Neil Young
Live at Massey Hall 1971
Reprise CD
I’m not a big fan of live albums. Unless it’s a band I truly love and can’t get enough of like Pearl Jam, Fugazi, and yes you guessed it knucklehead, my favorite artist ever, Neil Young.
My favorite live album of all time is Young’s Live Rust (which is perfectly complemented by the equally amazing Rust Never Sleeps DVD). I listen to it all day at work while trapped in front of two computer monitors. I listen to it religiously when I go to bed at night. I listen to it all the damn time and my ears are still not burned out from the performance. Live at Massey Hall 1971 might not be as electrifying, but if I ever lost my copy of Live Rust, Massey Hall is next in line to replace it.
Massey Hall is an acoustic solo performance of seventeen songs, and handful being piano fronted tracks like “Journey Through The Past,” “There’s A World,” “Love In Mind,” “See the Sky About To Rain,” and the two for one track “A Man Needs A Maid/Heart of Gold Suite.” When it comes to acoustic renditions of his own songs, Mr. Young is second to none.
“I'm gonna sing mostly new songs tonight.” Massey Hall is a great documentary performance to hear Young perform future classic songs for the first time like “Old Man,” “A Man Needs A Maid,” “The Needle and the Damage Done,” and “Heart of Gold,” which all ended up on Harvest the following year. Other highlights are stripped-down versions of “Ohio,” a shortened “Cowgirl In the Sand,” and Buffalo Springfield’s “On the Way Home.” The true gem on the release is the rare “Bad Fog of Loneliness,” which Neil explains was originally written for his performance on The Johnny Cash Show.
This is a no-brainer for all Neil Young fans. The DVD video quality isn’t all that great. Looks like a grainy 8mm transfer, and it’s kind of artsy, showing shots of Young’s ranch while he plays, and other miscellaneous footage. But the audio disc is essential, especially to here Young talk before each track, explaining his songs, and talking and interacting with the Canadian crowd. This is one great performance that you need to hear!
by Fake Train
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