Neil Young - Fork In The Road (CD/DVD)
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Artist: Neil YoungBrand: YOUNG,NEIL
Edition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
CD Release Date: 2009-04-07
Music Label: Reprise Records
Product features:
- YOUNG NEIL FORK IN THE ROAD (CD+DVD)
Music CD 1
- When Worlds Collide
- Fuel Line
- Just Singing A Song
- Johnny Magic
- Cough Up The Bucks
- Behind The Wheel
- Off The Road
- Hit The Road
- Light A Candle
- Fork In The Road
- Fork In The Road (DVD)
- Just Singing A Song (DVD)
- Light A Candle (DVD)
- A Day In The Life live concert video (DVD)
Music reviews of Fork In The Road (CD/DVD)
Music Review: When Worlds Collide, Some People Take Things Too Seriously (3.5 stars)
Rating: 4 Stars
With Neil Young's new album, Le Noise, premiering to widespread acclaim last week, his spring 2009 release, Fork in the Road, will likely fade from the public consciousness further than it already has, giving way, like many works before it, to the much greater interest in Young's last creation. And while that work is both fresh and most fascinating, with last year's "hype" finally deflated, it is perhaps an ideal juncture at which to examine its predecessor.
"Fork in the Road" was released in April 2009 to a memorable flurry of fan and press response. Indeed, even before the album's debut, fans who had heard the spngs live--or seen online videos, legal or otherwise--were swearing they wouldn't buy it. There were even pleas for its release to be cancelled. Even in the notorious Geffen years of the 1980s, Young had never experienced such intense backlash *before an album had been release.* Why such outcry? The root cause, of course, can be debated. Was initial reaction swayed by nostalgia--comparison to the illustrious past works of the artist? Was pure pretension--the lack of interest, even scorn, for a "back-to-basics" garage rock-style album--the culprit? This writer suspects a bit of both. Young's previous more grandiose works, such as Chrome Dreams II and Greendale 2nd Edition (Bonus Dvd), had been met with ambivalent responses, so one could argue that Young's recent critics aren't in search only of quantity over quality, or of some epic scope. This does not, however, rule out the distinct possibility of an unwillingness to accept something as largely simple and straightforward as 'Road.'
For--make no mistake about--'Fork in the Road', for the most part, lacks lyrical or thematic profundity, both of which are often associated with Young's best work. If one needs a point of reference, while nowhere near as bone-headed and one dimensional as most of Re-Act-Or (Vinyl Replica CD), nothing more than an explosive let-your-hair-down Crazy Horse-style rock fest, the content of Fork in the Road rarely approaches the intellectual level of After the Gold Rush, Harvest, or even its immediate predecessor, the warmly recommended Chrome Dreams II. It's also not the album I'd recommend if you only like the "country" or acoustic element of Neil Young's work (Prairie Wind [CD/DVD] is the artist's most recent work in that vein, although that just means he'll be probably be returning to that style any minute now.)
What is 'Fork in the Road', then? Basically, it's a no-frills, no-tricks, back-to-basics Neil Young rock 'n' roll album. And in retrospect, following the experimentation and extravagance (both in quantity and quality) of much of Young's work from the past decade, it's not an entirely unwelcome change. To be sure, 'Fork in the Road' lacks the eclecticism and intellectual range of Chrome Dreams II, the pure epic vision of Greendale, and the musically rejuvenating exploration of Are You Passionate?. In fact, and not that I like to focus on direct comparisons between albums, if 'Road' reminds me of any of Neil's previous work, it is most akin to Broken Arrow, a semi-forgotten but not unpleasant mid-'90s release: the material on both albums has an intellectual dynamic at times and is certainly thoughtful, but there are no grand designs--and no great scheme other than grab an electric guitar (preferably Old Black), crank it up, and let the unreal noises Young manages to extract from it carry you away. To be entirely honest, there are moments when this album plays like a Crazy Horse record with a more polished, far smoother band (and the brilliant pulsating drumming of Chad Cromwell to boot.)
