Neil Young—Time Fades Away

Neil Young—Time Fades Away

Time Fades Away—Neil Young has written and recorded innumerable songs in his more than 50-year career. Counting live and soundtrack albums, as well as his compilations, which often feature until-then unreleased material, he has nearly recorded his age in albums. There are at least ten others that were rejected by his record labels or shelved by the artist in favor of others. Despite his apparent dissatisfaction with albums like Homegrown or Chrome Dreams that led him to relegate them to the archives, he generally lets the material itself eventually see the light of day on other releases or in live performances. Some of his albums are harder to find today than others; Trans (1982) has only been reissued twice on CD, and not for almost twenty years. However, there is one album that, since its initial release, has completely disappeared from the radar, and that album is Time Fades Away.

Harvest (1972) and the #1 single "Heart of Gold" took Young to true stardom. He famously remarked in the liner notes of Decade (1977), "This song put me in the middle of the road. Traveling there soon became a bore so I headed for the ditch. A rougher ride but I saw more interesting people there," which has led fans to refer to the three subsequent albums (Time Fades Away, On the Beach [1974], and Tonight's the Night [1975]) as "the Ditch Trilogy." These three albums also document a period in which life was rough for Young and his bandmates; most of them were abusing drugs and alcohol heavily, due in part to the grief associated with the deaths of Crazy Horse guitarist Danny Whitten in November 1972 and roadie Bruce Berry in June 1973 from drug misuse. The majority of material that appears on Time Fades Away was recorded after Whitten's death, but shortly before Berry's, from a period of time February 11–April 1, 1973.

Young toured with the Stray Gators, a band that had evolved into a jumble of members of different groups: David Crosby, Graham Nash, Jack Nitszche, and members of Young's studio band from Harvest, but with new drummer Johnny Barbata, who replaced Kenny Buttrey mid-tour. The assembly of musicians coming in with different expectations and lifestyles resulted in friction concerning how the music was played onstage as well as compensation, and so Young only reluctantly released Time Fades Away in October the same year. He persistently remembered the tour so bitterly that he never once reissued the album until 2014 as part of a box set and as a download on his own music distribution service, Pono. Nevertheless, Time Fades Away has been an enduring part of Young's catalog, being widely bootlegged and pirated—the most taboo Neil Young album, if there is such a thing.

The rollicking "Time Fades Away" begins with the line, "Fourteen junkies/Too weak to work," possibly referencing the band and their associates themselves, reminiscent of "The Needle and the Damage Done." The song continues Young's long-standing relationship with time, nostalgia, and things lost ("Sugar Mountain," "Words (Between the Lines of Age)," "Old Man"), as he does on the lovely "Journey Through the Past," which makes its first official appearance after being a concert favorite for years already and the title of his 1972 film and accompanying soundtrack. "Yonder Stands the Sinner" is a sideways take on self-loathing; "L.A." is a subversive tribute or lampooning of the City of Angels, which, nota bene, is where Danny Whitten died. "Love in Mind" is the odd one out, dating from 1971 during Young's Journey Through the Past tour, documented more fully in the concert album Live at Massey Hall 1971 (2007), which was nearly released in place of Harvest.

"Don't Be Denied" is Young's statement on staying true in the face of adversity, obliquely referencing Led Zeppelin ("Well, all that glitters isn't gold/I know you've heard that story told"), which likely relates to Young's decision to refrain from reprising Harvest (Led Zeppelin's untitled fourth album and the song "Stairway to Heaven," which references the centuries-old proverb, were contemporary works). "The Bridge" is a minor but pleasing ballad that foreshadows Tonight's the Night. "Last Dance" is a ragged acknowledgement of everyday mundanity that, fittingly, usually closed the concerts or was played as an encore.

Though it's unfortunate that Neil Young had to suffer through the period of its recording dates, Time Fades Away is an engaging spectacle with some forgotten gems. It is a victory for fans that this music has recently become more available, giving them a fuller picture of one of the most rewarding stretches of Young's career.

Dead Boys—Young Loud and Snotty

Dead Boys—Young Loud and Snotty

Young Loud and Snotty—There exists a band that formed in 1974, disbanded in '75, and reformed in '03 called Rocket from the Tombs. This band is probably most well-known for spawning the long-running post-punk outfit Pere Ubu, which shared members David Thomas and Peter Laughner, but it also generated one of the first New York punk bands. Dead Boys, as did Rocket from the Tombs, hailed from Cleveland, Ohio originally, but moved to New York to join the burgeoning punk scene led by the Ramones. The Ramones and their contemporaries often flirted with commercial appeal, and despite their attitudes and the often-hostile nature of the venues in which they played, were not violent people. Dead Boys were closer to that fantasy than perhaps any other punk band, and so it is fitting that their debut LP was titled Young Loud and Snotty.

