Coastal: The Soundtrack by Neil Young
'Coastal: The Soundtrack' by Neil Young
“People my age, they don’t do the things I do,” Neil Young declares in “The Ocean,” the leadoff track to Coastal. The album is the soundtrack to the documentary that had a limited run in theaters. The slice of cinema verité captures Young playing solo shows and in conversation with his bus driver. The companion soundtrack finds Young drawing from his decades-long canon playing rarely performed songs as well as reimagining others—“It’s all one song,” he once replied to a fan’s comment they all sound the same.
“Expecting to Fly,” Young’s Buffalo Springfield-era baroque opus gets a solo piano instrumental interpretation; unadorned guitar strum-and harmonica “I Am a Child” is a plaintive familiar fan favorite. The crowd sing-along “Love Earth” places Young’s feet firmly on the ground.
As should be evident after all these years, solo Young doesn’t necessarily mean acoustic. “Song X” from the Pearl Jam collaboration gets a noisy workout as an electric sea shanty. The haunted hoodoo “Prime of Life” is Young at his most harrowing. Conversely, at 58 seconds long, “Don’t Forget Love” is Young singing the song’s title six times and concludes. “That’s the whole song right there.”
If Coastal is a neat document, a snapshot in time, then Talkin To The Trees is Young’s unfiltered Rorschach circa 2025.
Talkin To The Trees, by Neil Young & The Chrome Hearts
'Talkin To The Trees' by Neil Young & The Chrome Hearts
Young’s career has often taken a topical path. Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth” was bandmate Stephen Stills’ glimpse of the Los Angeles mid-‘60s youth culture clash with police; CSNY’s “Ohio” was Young’s reaction in 1970 to the Kent State massacre. Young’s 1981 album Re·ac·tor as was a reference to then president and former Hollywood movie star Ronald Reagan and concern was still in the air regarding the Three Mile Island nuclear accident.
Trees is a series of journal entries, as played by Young with legendary keyboard player Spooner Oldham and young musicians that include Micah Nelson—son of Willie, who was previously drafted into a late lineup of Crazy Horse.
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Young offers unvarnished glimpses into his domestic headspace with “Family Life” and “Dark Mirage,” “Bottle of Love” recalls the gauzy psychedelic vibe of his classic song “Will to Love” and title cut is a wistful self-referential look a back.
Travel, transportation and technology are still on Young’s mind. Both “Silver Eagle” and “Let’s Roll Again” borrow that familiar melody from “This Land is Your Land.” The former is an acoustic tribute to his bus—a natural fit for a guy who once wrote a song about his hearse. The latter is a jacked up, full-band call to arms—a request for U.S. automakers to catch up with the rest of the world’s clean energy vehicle production. “If you’re a fascist then get a Tesla … if you’re a Democrat then taste your freedom,” he sings. Notably, Young’s 2002 song “Let’s Roll” was a refence to the 911 attacks. “Big Change” has Young recycling his own tune “Big Time” (from Broken Arrow).
On albums like this one, Young’s longtime voice of reason producer David Briggs is missed. He might have guided a different animal. Yet with Young, the seemingly tossed moments, give us far mor than most artists deliver.
Neil Young and the Chrome Hearts play BMO Pavilion, August 29.
Buy Coastal and Talkin' to the Trees on Amazon.
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