Decade

Neil Young

Reprise, 1977

http://www.neilyoung.com

REVIEW BY: Pete Crigler

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 08/19/2017

One of the greatest compilations ever put together by a single artist, Decade sums up the best of Neil Young for the first 10 years of his amazing career. Bringing together his solo stuff, Buffalo Springfield, and CSNY, Decade my_heart_sings_the_harmony_web_ad_alt_250 does a great job of chronicling all the highs in a career that will probably never be topped by anyone, ever.

It’s really hard to go wrong when things kick off with his own personal best from Buffalo Springfield, including personal favorites “Mr. Soul” and “I Am A Child.” Meanwhile, it’s hard to say anything negative when you hear songs like “Cinnamon Girl,” “Down By The River,” and “Southern Man.” In fact, it’s almost impossible to say anything other than positive things about this disc.

How can one go wrong with songs like “Ohio,” “Heart Of Gold,” “Winterlong,” and “The Needle And The Damage Done?” As Neil got more introspective with “Ohio” and “Tonight’s The Night,” he almost turned the whole singer-songwriter scene on its head and pushed others to get closer to themselves.

It’s a bit odd hearing songs like “Winterlong” and “Deep Forbidden Lake” with their wistful lyrics, which almost take him back to the era of Buffalo Springfield. The only two defects here are “Love Is A Rose” and “Campaigner,” which features the odd line “Even Richard Nixon’s got soul.” They just seem out of place and aren’t as great as some of the other stuff here. But hey, the stuff’s 40 years old, so there’s not much you can do about it now.

This is a no-brainer for fans and people just wanting to scratch the surface of what has made Neil Young so outstanding and revered for such a diverse body of work. Decade is of the most encapsulating greatest hits packages ever seen.

Rating: A

User Rating: Not Yet Rated


Comments

 








© 2017 Pete Crigler and The Daily Vault. All rights reserved. Review or any portion may not be reproduced without written permission. Cover art is the intellectual property of Reprise, and is used for informational purposes only.