Sonic Youth and Pearl Jam. The two studio-albums after Freedom where Ragged Glory (electric with Crazy Horse) and Harvest Moon (acoustic with the Stray Gators). Freedom has all of this.

On this album you can see these 2 Neil Youngs the best on the first and the twelfth song on this album wich is the same song: Keep on rockin'in the free world. The first version is an acoustic one, the second an electric one. But both versions have what the whole album has: a special atmosphere about (personal) freedom. Produced very well by Niko Bolas and Neil Young, the album is also recorded very well, it sounds very good.

Best songs are Crime in the City -a kind of 'In the Ghetto' but than not in a crooner's way- Eldorado and Someday. The last songs shows Neil Young a his best, close to kitsch but never over the top...

The album came out in 1989, when we now look back the time was right for this album: the Berlin Wall fell etc etc. I remember I bought this album the day before Christmas '89 when there were rumours about thousands of people dying in Romania. For me this album was the soundtrack of those things happen in Easter-Europe. It got a big influence on my personal ideas of freedom. I still use it everyday... thank you mr. Young.

After spending most of the 80's changing musical styles from album to album, Neil Young closed out the decade with his best album in ten years and a truly inspired released. Just as he did on Rust Never Sleeps, Freedom opens and closes with acoustic and electric versions of the same song. That song is "Rockin' In The Free World", which is one of the most powerful and thought-provoking songs of his career. In the acoustic version, the song takes on a stark and harrowing feeling that conveys a pleading tone. In its electric version, the song becomes a full frontal assault in which Mr. Young spews out the lyrics in a venomous tone. "Crime In The City" is a lengthy tale that contains some vivid writing. "Eldorado" is a powerful song that has some fine backup vocal from old friend Linda Ronstadt. "Wrecking Ball" is a fiery number and his cover of "On Broadway" is drenched in fuzz toned guitars. Freedom is a ringing declaration, a call to arms and a classic.

Every 9 or 10 years its seems Neil Young reinvents himself. In 1969 Young released his first great album, `Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere', his first with Crazy Horse and delivering timeless tunes such as `Cinnamon Girl', `Down By the River', and `Cowgirl In the Sand'. It was, in retrospect, a monster album. Nine years down the road, with every aging 60's rocker's future perilized/paralyzed by disco fever, Young infused rock and roll with new life via `Rust Never Sleeps' and its `Hey Hey My My' anthem.

Fast forward ten more years through the sleepy 1980's, and here is Young announcing his return once again with the album `Freedom'. His newfound relevance would differ from the continued relevance of other 1960's superstars such as Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton: Young would not only be revitalized among his long-standing cadre of followers, but would find a new body of listeners among the youth coming of age in the early 1990's. It was a remarkable resurgence.

Interestingly, `Freedom' borrows a bit from the success of `My My Hey Hey'/'Hey Hey My My' by taking the albums centerpiece, `Rockin' In the Free World', and using a live acoustic version to open the disc, and closing with a rousing electric studio version of the same song. The electric version is clearly superior as the acoustic version is marred by audience noise, and lacks the final verse, as well as the sheer power the lyrics demand. The same is true of the second song on the disc `Crime In the City', which is presented in an acoustic version. The live electric version from the `Weld' disc blows this one away.

I always thought it would be great fun to be able to generate a setlist for an artist like Young prior to a concert. While most people expect to be hearing `Rockin' In the Free World' from this disc, I would love to hear a live rendition of Neil's cover of The Drifter's 1963 number 9 hit, `On Broadway'. As on `Rust Never Sleeps', Neil is doing things with Old Black on this song, and others such as `Don't Cry', that are literally unheard of... and that's a good thing.

Other excellent offerings include `Someday', with lyrics and background recordings sure to make you tune into the great mystery of life, its meaning and purpose. There are two beautiful love duets with Linda Ronstadt, `Hangin' On a Limb' and `The Ways Of Love', and `No More' is a solid rocker, with a sound reminiscent of Dire Straits. Coincidentally Neil's band features Joe Walsh bandmates Rick Rosas on bass and Chad Cromwell on drums. Cromwell would go on in the `90's to play with Dire Straits founder Mark Knopfler.

Some more familiar faces are flanking Neil on this production as well. From Crazy Horse, Frank Sampedro contributes guitars, keyboards, mandolin, vocals and even serves as "computer scribe" (hmmmm....). Another familiar Youngian, Ben Keith, contributes his familiar steel guitar, as well as alto sax, keyboards and vocals. On three songs recorded at The Hit Factory in New York, we have a stripped down version of the band, offering killer guitar/bass/drum jams ala The Jimi Hendrix Experience.

