If yesterday was Neil Young in transition, what's Fork in the Road? "Dead end" seems a bit too damning. "Diversion" seems a bit too generous — some diversions can be useful and interesting, as Neil has himself demonstrated, many a time.
No, as soon as the video for the title track turned up on the web, it seemed to be almost willing us to write it off as something Neil had knocked off on a long weekend as a hobby. The album features Neil's first mention of blogging, and the spirit of his quality control and professionalism here aren't a whole lot better than you'd expect from a blog. Tchhh.
Now, to bring you up to speed, in case you haven't been following Neil's every move. Neil has been a collector of vintage cars — mostly the enormous gas guzzlers of the forties through to the sixties, I think — for 40 years. He's also been an eco-evangelist for a similar length of time. So a few years ago, he hit on the idea of combining this paradoxical pair of proclivities, by investing in R&D for emission-free power, with enough lead in its pencil to drive one of his super-heavy automobiles: specifically, his 1959 Lincoln Continenantal, named LincVolt. Here are some more details. I can't tell whether this is truly visionary lateral thinking by Neil, or a monumental folly, driven partly by vanity. As is the nature of all true R&D, I don't think anyone knows for sure.
That's one thing, and the world has rewarded Neil in such a way that he can indulge these kinds of fancies without asking anyone's permission.
Writing a whole album loosely connected with the project is another thing. No permission required for that, either, but it's more open to criticism. I'm less inclined to sit on the fence about this, and declare it one of the most minor of Neil's minor works. Here's one of the better songs, the video for which I came across via the news of LincVolt's recent damage in a fire (it escaped with less damage than was feared at first):
If anything brings these songs alive, it's the spectacularly low-budget — but cleverly conceived — videos. I got the version of the album with the extra DVD. Because I had to, it's in my genes now. Mostly it's high-quality DVD-Audio versions of the songs. Why I'd want DVD-Audio of these songs, I don't know. But there's a handful of further videos, including one (for Just Singing a Song (Won't change the world)) where Neil has just taken a steadicam out on the ocean in a small canoe. He lipsyncs and larks around as the song plays on a portable stereo that we don't see. Described in those bare terms, it sounds crap, I know. But it's ace.
So, I got Fork in the Road shortly after its release eighteen months ago. I listened to it once or twice on my computer and then it got forgotten in a pile on my desk until yesterday. I can't muster the energy to get agitated by it one way or the other. It does seem like Neil maybe extended the metaphor of LincVolt just a little too far. As in: if I can make a heavy car run for miles on next-to-no gas or carbon emissions, maybe I can make a heavy album run for 40 minutes on next-to-no ideas.
As for Neil's latest, Le Noise
MusicBrainz entry for this album
I do need to preface this by saying that aside from his contribution to "Deja Vu" and all number of his popular singles, I am not a huge fan of Neil Young. It's not so much dislike as ignorance. You answered the question I had about Le Noise, that being, what you thiught of it. Don't be taken aback, but it's no secret that you are somewhat of a Neil Young fan. Unpon hearing 3 tracks from it, I was stunned at its shody production and uninspired writing, playing, etc. What I heard had a real "I'm an icon and don't give a crap feel to it". I should also add that in this country, much has been made of the fact that Daniel Lanois produced the album. At this point, I was really shaking my head. However, I must give credit where it is due, bang on title.
Posted by: Fred Stagg | 29 November 2010 at 02:11 PM
Hi Fred, thanks, as usual, for your interesting comments - and apologies if I don't always deal with them as fully or promptly as I should. Sometimes just keeping the daily posts coming is all I can manage...!
Your country is Canada, right? I guess that may provide a reason to focus on Daniel Lanois -- though he's also had a high profile in some of the coverage I've seen... ah, but now I come to check back I see that was actually the CBC footage I was watching ;-)
I thought Le Noise was a faintly daft title for the record, but perhaps it's a nod to Canada's bilinguilism (though unlikely to appease the Quebecois, I would guess).
My verdict on the latest album, though, is still a provisional one. It sounded like the kind of thing I might warm to after the tenth listen. I know ten listens isn't an appealing idea to anyone who isn't a committed fan, and I won't reach that milestone in a hurry. Some Neil albums take four or five years to digest.
Fork in the Road isn't one of those, however.
Posted by: David | 29 November 2010 at 08:04 PM