Neil Young - Prairie wind
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Neil Young - Prairie Wind
Neil Young - Prairie Wind
Summary
This is a review of Neil Young's 2005 album, Prairie Wind.
Keywords
Neil Young, Prairie Wind, music, folk rock, Harvest, Canada, Canadian
Article
Few musicians boast a discography as vast and revered as Neil Young's. Since the late '60s, the Canadian icon has released over 40 albums, many as memorable as Harvest, Rust Never Sleeps, and Freedom. Remarkably, even at the age of 60, Young remains at the top of his game, as demonstrated by his latest release, Prairie Wind.
After a string of less impactful albums, culminating in the criticized Are You Passionate? (2002), critics and fans began to suspect Young's decline. Yet, he astounded the music world with Greendale (2003), an album as musically compelling as it was conceptually rich. Emulating Steinbeck, Young crafted an entire Californian town, focusing on the Green family to explore themes like freedom, peace, and ecology?"values he's championed since the late '60s. This revival continued in 2005 with the excellent Prairie Wind, arguably his finest work in a decade.
With Prairie Wind, Young returns to the folk-rock style that made him a star in the early '70s. Albums like After the Gold Rush (1970) showcased his unique universe of complex, surreal poetry, exceptional musicianship, and his unmistakable nasal voice. However, the success of that work is often overshadowed by Harvest (1971), which many (though not all) regard as his masterpiece. Featuring the iconic "Heart of Gold," which became Young's first number one hit in the USA, Prairie Wind is his most significant album since 1992's Harvest Moon.
The album opens with "The Painter," a classic melodic Young song about a female artist, followed by "No Wonder," where Young's long-held values are clear in lines like, "Somewhere a senator sits in a leather chair / Behind a big wooden desk / The caribou we killed mean nothing to him / He took his money just like all the rest." The acoustic series continues with "Falling Off the Face of the Earth."
In "Far from Home," Young's piano begins to shine, especially evident in "It's a Dream," arguably the album's most beautiful track. With reflective lyrics and a haunting melody, it evokes classics like "Heart of Gold" and "Western Hero." You might find yourself singing, "It's a dream, only a dream" long after the album ends.
The title track, "Prairie Wind," shifts focus from piano to acoustic guitar, while "Here for You" brings back memories of "From Hank to Hendrix," one of Young's most beloved songs. "This Old Guitar" is among the album's most personal, featuring Young's nasal vocals complemented by a pleasing chorus.
In "He Was the King," Young sings about Elvis Presley, reminiscent of his famous "Hey, Hey, My, My (The King is Gone but is Not Forgotten)," though stylistically different. The album concludes with "When God Made Me," an introspective, reflective song about life, faith, and the divine.
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