While `Freedom' isn't the groundbreaking work `Everybody Knows...' or `Rust Never Sleeps' proved to be, it did serve the purpose of positioning Neil square in the mainstream of popular music for another decade. He would maintain that rejuvenated status through releases such as `Harvest Moon', `Weld', and `Ragged Glory' in the years to follow. But it all began, all over again, with `Freedom'.

Neil Young has more classic albums than most people have fingers. That said, this album to me stands above all the rest as the strongest of his career. Whereas other classics had the occasional weak track, this one hums from start to finish without a dip in interest anywhere. Having spent his career veering between Crazy Horse feedback and acoustic mellowness, this album actually serves up the best of both worlds. I still remember Neil and his band shredding "Rocking in the Free World" on SNL and had to go out and get the album the following day. Other feedback high points are "Don't Cry" and "On Broadway" ('Gimme some of that crack' is priceless!). Acoustic-wise, there are two masterful duets with Linda Ronstadt that are among his best ballads. Mixed in are the delicate piano driven "Wrecking Ball" (odd title for a ballad), "Someday," and the trippy "Crime in the City." This album got a richly deserved 5 stars from Rolling Stone when first released and time has not diminished it one iota. Do thyself a favor and hear what you've been missing!!!!!

I'd give this CD 5 stars. "Rocking in the Free World", is a hit, but more importantly, listen closely to the entire lyrics... There is a big message from an artist who has held on to his values. "Eldorado" is a great song; "Wrecking Ball" is a great song; "On Broadway" I really like, and "No More" has some great guitar licks. This is real Neil, and for him to have released this when he did - and still be the same guy - is remarkable.

I've never been a huge fan of all Neil's acoustic, country rock ballads but there's no denying he's a huge talent. I always liked him when he was at his loudest, usually with Crazy Horse, the epitome of which was Ragged Glory. At the dawn of 90's NY released Freedom and it hit me like a bullet between the eyes. This album really ecompasses all of his musical styles. I can't think of one song I don't like or didn't hum to myself at some point. If I hadn't bought it on CD I would have worn the grooves out by now. My favorite track has to be Wrecking Ball. I heard this tune over 10 years ago and it still haunts me to this day. Where it fits in the overall 'flow' of the album is perfect. I don't think I've ever heard such a happy song performed in such a melancholy manner. The juxtaposition of emotion is incredible. Consequently Neil's vocal style changes from track to track. Sure, some may say he may not have a great voice, but this is rock and roll man! Freedom, I think, was a homage to Neil's feelings at that period of time "my life's an open book/you hear it on the radio". There are some ballads and some socio-politcal commentary ala CSNY and other Young tunes. At times the album can be amazingly quite and at other times it just rocks, giving us a preview of what was to come in Ragged Glory. Buy Freedom and Ragged Glory. A must have for any Rock and Roll fan. They're both classics.

Although not old enough to be considered a truly classic Neil Young album, and obviously not containing many of his older classics, this album - which revived his flagging career in 1989, after a decade of scattershot experimentation - was, I believe, his best album at the time of its release. Although a recent release in the master's catalog, this is actually perhaps the best place for a new fan to start. Instead of being a beautiful acoustic album like Harvest or Comes A Time, or a driving hard rock album like Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere or Ragged Glory, or an album with a consistent mood and set of themes like Sleeps With Angels, this album has a little bit of everything. This album shows all sides of Neil Young - everything that makes him great. Although apparently composed of songs recorded for, but not used, for various Young projects throughout the decade - one of them even stretching back to the mid 70's - Freedom is a masterpiece of a record. Although the songs vary widely, they all deal with the loose theme of personal freedom - hence the title. There is a wide variety of music here: everything from gentle acoustic ballads (Hangin' On A Limb, The Ways of Love), to roaring electric outburts (Don't Cry, On Broadway - which feature some of his most astonishingly brisk electric guitar freakouts ever), to long, impressionistic, and uncategorizable songs (Crime In The City, El Dorado) - Freedom is a collection of musically inventine, lyrically brilliant songs that show Neil Young at his best. The album was also finely produced: it still sounds good today. An absolutely essential album.

