Neil Young “Le Noise” (Reprise Records, 2010)
Neil Young is a master of reinvention. He has the ability to transform his music with each new release and yet sustain an audience that exists amongst a variety of generations. His latest album “Le Noise” is yet another positively fantastic transformation.
The original concept for “Le Noise” was to record the album entirely acoustically. After careful consideration and complete excitement over the echoes in producer Daniel Lanois home, Young decided to change things up completely by recording the album electronically. The decision deemed itself successful. This little nugget of information stands out considering that the content and structure of the record seem to align perfectly with the lyrics. Young and Lanois’ decision to record this album in the manner that they did was an excellent choice.
With over 40 records released, Neil Young is no stranger to experimental risks. His most notable and most horrifying risks were taken while recording under the regime of David Geffen of Geffen Records. Both “Everybody’s Rockin” and “Old Ways” were Young’s larger than life failures but they were also figurative middle fingers to the bureaucratic crap of mainstream musical production. “Le Noise” seems to mirror the same sort of outside the box, F-you but only with a delicate subtext of masterful lyrics and an excellence that could not be reach with the late to the game rockabilly of “Rockin” and “Old Ways.”
The subject matter of “Le Noise” is much more apparent than on his previous albums. This is not to say that Young has never used his records as a vice for personal expression but that the newest Young creation is a slap you on the head, Cliff Notes sort of approach to the life of a drug addicted man searching for recovery in a tainted world.
The most obvious indication of this is on tack six “The Hitchhiker.” The slow moving, autobiographical song is accompanied by soft spoken words: “ I was living on the road/And a little cocaine went a long/Long way to ease that different load/But my head did explode,” Young preaches.
Young’s shaky and unmistakable voice seems to have aged like cheese—a little moldy but still fresh. Yet, Young’s voice radiates this sense of authority that compels you to hang on to every word that stumbles of his mouth.
Considering the emotional baggage that “Le Noise” carries with it, it is peculiar how short the album is. With only eight tracks and a little over 36 minutes of play time the album seems to be a precursor to something more to come.
For a 64-year-old musician with rock-star status Young could have easily produced an album that was simple, thoughtless and unnecessary but that’s not Mr. Young’s style. “Le Noise” is a beautiful and honest synopsis of a living legend.
Outline:
1: Intro
2: Background/genre
3: About the album
4: Why you should listen
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