I really have been following the musical life of Neil Young. Wonderful companionship. Timeless music. The new one, THE MONSANTO YEARS, is, well, dealing with politics, corporations, and boring beyond belief. Good moments don’t justify this album, which is one of a handful of really uninspired albums he has made in his life and times. The best ones during the last years: PSYCHEDELIC PILL, and, the controversially reviewed LE NOISE, produced by Daniel Lanois. I’m not even in the mood to go in the details.
2015 30 Jun
Your Favourite Cappuccino, A Bagle, And Sex On The Beach Are All Better than this!
von: Michael Engelbrecht Filed under: Blog | TB | 9 Comments
9 Comments
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Henning:
time to go into the meaning(s) and significance of „bored“, „boring“ once. As well as „uninspired“ and „uninspiring“.
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Michael Engelbrecht:
No time to go there. No need.
Self-explaining. Implicit meaning. A bit of Chomsky would do you well.
This was just a short note, a personal response to a quite awful album.
I don’t have to explain anything.
Btw, a lot of your texts are full of phrases where anybody could comment: „time to go into the meaning of. …“
So this is even more ridiculous. No insult intended. Just an evaluation. Got it?
But why spend time thnking about a ridiculous collection of preaching-to-the-converted-songs instead of having a look at your highly intense schedule of work?
People who know my love for many of his albums will take this as a friendly advice.
You got a deal with sophism? There’s a hair shop in everybody’s neighbourhood!
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Michael Engelbrecht:
No more heroes, ia good quote. You can be disappointed even by your favourites to a degree you never imagned before. Dave Bennan is still quite friendly when he writes, in TheQuietus:
„Evidently, these impersonators understand that duff thinking does not necessarily result in bad art, and that it would have been perfectly possible to make a great record on this theme; indeed, that some of the most incendiary political pop has come about in just this fashion. So they have been at pains to ensure the resulting lampoon should possess no redeeming features to compromise its hilarity.“
„Not only are the concepts themselves reductive and half-baked and the lyrics risibly clumsy, but the songs appear to have been composed in less time than it actually takes to perform them. Then, in an almost perfect travesty of Young’s usual exhilarating, unpredictable brio, played and recorded with slapdash inadequacy. (Particular credit should be given to the drumming, which the satirists have artfully engineered to sound as if it were entrusted to a semi-trained spaniel equipped with a variety of cereal boxes.) It’s all rags, no glory: a cruel but brilliantly executed vision of how badly wrong Young’s idiom might go should he falter.“
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Lajla Nizinski:
Hello cowgirl in the sand, is this place at your command? So sang Neil und so mellow und freundlich mag ich ihn. Danke Micha, dass du warnst. Ich machte schon bei der letzten CD viele Kompromisse, aber dieses Mal geht garnichts mehr. Sicher, die Zeiten sind härter geworden, es braucht Blechtrommler. Ob das nun gerade Neil sein muss, der ein ganzes Hippievolk ohne Marihuana high machen konnte, bezweifele ich. Manchmal ist es einfach besser, aus der Ferne zu lieben, als von einer dogmatischen Ökopartnerin beeinflusst zu werden. „In the desert you don’t remember your name.“ Dorthin sollte er sich zurückziehen und wieder gute songs schreiben. Das kann er so prima. Won’t miss a single one.
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Uwe Meilchen:
Werde mir das neue NEIL YOUNG Album dann heute abend einmal anhoeren; ich fuerchte, neben „Fork In The Road“ nur einmal ?
http://neilyoungnews.thrasherswheat.org/
The Review of the Moment is from the post „Curt of chord and filled with purpose“: Neil Young’s ‚The Monsanto Years‘ Review by flyingscotzman:
To be honest I don’t know what to make of the album (hence my meandering comments above). I’ve erred between loving it and hating it in the last 24 hours, something I can’t say has ever happened with any of Neil’s other albums. That old quote about there being a fine line between genius and madness is probably the best description I can give. The shrewd, mysterious songwriter has been replaced with a mad scientist. Something is lost, something is gained.
Earlier today I listened to the album Tonight’s The Night, and also the superb bootleg „Neil Young Plays Acoustic In Paris“. Both show off Neil at his absolute best. In comparison, Monsanto almost sounds like it was recorded by another artist (at times it sounds like a parody, as several reviews have noted), and largely suffers in comparison. And yet: there’s something this new album has that those earlier records don’t. It’s hard to put a finger on. Is this work inferior, or is it just very different? Tricky question.
I don’t think The Monsanto Years will have the staying power of Neil’s best work. In a few months, my guess is everyone will have largely forgotten about it, as happened with A Letter Home. But if you are one of those fans who has listened to it once or twice and given up, my suggestion is to give it another few listens. In fact, take time to read the lyrics in the booklet, rather than just listening to them.
Get into the perspective of the singer, and it begins to make sense.
Scotsman.
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Michael Engelbrecht:
A Letter Home hatte grosse Würde. Man kann ja heutzutage für jede Rockplatte etliche konträre Meinungen finden. Diese Platte ist einfach nur peinlich. Not every shit turns into roses. Interessant, wie The Scotsman versucht, hier etwas Neues ausfindig zu machen. Dabei hat er völiig recht, dass dieses Album in einem halben Jahr vergeben und vergessen ist. Und es wird, promise, auch nie als buried treasure neu auftauchen. Du hättest ene schönere Stunde verdient an diesem Abend, wetten!?
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Michael Engelbrecht:
4 cl Wodka
2 cl Likör (Peach Tree)
2 cl Zitronensaft
1 cl Grenadine
4 cl Orangensaft
4 cl AnanassaftZubereitung von 2 Portionen
Arbeitszeit: ca. 2 Min. / Schwierigkeitsgrad: simpel
Alle Zutaten shaken und in ein Longdrink-Glas auf 3-4 Eiswürfel strainen
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Uwe Meilchen:
Der Drink scheint mir, wenn ich das Rezept so lese sehr sueffig zu sein. Vielleicht heute abend, wenn Die Sonne untergegangen ist ! ;-D
Die neue NEIL YOUNG habe ich nun gestern abend doch nicht gehoert; mir ist aber aufgegangen, wie NEIL YOUNG das Album vielleicht gemeint haben koennte: als aktuelles Statement gegen aktuelle Themen wie das Freihandelsabkommen TTIP, gegen die allmaechtigen Konzerne, die irgendwo ihre verguenstigten Steuern zahlen und so weiter. Ein spur of the moment Album also. Dagegen waere ja auch nichts zu sagen; mir fallen nur einige Beispiele aus der Vergangenheit ein bei denen es interessanterweise aehnlich schief ging wenn man aktuelle Themen musikalisch aufbereiten wollte: das SOMETIME IN NEW YORK CITY Album von John Lennon zum Beispiel, oder die GIVE IRELAND BACK TO THE IRISH Single von MCCARTNEY.
(Und natuerlich gibt es auch positive Beispiele wie verschiedenste Alben von CHARLES MINGUS in denen er in der Luft liegende politische Themen aufgriff.
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Michael Engelbrecht:
This cocktail named sex on the beach is really a good thing after sundown. Like sex on the beach is – per se. Empty beaches are a rare treat today. ON THE BEACH is one of my favourite NY albums – i don’t need political bloggings disguised as uninspired preachery. Compare this effort of political infotainment with a heartbreaking song like Ohio, then you get the difference.