Here is an album review excerpt of BARN by Neil Young & Crazy Horse | Waxing Lyrical:
But despite what Nils Lofgren brings, the core of Crazy Horse has always been its rhythm section.
There's never been a rhythm section quite like theirs. Billy Talbot's bass and Ralph Molina's drums are an irreplicable combination. They play with a ragged looseness, a wavering tightness and a near-telepathic 'feel' that produces an organic sound as tangible as moss on rock. These 78-year-old men have been constants throughout Young's 58-year career, and this is their 14th album. They know what they are doing. They have a sound that can be recognised in about half a note. But their predictability never comes at the expense of their vitality, and Barn is an excellent case in point.
This is possibly the most assured-sounding album Neil and the Horse have recorded since 1990's Ragged Glory.
Unlike Ragged Glory, this isn't the work of a Grunge Godfather, but rather, an old bloke with old mates who still know more than a few things about how to craft a tune. Young's penchant for lyrics that capture their moment of creation have produced some masterpieces over the years, and plenty of cringe-worthy duds that date more quickly than smoked salmon. Here, he's largely got the balance right. This is an album that's very much a product of its time, but it's not hemmed in by it. 'Song of the Seasons' is a fine opener example of this. The reference to the Queen is an engaging one for a few reasons. For one, she's been Queen since Young was seven years old and married since he was two. The passing of her husband is something likely to impact on Young in exactly the same ways as it might anyone else, but soon after Young notes Prince Philip's death, he follows it with 'I feel her banners rippling in the rain', which is an intriguing image, suggestive of a storm, though the storm itself is not mentioned. One can easily infer the grief of an ordinary woman who's lost her partner after 73 years of marriage, but one can also envisage the public stoicism that shields the private pain of a public figurehead. And finally, there is the image of profound change that has reached out and over the wider world as a result of the Covid pandemic.
The idea that this is an album about how we experience change only strengthens as the album progresses. [ed - emphasis added]
A bold statement that "This is possibly the most assured-sounding album Neil and the Horse have recorded since 1990's Ragged Glory." But no disagreement that "how we experience change only strengthens as the album progresses."
Full review @ Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Barn | Waxing Lyrical.
