Prairie Wind

Neil Young

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 27, 2005)
• Original Release Date: September 27, 2005
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Reprise Records
• ASIN: B000AXSN5G
• Also Available in: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (155 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,305 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #19 in	Music > Folk > Singer-Songwriters
  #22 in	Music > Rock > Singer-Songwriters
  #52 in	Music > Rock > Country Rock

Track Listings

1. Painter

2. No Wonder

3. Falling Off the Face of the Earth

4. Far From Home

5. It's A Dream

6. Prairie Wind

7. Here For You

8. This Old Guitar

9. He Was the King

10. When God Made Me

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

An artist for all musical seasons, Neil Young returns to autumnal harvest mode on Prairie Wind, with homespun material and sing-song melodies that renew the spirit of some of his most popular releases. Yet the mood here is darker in its maturity than on Harvest and Harvest Moon--the previous releases in what now sounds like a trilogy--and the arrangements have greater range and aural depth, with Wayne Jackson of the soulful Memphis Horns, the Fisk University Jubilee Singers gospel choir, and a string section employed to striking effect. This is a song cycle of dreams, memories, family ties, and the passage of time--what is lost and what endures. The elliptical, epic "No Wonder," with its evocation of 9/11, ranks with the most ambitious songs of Young's career, while "Falling Off the Face of the Earth," "It's a Dream," and the bluesy title cut combine childlike innocence with unsettling experience. Spooner Oldham's church keyboards and coproducer Ben Keith's steel guitar reinforce the sound's sturdy simplicity. Young has released a lot of albums in different musical styles, but Prairie Wind feels like a homecoming, and ranks with his very best. --Don McLeese

Recommended Neil Young Discography

Harvest	After the Gold Rush	Tonight's the Night
Rust Never Sleeps	Ragged Glory	Decade

Product Description

Prairie Wind is quintessential Neil Young, a masterpiece that completes the trilogy of his best-selling albums Harvest and Harvest Moon-direct yet poetic, country and folk yet rock. Recorded in Nashville, and with longtime collaborators, Prairie Wind is a moving series of songs reflecting Young's journey through life.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

183 of 192 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Blowin' In The Wind, September 28, 2005

By	Thomas Magnum (NJ, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

Neil Young has always been a musical chameleon. Shifting from hard rock to rockabilly to grunge to futuristic synth music, he's tried every music genre. But the style he keeps returning to is country-rock. Prairie Wind is yet another superb album in this vein. The past few years haven't been kind to Mr. Young with the death of his father and the mother of his first child or finding out that he has a brain aneurysm. With the sense of loss and mortality, Prairie Wind reflects on life and family. "The Painter" brilliantly sets the tone for the album as it a brooding, moody piece that shows music gives eternal life to its artists. "Far From Home" is a lovely ode to his parents and "Here For You" is a sweet song for his kids that has a great harmonica solo. "Falling From The Face Of The Earth" is a gentle lament and "He Was The King" is a goofy salute to Elvis Presley, but one done with spirit. "When God Made Me" has a full gospel chorus and "This Old Guitar" is the best track on the album with its simple story and laid-back charm. Country-rock is the skin Mr. Young feels most comfortable in and Prairie Wind is his best album in a decade.

180 of 190 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Here For You, October 3, 2005

By	K. H. Orton (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Everytime Neil Young releases a mellow country rock album, it's immediately hailed as another HARVEST. Well, this is no HARVEST nor another rather overated HARVEST MOON. COMES A TIME might be more applicable, but as far as I'm concerned, any such comparisons are a waste of breath.

This is quite simply the most satisfying Neil Young album I've heard in years. Warm, organic & damn haunting. Death & loss are the major themes & you'd have to be deaf not to notice it comes from the gut. All 9/11 & Chris Rock references aside, "No Wonder" sounds amazingly like vintage 70's Young. His singular warble has never sounded so faltering as it does on, "Falling Off The Face Of The Earth". The horns on "Far From Home" lend a sense of humor to what is by and large an introspective album. The goofy Elvis ode, "He Was The King" seems to be another one tossed in to keep things from getting too serious. For songs like "Painter" & the title track, the tone is certainly nostalgic but a thick coat of regret keeps things from flying away. In the hands of anyone else the sentiments of "This Old Guitar" would come off as a Hallmark greeting, but Young's whispered delivery lends it undeniable gravity.

I saw Young & choir sing "God Made Me" on the Katrina Relief concert & it stopped in my tracks. It still does here. Further proof, that if lent an unprejudiced ear, herein lies a moving & poignant album full of subtle melodies that will stick in your head if given a proper listen. Let audiophiles & die hard fans whine & gripe till they're blue in the face.

I'm a discerning fan, not everything he's touched turns to gold but Young's albums are always heartfelt. Some just find themselves in your cd player more often than others. PRAIRIE WIND is destined to be one of those.

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Like a Letter from an Old Friend, November 18, 2005

By	Thomas D. Ryan "American Hit Network" (New York) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

There are a precious few artist/musicians who can claim to have remained valid for forty years. Bob Dylan is one, Van Morrison another. Perhaps the same can be said for Paul McCartney, but of this list, it is arguable that Neil Young did the best job of remaining relevant for most of that time. His music has accompanied me throughout my life, and with "Prairie Wind," it appears as though that journey is bound to continue.
"Prairie Wind" is about reflecting on old times, and acknowledging the importance of good friends, family, and time well spent. Listening to this album is like getting a letter from an old friend who you haven't heard from in a few years. The reminiscent tone is immediately familiar and deeply touching, especially as he discusses old memories from the perspective of a person who wants to communicate thoughts that may have gone unspoken, as in "Falling Off the Face of the Earth"; "It's such a precious thing, the time we share together. I must apologize for all the troubled times." Philosophically speaking, it is pretty much true that most of us do not get to really know many people - In a lifetime, we might claim a few family members and a handful of friends as truly close. Young suggests this himself in the song "The Painter," when he sings "I have my friends eternally, we left our tracks in the sound. Some of them are with me now, some of them can't be found."
Over the course of his career, Neil has often confounded the public by constantly changing directions, including a few chameleonic shifts in style. However far he wanders, though, he eventually returns to his roots as a reflective country-folk artist. In that sense, "Prairie Wind" was inevitable, and it is welcome because it allows Neil Young to be extremely honest with himself and with his audience, at a time when honesty is a very rare commodity. "Prairie Wind" is the most reflective album in Neil Young's entire catalogue, with many songs that are culled from old memories and which then evaluate how well his time has been spent. Perhaps the album's centerpiece is a track entitled "It's a Dream." It starts with Young comforting a loved one after a bad dream, and then drifts into a dreamlike vision of a young boy fishing by a river piling. The next verse conjures an old man who watches as a train pulls away from the station and vanishes in the distance. Each time, he concludes with a chorus that states "It's a dream. It's only a dream, and it's fading now, fading away...just a memory without anywhere to stay." The emotional effect of these words is deeply sad, and yet it is simultaneously comforting, telling us that in the end, we are left with our memories, and even these fade away from us, so it is good to acknowledge those who have shared their time with us.
The great illusion of pop culture is how it deceives us into believing that we actually know the artist. Unless it's abused, I don't think that's a bad thing. We listen closely while they share their innermost thoughts in an eloquent, artistically appealing song. We interpret their words, relate to them, and develop a sense of familiarity that in some ways transcends many `flesh and blood' relationships. Over the course of four decades, I have come to feel as though I genuinely know Neil Young, and "Prairie Wind" does nothing to dispel that notion.
A- Tom Ryan