"Johnny Magic", in particular, revives a long dormant spirit of pure rock 'n' roll. If we're honest, I think we have to admit Neil hadn't done this sort of "let-your-hair-down" fare in a while. ''Magic' is the upbeat tale, told with seeming boundless energy and exuberance, of a mechanical prodigy who creates a solution to the world's economic and environmental woes via a "heavy metal Continental", which runs on "domestic green fuel" and makes 100 miles/hr. It's not 'Heart of Gold', but it is a lot of fun and worth a listen if you like the electrified Neil. How anyone long time fan can *not* break out into a grin upon Neil's solemn declaration of the titular character's destiny "In the form of a heavy metal continental," is beyond me. Nor would I expect to find the expression "motorhead messiah" on an album being heavily criticized for a supposed lack of lyrical creativity. Have people lost their sense of humor? Yes, Neil's work can be great food for thought, but after 45 years, the man doesn't have to be 100% serious 100% of the time. Treat this as a light intermission if you must.
The same goes for the next two tracks--Cough up the Bucks and Get Behind the Wheel. The former is a send-up of both rap music and the recession, hence the extreme repetition people were annoyed by. Again, not to be taken too seriously, I thought this was a nice laugh and one of the better tracks on the album. Maybe you need to see the video that goes with it--probably on youtube-- it to fully appreciate both the humor and the message. If nothing else, the riff before the chorus is a sure winner. 'Get Behind the Wheel' was one I personally took a while to get behind. Its bluesy, retro-'50s feel epitomizes the styling of the album, bringing to mind Chuck Berry's color repertoire of automotive-related numbers: 'No Money Down', 'You Can't Catch Me', 'No Particular Place to Go.' "You gotta get behind the wheel in the morning and drive" should be a sentiment any of us can relate to for reasons in need of no explanations--simple but effective. As far as the "car songs" go, this is probably the best. Car songs, of course, may not be what one expects of Neil, but I've come around to thinking it's pretty groovy myself. And anyway, if I may be so bold, anyone who "expects" with as unpredictable an artist as Neil Young can't have been paying much attention to his previous output. (And there is a fairly substantial history of rock 'n' roll music about cars, but I suppose not everyone breaks out the Chuck Berry remasters as often as I do.)
'When Worlds Collide', meanwhile, is the album opener. The riff is another simple but effective device that should successfully real in the first time listener, and again, on musical merit alone, even as I was listening to it today, it's got a really nice groove to it. The lyrics are also some of the album's more interesting ones, and gave me hope initially that the rest of the record would be a good bit better than the early reviews had suggested. It seems to be a reflection the need to escape from everyday life once in a while ("living my days in an old jail cells, somehow life just goes to h*ll") and do something to rejuvenate oneself physically and intellectually ("taking a trip across the USA; gonna meet a lot of people along the way from far and wide.") Neil also lays down some good guitar along the way, however minimal. At this point in the album, your interests should be piqued.
'Fuel Line' is another one that's grown on me in a whimsical sort of way over time. It's also another good riff, and a pleasurable piece of rock 'n' roll if you let go a little and access the same primal spirit that makes 'T-Bone' or even 'Cinnamon Girl' fun to listen to. On top of which, I positively love the crunchy metallic sound Neil manages to extort from whatever set of strings he was using at the time--it gives the song a contemporary sort of feel that works with the "car of the future" theme. Almost does make you feel like Neil might be on to something really great with this, all the while cheekily reminding those "old timers" to fill their old guzzlers so they can empty them again and repeat the process. "Keep filling that old fuel line..."
'Just Singing a Song' and 'Light a Candle', however, are the two that vie for the title of Best Track. The former is another rock, expanded on the theme of change in a more dynamic yet general way, alluding to "making your own while the big wheel roles." There's also Neil's genuinely inspiring invitation to: "Play my guitar; see where it goes. Send a song to a distant star while the rhythm explodes"-- I think he's pretty much summed up what he does for a living there. Makes you wonder what it is that people see as lacking in some of these lyrics (And again, there's more tantalizingly guitar theatrics.) 'Light a Candle', though, may be even better. Along with the gorgeous and reflective 'Off the Road', a piece I won't spoil other than to say it makes quite interesting use of the "car" theme in the form of an extended metaphor, this is an exception to the otherwise thoroughly electric material on show here: a gentle tune, mainly acoustic, offering a message of cautious optimism. Again, genuinely inspiring. The concept of 'lighting a candle' rather than 'cursing the darkness' also goes a long way to explain the light-hearted tone Neil has adopted for most of this album. The fact that it's the second-to-last track may obscure its thematic importance, but the more I think about it, the more I'm sure the whole "look on the bright side" idea--which is essentially what 'Light a Candle' is conveying-- is key to what Neil was doing here, hence whimsical songs like 'Cough up the Bucks', 'Get Behind the Wheel', and 'Fuel Line', joyful and optimistic ones like 'Johnny Magic.'
