Neil Young
Rust Never Sleeps (1979)

review by: Glenn Pfeifer
Date: 1/23/01

First and foremost, choosing a Neil Young album to review is like choosing dessert at an Italian pastry shop in The Bronx. There are so many great choices, with so much variety, each one exquisite but not for everyone's tastes. I chose Rust Never Sleeps, released in 1979, a time when I was coming of age, sampling pot for the first time, and awakening the angst-filled artist within me. I must have listened to this album (and it's subsequent 2-record follow-up from the tour, Live Rust) one million times. It may not be considered Neil's best album, but let me give you a few reasons why I feel otherwise.

From the moment Neil Young achieved a mega-hit song in 1971 (Harvest's "Heart Of Gold") he shunned every attempt to turn himself into a pop star. He says himself that Harvest put him "in the middle of the road...but I got bored so I headed for a ditch." This is what I love most about Neil Young...he writes and records music for the sake of the art. No predictable hooks, no tired chord progressions - just potent, vital music. Sometimes it's very simple and quiet...other times his guitar tone can peel the paint off your walls. This two-headed monster is the strength of Rust Never Sleeps.

It was recorded live, but has the audience track removed...so it comes off as a spacious concert for one. Neil performs a virtual solo set on side 1, with lyrics that run from the beautiful to the bawdy. The themes here are ones that recur through much of Neil's work (white, especially American imperialism; the effects of drugs; artistic stagnation and alienation and loneliness). "Pocahontas" may be one his most towering examples of Neil's distaste for fluffy pop..."They killed us in our teepee/ and cut our women down/ they might have left some babies/ crying on the ground/ but the firesticks and the wagons come/ and the night falls on the setting sun."

His longtime backing band, Crazy Horse, joins him on side 2, and the result is a blistering set of some of the hardest rock you'll ever crank up. There's no need here for punk rock's speed to gather energy...it explodes from every drum whack to every bit of controlled feedback. And you must remember that this sound...this discordant screech... was released at a time when Blondie and Styx were considered hard rock......ARE YOU KIDDING ME! It's no wonder this genius was later dubbed The Godfather of Grunge...one listen to "Welfare Mothers" or "Sedan Delivery" and you'll see why.

So order up some of Neil Young's Rust for dessert...then run back to the store and pick up "Harvest" & "Harvest Moon" & maybe even "Decade" if you find yourself looking for seconds, thirds, fourths, etc. -gp fife