Old Ways [Original recording remastered]

Neil Young | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 1, 2000)
• Original Release Date: 1985
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Interscope Records
• ASIN: B00004VW35
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #16,273 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Neil Young's most dependable route has always been to head for the back roads. Country-flavored releases Harvest (1972), Comes a Time ('78), Harvest Moon ('92), and Silver & Gold ('00) are among the most commercially popular titles in a fitful career, which makes Old Ways something of a anomaly. Released in 1985 as the mid-title in a misbegotten five-LP stint with Geffen, it failed to exhibit the kind of roughhewn muscle of its more robust country cousins. With Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson making vocal contributions and a mix of longtime Young sidemen and Nashville cats laying down a bed of fiddles, steel guitar, and banjo, it would seem to be cruising right up Music City's main drag of the mid-'80s. But Young being Young, he goes around the bend with "Misfits," which summons an indelible image of space-station astronauts watching reruns of Muhammad Ali fights. It happens to be the most memorable number on Old Ways, which perhaps explains why those new fans never showed up and the old ones found other things to do for awhile. --Steven Stolder

Product Description

Unavailable on CD in the U.S., this is his 1985 album forGeffen. 10 tracks, including 'The Wayward Wind', 'Are ThereAny More Real Cowboys?', 'Bound For Glory', the title cutand 'Where Is The Highway Tonight?'. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Young is countrified & having a ball", August 8, 2000

By 

J. Lovins "Mr. Jim" (Missouri-USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Old Ways (Audio CD)

A straight ahead country album from Neil Young featuring Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings - "OLD WAYS", originally released in 1985- is traveling down the road again with a country band International Harvesters.

Guest appearances by some notables as - Bela Fleck on banjo, Hargus "Pig" Robbins on piano, Rufus Thibodeaux on fiddle, Ralph Mooney on steel guitar, Marty Stuart on mandolin and Terry McMillan on harmonica, plus his usual sidemen Ben Keith, Spooner Oldham, Tim Drummond and Karl Himmel.

This re-mastered album is pure fun, sounds better than ever. Give a listen and see if you don't agree - "OLD WAYS" is a real down-home barn-raisin' time!

Total Time: 36:45 on 10 Tracks/ Universal-Geffen - 069 490 705 2 (2000)

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WAY better than I remember, September 8, 2003

By 

John S. Ryan "Scott Ryan" (Cuyahoga Falls, OH) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Old Ways (Audio CD)

I remember being vaguely disappointed with this one when it came out. But I'm durned if I can remember why. Hearing it on CD, I like it as well as I liked _Comes a Time_.

It's mostly traditional, straight-up country music, with the usual Neil twists (this time it's astronauts sitting around watching reruns of Muhammed Ali). The opening track -- a beautiful take on "The Wayward Wind" -- is the only track that Neil didn't write, and it's as lovely as "Four Strong Winds" on _Comes a Time_. The guest appearances by Waylon & Willie are suitably understated. The songs are strong.

I honestly do not remember why I wasn't thrilled with this when it was first released. But whatever the reason, I was wrong, wrong, wrong.

I seem to recall that around the time this album was released, David Geffen sued Neil for putting out uncharacteristic and uncommercial music. Well, here's hoping Neil keeps that up forever.

Neil, I apologize for doubting you. I haven't got a _clue_ what I was thinking.

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Neil's Trip Through Genre Hell, February 13, 2002

By 

Timothy A. Rundquist (Fergus Falls, MN United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Old Ways (Audio CD)

One of Neil Young's strong suits (among many) is that he is unpredictable. At no time was this more apparent than during that phase in the mid-80s when he went from techno to rockabilly to country to blues-- a period in his career that I call "genre hell." Eventually, Neil pretty much went back to being Neil, and all was well again.
Unsurprisingly, Neil's music during this time was wildly uneven. Case in point: his "country" album, Old Ways. Some cuts are essential: "My Boy" and "Bound For Glory" channel the genre in a way that doesn't submerge Neil's genius for melody and heartfelt lyrics. Other tracks, however, seem (in the words of another reviewer) like a country-music "caricature." For example, the Jew's harp solos in "Get Back To The Country" are flat-out silly. A couple of tracks, in fact are downright unlistenable ("The Wayward Wind," "Misfits")-- quite a statement from a hardcore Neil-ist such as myself.
Also of interest are the appearances by a variety of country/bluegrass luminaries, such as Willie Nelson, Bela Fleck and the late, great Waylon Jennings.
While this album is still a worthwhile chapter (and, a mercifully brief one) in the Neil Young lexicon, don't expect something as stellar as "Harvest," "Comes A Time" or "Harvest Moon."