After a series of eccentric albums for Geffen(and an excellent blues rock experiment entitled THIS NOTES FOR YOU),Neil Young released on the Australia and Far East an EP called EL DORADO. This marked a return to the uncompromising guitar rock of RUST NEVER SLEEPS.Even this did not prepare the listener for the shock he/she was to receive on first listen of FREEDOM.The whole gamut was run on this release,from rockers full of pure anger to ballads flowing with tenderness.From the opening acoustic barb of ROCKIN' IN THE FREE WORLD to the stomping electric version that closes the album,this is Neil Young putting all that he has into his music.WRECKING BALL and HANGING ON A LIMB are heartfelt evocations of love.TOO FAR GONE is desperate love among the wasted(and is an old song,dating back to the seventies).Young's cover of ON BROADWAY sets about crushing the lies and fake tinsel covering of stardom with a sonic guitar attack.DON'T CRY is the ending of a relationship amidst lies and false promises ( Neil's guitar sounds like a dive bomber on this track).EL DORADO paints a picture of the old west and modern New Mexico. CRIME IN THE CITY (performed on the previous year's tour with a lot more verses)is a damning portrait of urban life;a theme re-enforced on ROCKIN' IN THE FREE WORLD.NO MORE is intimate and autobiographical.All in all,this is another Young classic, screaming to be part of your collection.Some critics claim this release was Neil Young's "coming out of the wilderness".I think we all just came by to Young's way of thinking once more.

Let's get one thing straight, okay? Neil Young was never really a hippie. From the beginning he was an artist of the highest caliber, one who brought thoughtful lyrics together with compelling musicianship to create a powerful listening experience. This guy has poured derision on Nixon while returning fifteen years later to champion Reagan. He follows is muse, and he follows his heart (in its current condition.) Not a hippie shred found in sight.

With that clarification made, Young does showcase his dual attributes rather well on "Freedom". In fact, rather well is such a serious understatement it is almost laughable. "Freedom" sets out to prove nothing, yet achieves the sublime. Neil Young is a certified genius.

Keep it fresh, mix it up. That's exactly what Young does here, briefly returning to his roots with an acoustic and electric rendition of "Rockin' in the Free World", which, as mentioned in previous reviews, harkens back to "Rust Never Sleeps" with "Hey, Hey... My, My." This time the lens is a little more broad, however, looking at all of societies' ills at the turn of a new decade. There were many.... and "Rockin' in the Free World" is both celebratory and indictment.

"Don't Cry" is this excellent piece of music, with the clang of a hammer punctuating every verse, the nail to the coffin of a relationship being driven in more and more forcefully. Young sounds pained, wounded, as he sings this song. Some say it's a foreshadow of grunge, but that makes little sense. It sounds nothing like grunge; it sounds like a plaintive, extremely expressive ode to lost love, albeit a rockin' one.

"The Ways of Love" sounds as if it could have been included on "Comes a Time", but it fits very nicely in this collection. Nice little swing-swayer, showcasing the more mellow Young. "Wrecking Ball" has the right tempo to convey ambivalence, along with desire. Fine, fine song. "Eldorado" kind of sort of picks up where "Cortez the Killer" left off, but not precisely enough to be a sequel. It has a great musicality, as well as some good story telling.

"Too Far Gone" rambles along, as the title might suggest, with little impact to the recording as a whole. Good song, not great, but good. Truthfully there's not a weak track in the bunch. "Crime in the City (Zero to 60) is a melodious epic tale, Neil's rendition of "On Broadway" is scruff-grabbing (listen to him croon "Just gives me... the Bluuuueeees" and you'll understand this concept.) A small dose of commentary is offered at the end, with demands for crack.... only Neil could make the connection between struggling artist and drug use and not have it come across as offensive.

Yep.... not a hippie trace in sight.

Among all of the legendary performers who waned in that musically confused decade, the 1980s, only Neil Young has made such a sudden reemergance with full guns blazing. 1989's Freedom returns all the things fans love about Young: the sweet, romantic love songs ("Wrecking Ball," "Hanging On a Limb"), the regretful, ironic ballads ("The Ways of Love," "Too Far Gone"), the screeching hard rock ("Don't Cry," "El Dorado"), the working class heroes ("Someday," "Crime in the City"), the gritty streetwise songs ("No More," "On Broadway") and, of coarse, the rock anthems and Neil delivers his most inspiring, blistering and downright amazing anthem since 1979's "Hey Hey My My" (of which Neil also released both electric and acoustic versions) with "Rocking in the Free World", an uncompromising song of dedication to rock and roll and old fashion ideas of freedom in an age where so much seems uncertain and ever-changing. True, little new territory is explored on Freedom. If that's what interests you, look to more chaotic albums Young released earlier in the 80s. He did not burn out or fade away, but no one knew what on earth he was doing. Freedom presents the return of the unique and uncompromising Neil Young fans fell in love years earlier.