Il primo greatest hist di Neil Young. Condensare in un unico album la colossale opera dell'artista era un'impresa improba, ma le scelte fatte risultano più che apprezzabili.

Inutile spendere ulteriori parole su Neil Young, di cui è già stato detto già tutto. Solo per  introdurre l'album, è doveroso ricordare che l'artista, canadese di nascita, è stato (ed è) una delle personalità più importanti della musica rock. La sua influenza sulle nuove generazioni è stata (ed è) enorme. Ha composto concept album di statura enorme, alternando "schizofrenicamente" registrazioni in studio e live, tanto soffuse le prime quanto grezze le seconde. Ha spaziato dal country all'acid-rock, dal folk al blues, dall'hard rock al grunge.

Il greatest hits raccoglie soprattutto i brani provenienti dai primi album, forse i più significativi.

"Down by the River" e "Cowgirl in the Sand" sono due lunghe composizioni rock, oniriche ed elettriche. "Cinnamon Girl" è ancora più ritmata, quasi hard rock. Si passa quindi ad "Helpless", brano proveniente dall'album "Deja Vu" della premiata ditta "CSNY", dall'atmosfera più bucolica e rilassata.

"After the GoldRush" e "Only Love Can Break Your Heart"  sono invece ballate melodiche tipicamente folk. Dallo stesso album viene ripresa anche la famosa cavalcata elettrica  "Southern Man". "Ohio", veemente canzone di protesta, riprende gli stessi arrangiamenti elettrici coniugandoli però al cantato made in CSNY.

Di "Harvest", forse l'album più famoso di Young, sono presenti la rilassata "Heart of Gold", la triste "Old Man" e la toccante "The Needle and the Damage Done". Giù il cappello, siamo giunti così al vertice del country rock di ogni tempo. "Like A Hurricane" è invece una intensa ballata elettrica, suoni distorti (quasi grunge) che accompagnano una delle più belle melodie "youngiane". "Comes aTime" e "Harvest Moon" segnano un ritorno alle atmosfere di "After the Goldrush" e "Harvest", ma risultano meno riuscite delle precedenti. "Rockin' in the Freeworld" e "Hey Hey, My My" sono invece brani hard rock, inni alla libertà e all'immortalità del genere.

Nel complesso, si tratta di una raccolta molto interessante, soprattutto per un ipotetico neofita. Mancano tuttavia alcune tra le canzoni più belle di Young: dalle bucoliche "Sugar Mountain", "Tell Me Why", "Harvest" e "Out On the Weeck-End", alle più grintose "Alabama" e "Come On Baby Let's Go DownTown", dalle malinconiche composizioni di "Tonight's The Night" e "On The Beach" alle più allegre musiche di "Zuma", dal semplice grunge di "Ragged Glory" al più complesso sound di "Sleeps with Angels".

Elenco tracce testi e video

01   Cinnamon Girl (03:01)

02   Old Man (03:22)

Old man look at my life,
I'm a lot like you were.
Old man look at my life,
I'm a lot like you were.

Old man look at my life,
Twenty four and there's so much more
Live alone in a paradise
That makes me think of two.

Love lost, such a cost,
Give me things that don't get lost.
Like a coin that won't get tossed
Rolling home to you.

Old man take a look at my life I'm a lot like you
I need someone to love me the whole day through
Ah, one look in my eyes and you can tell that's true.

Lullabies, look in your eyes,
Run around the same old town.
Doesn't mean that much to me
To mean that much to you.

I've been first and last
Look at how the time goes past.
But I'm all alone at last.
Rolling home to you.

Old man take a look at my life I'm a lot like you
I need someone to love me the whole day through
Ah, one look in my eyes and you can tell that's true.

Old man look at my life,
I'm a lot like you were.
Old man look at my life,
I'm a lot like you were.

03   Comes Atime (03:06)

04   Walk On (02:42)

05   The Loner (03:52)

He's a perfect stranger,
Like a cross of himself and a fox.
He's a feeling arranger
And a changer of the ways he talks.
He's the unforeseen danger
The keeper of the key to the locks.
Know when you see him,
Nothing can free him.
Step aside, open wide,
It's the loner.

If you see him in the subway,
He'll be down at the end of the car.
Watching you move
Until he knows he knows who you are.
When you get off at your station alone,
He'll know that you are.
Know when you see him,
Nothing can free him.
Step aside, open wide,
It's the loner.

There was a woman he knew
About a year or so ago.
She had something that he needed
And he pleaded with her not to go.
On the day that she left,
He died, but it did not show.
Know when you see him,
Nothing can free him.
Step aside, open wide,
It's the loner.

06   Like a Hurricane (05:25)

Once I thought I saw you in a crowded hazy bar,
Dancing on the light from star to star.
Far across the moonbeam I know that's who you are,
I saw your brown eyes turning once to fire.

You are like a hurricane
There's calm in your eye.
And I'm gettin' blown away
To somewhere safer where the feeling stays.
I want to love you but I'm getting blown away.

I am just a dreamer, but you are just a dream,
You could have been anyone to me.
Before that moment you touched my lips
That perfect feeling when time just slips
Away between us on our foggy trip.

You are like a hurricane
There's calm in your eye.
And I'm gettin' blown away
To somewhere safer where the feeling stays.
I want to love you but I'm getting blown away.

You are just a dreamer, and I am just a dream.
You could have been anyone to me.
Before that moment you touched my lips
That perfect feeling when time just slips
Away between us on our foggy trip.

You are like a hurricane
There's calm in your eye.
And I'm gettin' blown away
To somewhere safer where the feeling stays.
I want to love you but I'm getting blown away.

07   Heart of Gold (03:06)

I want to live
I want to give
I've been a miner for a heart of gold
It's these expressions I never give
That keep me searching for a heart of gold
And I'm getting old
Keeps me searching for a heart of gold
And I'm getting old

I've been to Hollywood,
I've been to Redwood
I've crossed the ocean for a heart of gold
I've been in my mind
It's such a fine line
That keeps me searching for a heart of gold
And I'm getting old
Keeps me searching for a heart of gold
And I'm getting old

Keep me searching for a heart of gold
Keep me searching and I'm growing old
Keep me searching for a heart of gold
I've been a miner for a heart of gold.

08   Southern Man (05:30)

09   Down by the River (04:12)

10   Southern Pacific (04:09)

11   Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black) (05:06)

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