And nowhere is this attitude of jollification than in the title track, which, in an unusual arrangement, finishes out the album. It's six minutes of unprecedentedly blunt political and social commentary, mixed with bizarre and comic ramblings, partially from the point of view of an aging trucker, partially from that of a depressed "big rock star" whose "sales have tanked." No, it's not profound, but I do think it's very funny if you're will to forgo some pretense of constant sophistication in everything. Besides, it is clever in its own way, getting in a dig at the Bush administration (asking, "Who's idea was that?" in reference to the continued deployment of American troops to the Middle East) and mocking pop culture, specifically the manner in which convenience is often valued over quality ("download this; sounds like s***. Keep on bloggin', till the lights go out.")
Yes, yes, yes. I'm perfectly aware this stuff isn't earth-shattering. It's neither poetic nor profound. But--call me simple--I don't think I've ever laughed so hard through a Neil Young song. It's funny. And it was meant to be funny. It's not supposed to be some ground-breaking, incredibly deep social commentary. As I expanded upon above, I believe Neil was trying to put a more upbeat, whimsical slant on things this time around. 'Fork in the Road' was designed, largely, to be an amusing distraction from all the bad stuff going on around us. It's entertainment. Again, maybe my standards are low, but I think it's OK--beneficial even--to laugh once in a while.
If you're looking for ultra -sophisticated, polished music with constantly profound lyrics, you probably won't like this album. I wouldn't recommend it to new fans, either; although it's an entertaining album on its own, as summarized above, it's admittedly not an example of a really great Neil Young album, nor what most of his work is like. But if you're a seasoned fan, and/or you just want 40 minutes of good old-fashioned rock 'n' roll with whimsical lyrics, meaty guitar work, and groovy riffs, this can be a really fun album in the right frame of mind.
Don't be afraid to enjoy 'Fork in the Road'. It's truly a joyful piece of music-making, for which I think we can all afford to let go of our pretensions for 37 minutes now and then. My personal recommendation would be top it on as background music while you're trying to get something done around the house. Boost the volume-- plugging in a good set of headphones first if deemed necessary--and really try to get into the unique, yet somehow comfortingly familiar, groove of these ten songs. They constitute yet another utterly unique slice of Neil, showing yet another side of his multi-faceted personally. This time he's the court jester, with bells attached to his trusty old black Gretsch. If this had been the long-awaited Crazy Horse reunion, I think it could have been as successful as almost any of Neil's other albums in the last ten years. It might also have been more successful if it hadn't been accompanied by the bitterness of yet another postponement of the Archives project. But people were too focused on wanting one thing--and just that one thing--rather than trying to appreciate whatever they were given. I remember people on these forums having their knee-jerk reactions, assuming based on the negative pre-release hype and Archives debacle that 'Fork in the Road' would be awful, then recanting later--actually hearing it and thinking it wasn't that bad. Which it isn't, because luckily, Neil has a sense of humor. Of course, because 'Fork in the Road' is completely serious, the people who always take this sort of thing way too seriously didn't get it. Some still don't. They're the ones cursing the darkness. 'Fork in the Road' is Neil's "candle in the darkness", the candle he lit before he left.
Or at least it sounds like he had had a darned good time making it. 3.5 stars.
Description of Fork In The Road (CD/DVD)
The DVD in this CD+DVD packagefeatures three live, never-before-seen concert videos, and videos for four songs on the album.
Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Neil Young is stirring things up again. This time he is rolling on down the road not only with an auto-centric concept album but with his own electric ride. Fork In The Road, whose largely ecocar themed songs he debuted in concert during the past year, will get a promotional push from the 1959 Lincoln Continental Young has converted to hybrid technology and which he plans to drive to Washington, D.C. With Fork In The Road as current as today's headlines, the controversial and mad-as-hell Neil Young is still rockin' the free world and once more is taking the road less traveled.
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