Neil Young - Disc of the day

Neil Young
Prairie Wind

(Reprise, 2005)

Shakey’s last great album goes just fine with the shaky hands and bleary eyes of a New Year’s morn…

You must excuse me for typing so slowly but the keyboard seems uncommonly loud this morning, like a small otter gnawing at the lining of my frail and spongy head. Let’s put a record on… That’s better! When Prairie Wind was released back in 2005 Young scholars (and MOJO) saw it as a recovery album, a retreat into acoustic comfort and Harvest-esque familiarity following treatment for a potentially fatal cerebral aneurysm. They considered it subdued, lazy, solemn, with patches of true intensity… Ahh! Prairie Wind, meet hangover; hangover, meet Prairie Wind! Here we find Neil Young as slight as a drifting dream, a keening zephyr that soothes and calms with soft lullabies, some airy platitudes, some slight twists on those platitudes (“If you follow every dream…you might get lost”) and calming images of high-flying birds, fading jet-streams, old farm houses and falling snow-flakes. He feels like he’s falling off the face of the earth? Don’t we all sometimes? Every album has its perfect hour and somewhere in the hard day of the long morning that is January 1st is the perfect time to play Prairie Wind. Ow! Actually, maybe you should skip Far From Home. Those horns! Those horns!

Andrew Male

Posted by Danny_Eccleston at 6:00 AM GMT 01/01/2008

Further Listening

Cowboy Junkies - The Caution Horses (RCA, 1994)

Van Morrison – Moondance (Warner Bros, 1970)

Arvo Pärt – Alina (ECM, 2000)

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You must be joking. Prairie Wind is about as dreadful as Neil has got. The two since then are fine records, but this? Laboured, dull, whiney and just plain tedious.

If you want a great comedown album then Comes A Time will do the job - or Harvest Moon, or side 2 of On The Beach.

Posted by Alan at 2:12 PM GMT 01/01/2008 Report Abuse

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I believe you are wrong!

Posted by Dave from the grave at 6:02 PM GMT 07/01/2008 Report Abuse

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This album is great. I had not heard anything of it (I am quite a recent Neil Young addict) until I watched "Heart of Gold" by Jonathan Demme, that filmed the opening show of the Prairie Wind tour. The Painter is, probably, my favourite Neil Young song.

Posted by Miguel at 5:24 PM GMT 28/02/2008 Report Abuse

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RE: Alan

i know what you mean Al
i got the cd and after about 6 months it is really growing on me
keep listening
its a goodie
Howi

Posted by at 12:46 AM GMT 19/03/2008 Report Abuse

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