Silver & Gold

Neil Young

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 25, 2000)
• Original Release Date: 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Reprise Records
• ASIN: B000023X9W
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (177 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #24,786 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com's Best of 2000
One of Neil Young's softest and most striking albums in ages, Silver & Gold recaptures the peacefulness of Comes a Time and Harvest Moon. At one point ("Buffalo Springfield Again"), Young even goes so far as to imagine the reunion of the band he left in order to pursue a solo career. It's a moment that almost overtakes Young's songs of husbandly devotion in sheer sweetness. --Rickey Wright

Amazon.com
Once prone to straying all over the map, Neil Young has contented himself of late alternating between country squire and convulsive rocker. Silver & Gold is an exquisite addition to Young's pastoral offerings. Envisioned as the singer's first totally solo album, the 10-song set was reconceived and resequenced over the course of three years. Indeed, the four Young songs on Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's problematic Looking Forward were taken from an earlier version of Silver & Gold, backing tracks and all. What's left is a spare, guileless assortment of tunes that owes a thematic and sonic debt to After the Gold Rush. The touchingly nostalgic "Daddy Went Walkin'" and "Red Sun" conjure up images of childhood contentment; Young's parents divorced in his youth, but here they're sweethearts. Love is on Young's mind in the idyllic title track, "Horseshoe Man," and "Razor Love." He reflects on his early musical career with the artless but oddly suitable "Buffalo Springfield Again." Then he pulls it all together with the cryptic closer, "Without Wings." "I'm pickin' somethin' up / I'm lettin' somethin' go," he intones. And one can only reflect on how appropriate it is that Young dropped a song called "Looking Forward" from his latest journey through the past. --Steven Stolder

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "All I want is a song of love", May 30, 2000

By	Mark Slocum (Michigan) - See all my reviews

My title is a lyric from "Distant Camera", cut number 8 on this 10 song disk and 10 songs of love are what Neil offers here. Make no mistake this is mellow Neil; hard rocking, distorted-amp electric Neil stayed home for this one, and that's OK, we know he'll come around soon. So let's enjoy an album of love songs which flows from beginning to end almost as if it was one long ballad, exploring the topic of love and its many facets. The title track puts true love on the front burner and material things on the back. This cut in particular is outstanding with a "Harvest Moon" feel. "Daddy Went Walking" is Neil the storyteller painting a lyrical picture in the vein of "Old King" from Harvest Moon. "Buffalo Springfield Again" is naturally an auto-biographical looking back with an older and wiser perspective, and a bit of longing for times past. "Red Sun" is a stand-out song about lasting love and "Razor Love" acknowledges a hurtful side of love. The rest of the cuts are excellent with appearances by Linda Rhondstat and Emmylou Harris on harmony. For those of us who appreciate both "Evil" Neil and "Nice" Neil this is a 5-star album...For those who prefer only "Evil" Neil take a pass on this one...

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars quiet Neil, May 3, 2000

By	Jake Berry (Florence, AL) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Forever moving outside the style of the week, even moving beyond his own inclinations, Young remains one of the great individuals of his generation of songwriter/musicians. Silver & Gold is more than a mellow recording in the manner of Harvest or Comes A Time, it's very nearly the completely solo album that Young first imagined it. Accompaniment is sparse and tastefully contributed to the mix. As with virtually all of his work, the songs are plainly honest and heartfelt, this time focusing on love and relationship. This is not a masterpiece on the level of After The Goldrush or Rust Never Sleeps, but it's awfully good. For the most part the songs are hopeful with the closing number mixing Young's idiosycratic humor with dark passages that suggest the old doubts that haunted his earlier work remain with the wiser man, though less disturbingly so. This is Young as quiet as we are likely to get him and no one covers the silent moments better.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Neil Young's best album in years, July 26, 2000

By	Adrien Begrand (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) - See all my reviews

With Silver & Gold, Neil Young has released his best album since Harvest Moon. A relaxed, wistful reflection on life and love, Young keeps things simple with a stripped-down sound (acoustic guitar punctuated with drums, piano, and plaintive steel guitar here and there) and lyrics that are minimalist without sinking into banality ("all i want/is a song of love/a song of love/to sing to you"). 'Good To See You' and 'Silver & Gold' are basic love songs that transcend their simplicity with their lilting melodies; 'Daddy Went Walkin'' and 'Horseshoe Man' paint ethereal pictures of simple life. The last three songs on Silver & Gold rank among the best Young has written in the past ten years: 'Distant Camera' reworks the opening riff of 'Old Man' into a reflection of the artist who feels he has become that same Old Man; 'Razor Love' is a beautiful ballad played with a full band which evokes Harvest-era Young; and 'Without Rings' serves as a darker, melancholy conclusion that surprises the listener with its frankness. This album was painstakingly assembled over a couple years, but the wait was more than worth it. Silver & Gold is one of the better albums of 2000.