French for Grapefruit

Artist: Neil Young

Album Neil Young

Year Released: November 12th, 1968

Tracks:

1. “The Emperor of Wyoming” – 2:14
2. “The Loner” – 3:55
3. “If I Could Have Her Tonight” – 2:15
4. “I’ve Been Waiting for You” – 2:30
5. “The Old Laughing Lady” – 5:58
6. “String Quartet from Whiskey Boot Hill” – 1:04
7. “Here We Are in the Years” – 3:27
8. “What Did You Do to My Life?” – 2:28
9. “I’ve Loved Her So Long” – 2:40
10. “The Last Trip to Tulsa” – 9:25

Standout Songs: For me, none really.

Standout Lyric: What a pity \ That the people from the city \ Can’t relate to the slower things \ That the country brings.

Thoughts:

I’m going to have to preface this by saying I am, most assuredly, a Neil Young fan. I think as a Canadian that it’s statutory according to the Harvest Act of 1972, but even if it wasn’t I’d still love that man’s music.

Despite my claims of fandom, however, I’d never actually listened to Young’s self-titled debut album. I decided to rectify that for today’s edition of An Album a Day.

In light of my appreciation for Mr. Young’s later works I was shocked when, halfway through the album, it occurred to realized I wasn’t enjoying it.

I was further shocked that I wouldn’t be able to explain why if someone asked me.

So, I spent a few hours contemplating the album, and eventually two thoughts came to me.

1. It sounds like it was recorded before Neil Young figured out what a Neil Young album should sound like.
2. I’m listening to this album with 40 years of older (and better) Neil Young music as a framework for my impressions of him. In essence, I’m listening to this album 40 years too late.

I read a few reviews dated around the albums initial release, and they were generally positive. They also referenced his sound on this album as being very similar to that of his previous band, Buffalo Springfield, although I personally can’t attest to that as I’ve never listened to a whole lot of Buffalo Springfield. But what I can tell you is it sounds like a he was trying to shake off one sound and move into another, but got stuck somewhere in between. If you like the folky Neil Young (as opposed to his several other incantations) then a lot of this album is going to sound almost familiar but still a touch off. If you like rocky Neil Young then this probably isn’t the album for you.

Also, I thought it a little odd for a singer with such a distinctive voice to open his debut album with an instrumental, and I thought it even odder to close out the album with a nine minute beat poem set to an acoustic guitar.

When it’s all said and done this has been the first disappointing album of the lot, and surely not the last, I just wish it hadn’t been at Neil Young’s expense.

Later Skaters,
~Pamplemousse~
(kinda feels like a traitor)