Music Arcades: Neil Young: After the Gold Rush

This album played a pivotal part in turning me into a Neil Young fan. On 2 November 1981, Dave Minchin picked up Jeremy, me and his younger brother from seeing Rush at the Brighton Centre. In his mini he was playing a tape of After the Gold Rush and I found it was moving me more than the live performance I'd just witnessed. I remember asking Richard Smith about the album shortly afterwards, and he dismissed it saying Neil had "gone all weird, with trumpets and stuff" (he meant the flugelhorn on the title track). In my book "going all weird" was an endorsement, so my appetite was further stimulated.

However, I didn't buy the album at the time; I bought Decade a couple of months later, and then borrowed and taped After the Gold Rush. It wasn't until six or seven years later that I bought this CD, when it came out in the HMV Classic Collection (limited edition, mine is #2,439 of 2,500). It's the third of the three I bought in these series, the others being What's Going On and The Sun Sessions. The big booklet this time is by Max Bell, who writes a couple of entertaining pages about the songs on the album, and pads them out with another six providing context and history of Neil's biography.

Strangely I feel little or no emotional connection with the album. There are some songs I like, particularly Birds and I Believe in You (I think Neil's voice is particularly good on those two), but the title track now feels worn out; and I've never liked Southern Man.