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Music CD - Neil Young: After the Gold Rush
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Music CD: After the Gold Rush
Artist: Neil Young
List Price: $11.98
Our Price: $7.86
Your Save: $ 4.12 ( 34% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Reprise / Wea
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Average Customer Rating: 
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Tracks:
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1. Tell Me Why
2. After The Gold Rush
3. Only Love Can Break Your Heart
4. Southern Man
5. Till The Morning Comes
6. Oh, Lonesome Me
7. Don't Let It Bring You Down
8. Birds
9. When You Dance You Can Really Love
10. I Believe In You
11. Cripple Creek Ferry
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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0075992724326
Label: Reprise / Wea
Manufacturer: Reprise / Wea
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Reprise / Wea
Release Date: 1990-10-25
Studio: Reprise / Wea
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: "Don't Let It Bring You Down"
Comment: Oh my people, I have been very busy of late. Aside from the daunting task of saving humanity, I have been asked by reknown editors to submit my reviews for a book they are considering. It will be called, "Metamorpho: The Seering Stone Reviews". Catchy title, ey? And, many of them will be culled from the very reviews my fanatical fans have read on these very pages! Oh, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking why you should pay for old, retread reviews? Not so my people! Proofreaders will be on hand to spice things up and apply the honored Hemingway method of economical writing (still popular in Florida and France) to my masterpieces. Of course, I will have final approval. Don't I always? ;)
But, to the point, this is about Neil Young's folk-rock paragon "After the Gold Rush". This one stands out and is notable for the obvious growth in songwriting and lyrics. In this offering, Neil Young discovers the piano, and how that instrument can augment his compositions in many wonderous ways. He utilizes this for quiet, reflective mood. But also, as an integral part for his externalized topics. We have varying degrees of emotion in love. We have dismay and elevation. We cover the gamut of human concerns here. This is what makes it so extraordinary.
There are many interpretations of the title. Ask yourself what comes after the "gold rush"? Certainly that could apply to the depletion of mother earth, but also to what comes after that initial fascination and "rush" of emotions with new love. A clever title. And Neil is more than competent to deal with these issues.
He begins with "Tell Me Why", a straight on folk tune. But I am taken with the lyrics here. The imagery and superb lyric of "sailing hardships, through broken harbors" is a wordplay of the highest form. But then, a familar Neil Young dilemma enters, "Is it hard to make arrangements with yourself? When you're old enough to repay but young enough to sell"? Again, Neil's constant challenge: that old netherworld between childhood and adulthood. This theme plays out in many of his songs.
Next is "After the Gold Rush", a mournful piano excursion dream that encompasses medieval times, the apocalypse, and leaving a dying planet. "Look at mother nature on the run". Indeed. Next up is "Only Love Can Break Your Heart". A beautiful soft folk-rock ballad that, for all it's simplicity, conveys the wisdom of mature truth. How true. Only love can, and does, break one's heart.
"Southern Man" then gives Neil a chance to not only express his outrage towards historic treatment of the black man in the south, but also gives him a chance to qualify that transgression with blistering lead. Notice here how his admonitions change voice. He takes on the voice of a southern bossman. But, taking liberties such as this makes the whole song work on a visionary level.
Next, Neil asks us to wait "Till the Morning Comes". A very, short bouncy tune, it begs further investigation. Obviously, not telling you who, what, where and why, leaves it up to your mind to interpret what it means. Artistry at work folks! We then proceed onwards to that Don Gibson classic "Oh Lonesome Me", which conveys lost love and loneliness perfectly with slow moving piano and harmonica. All the gold miners have long gone home after this composition.
Next song is a gem. Depressing signs and ominous situations beg an inner reflection of truth. "Com'on down to the river of sight", Neil urges. The truth, finally revealed -
"Don't let it bring you down,
it's only castles burning,
find someone who's turning,
and you will come around".
"Birds" is a beautiful piano and chorus composition. It's about love that has died and the need to fly away. It is in a song like this that Neil has the ability to show courage, compassion and the strength to move on. This is why he is such a superb songwriter. He then rocks, just a bit, with "When You Dance You Can Really Love", a romantic joy romp which leads into the plea of a dissolving relationship with the waltz-like "I Believe in You". A last stand perhaps?
Neil then returns to the south with "Cripple Creek Ferry". A short snippet that conveys so much about relationships. In his own way, Neil knows that he is a gambler in love, just as we all are. The gold rush is over. It is the second half of the cruise. He hates to lose but, after all, he is on a "cripple" boat at best. With Neil, all these connections and visions come into play. I think this is one of the reasons he is the artist he is today.
In many ways, this was an overwhelming and gigantic step in Neil Young's career. I have loved it from the moment I heard it, and it has lost nothing over the years. If you like folk rock, even tempered and balanced with reflection in full supply, then this is definitely one of the very best. Beautiful and one of a kind, I recommend it highly! Now I must get back to the proofreaders about my reviews. We are fighting about the inclusion or exclusion of the word "the" in one of my reviews. I fear this may be a long process and you might see my book in, hmmmmm.... maybe five years? Oh well.....
Turning -----keep the faith, Metamorpho ;)
Customer Rating:
Summary: The Best
Comment: I love Neil Young. This is the best of the best. He has a lot of best stuff so it isn't all on one CD or collection. I will say that this is the one that a new Neil fan must have and then go back all the way to the first solo outing and start buying and you will never regret it.
Customer Rating:
Summary: neil young
Comment: After the Gold Rush is one of Neil's finest lp's. A must for any Young fan.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: "Tell Me Why?" because "After The Goldrush" is that good!
Comment: As the author of the Jefferson Airplane book "Take Me To A Circus Tent" and a former radio disc-jockey, I am often asked to write and or discuss various music supplies and recordings from the 60's and 70's.
August of 1970 Neil Young's "After The Gold Rush" arrives in the record shops with heavy anticipation. Over thirty-five years removed none of the luster has left the finished product. The title track is mesmerizing as Neil gives a vocal for the ages "I was lying in a burnt out basement." "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" has a similarity to the previous mention but stands on its own merits. "Southern Man" creates such intense emotions it will be put in the Rock Time Capsule. Neil shows tunes aren't about shouting or the need for four letter words, his descriptions paint such vivid imagery that a movie is created in five and one half minutes. "Till The Morning Comes" throws us a curve. We land on the shortest track on the record (1:17) but this is anything but a throwaway. It's catchy upbeat phrasing makes this a must for a repeat listen. "Birds" is not a song that immediately comes to mind when naming tracks from the album but Neil's vocals are superlative. "When You Dance You Can Really Love" is a shot of rock and roll that hits you between the eyes. Ending the festivities is another stellar track "Cripple Creek Ferry." The composition sounds as if a few friends are sitting around playing music. The only downfall of the tune is it ends a wonderful journey.
To solidify what this record meant to rock radio in the 1970's, After The Gold Rush, Only Love Can Break Your Heart, Southern Man, and When You Dance You Can Really Love were all frequently getting spins. In 2007 Southern Man still remains in heavy rotation on the Classic Rockers and After The Gold Rush sees the light of day as well.
If you are curious if there was a misprint over the years regarding Nils Lofgren (Grin, and Bruce Springsteen E Street Band) playing piano on the recording and not guitar, it is correct. Although known for his play on the six string he did indeed play the piano.
Enjoy the music and be well,
Craig Fenton
Author of the Jefferson Airplane book "Take Me To A Circus Tent"
Customer Rating:
Summary: thinking about what a friend had said...
Comment: I was in a bar down South after losing my brother to a long extended illness..just trying to forget what was going on with my life but not being able to let go of something deep down inside..me and a friend trying to drink our way to heaven..the jukebox came on with AFTER THE GOLD RUSH..sometimes a song just hits you in the gut and you know that everything is going to be all right..Neil's music has a way of touching you in the gut and this album should be in any Neil Young fan's collection..
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Editorial Reviews:
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After laboring in Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Neil Young finally hit perfect pitch--if his endearing off-center whine can be called "perfect"--with his third album. He's equally passionate with trippy riddles (has anybody figured out what "We've got mother nature on the run" means in the title track?) and pointed protest (after 30 years of rock-radio overplay, "Southern Man" still rings with truth about redneck racism). His creaky ensemble, including pianist Jack Nitzsche and rotating members of Crazy Horse, transforms ramshackle country and folk songs into soulful hippie hymns. --Steve Knopper
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