Their most famous song, "Sonic Reducer," opens the album with a menacing rollout of barre chords led by the snarl of lead singer Stiv Bators, co-written by non-member David Thomas and lead guitarist Cheetah Chrome during their Rocket from the Tombs days. Bators spews, "I'll be a pharaoh soon/Rule from some golden tomb," in the tribute to each and every outsider. "All This and More" sees Bators philosophize, "Can I describe what it's like/To have sex with the light on?" before telling his date, "You feel so dead tonight;" the guitar, drum, and handclap march is a dead ringer for L.A.M.F. by Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers, which was released the same month. The band's chorus proclaims on "What Love Is," "I don't need none of your bedroom-bruised sweet box [...] I wanna write on your face with my pretty knife," leaving the listener to interpret whether this is what love is.

"Not Anymore" was an alley-walker's nightmarish lament in a time when Alice Cooper was going suffering a lean period and Nick Cave had not yet surfaced. The pure rock-and-roll "Ain't Nothin' to Do" elucidates the real reason why young, loud, and snotty young men do the things they do: boredom. "Caught with the Meat in Your Mouth" is one of the catchiest songs in the set, and despite its markedly obscene title, is not far-removed from Chuck Berry. The live cover of "Hey Little Girl," which in its own time reached #8 on the U.S. charts, fits right in with the Dead Boys' image and makes the listener wonder whether they could have been hit-makers in an earlier time period. "I Need Lunch" is a nihilistically-profound piece of primordia containing the stunning verse, "Look at me that way, bitch/Your face is gonna get a punch/I said I don't need no cook-girl/I need lunch." "High Tension Wire" is an ode to living on the edge, as is the Rocket from the Tombs holdover "Down in Flames," from which the band drew their name.

Young Loud and Snotty, though not revolutionary, is an important piece of punk history that shows the more truly nasty side of American punk music. It is not on GG Allin's level of insanity, but its crass assault of pure rock-and-roll and lewd verbal imagery borders on high art at times. It is a half-hour of blistering punk music that is essential for any fan's collection.

Todd Rundgren—A Wizard, a True Star

Todd Rundgren—A Wizard, a True Star

"To me, it's the beginning of my real career as a musician. Up until then, I was pretty much following the rules of the game. An album was a collection of singles, and singles were all short, accessible songs that usually were about the opposite sex. 'Something/Anything?' was an attempt for me to get a grip on that. By the time I got to the end of that record, I not only had a grip on it, but I was bored with it." —Todd Rundgren, Cleveland.com, 2009

A Wizard, a True Star—Everything begins and ends in nature. The 1971 earthquake in San Fernando, California took 64 lives and caused $553 million in damage. Philadelphia native Todd Rundgren saw fit to move back east and construct Secret Sound Studio, his follow-up to Something/Anything? already in mind. A Wizard, a True Star was not exactly meant to bitterly destroy his reputation, a la Nirvana's In Utero, but it is a deliberate attempt at artistry over the mainstream. "It was a spoof on becoming a show-biz personality," Rundgren stated. "I think I read it in a review somewhere—'a wizard, a true star'—and it just amused me. It wasn't supposed to be serious," he continued, but in 1973 claimed, "I've always tried to make an album that would frustrate critics to the point that they couldn't review it [...] I'm looking for the true fans. This album really puts people to the test as to whether they are really following what I'm into or not. A lot of people were into my music because they were very self-satisfied by what the music represented to them."¹

Side one, titled "The International Feel (in 8)," delivers on this promise. The opening "International Feel" takes off like a rocket ship, proclaiming, "I only want to see if you'll give up on me." Perhaps knowingly, this leads into a watery cover of "Never Never Land" from Peter Pan, giving new context to "Just keep an open mind [...] You'll have a treasure if you stay there." The suite then turns truly bizarre with the psychedelic "Tic Tic Tic, It Wears Off," the proto-punk "You Need Your Head" and "Rock & Roll Pussy," the nonsensical "Dogfight Giggle," the sweet, slinking "You Don't Have to Camp Around," and the chirping "Flamingo."

"Zen Archer" was foreshadowed by "Song of the Viking," but here is fleshed out into a fully-realized epic. "Just Another Onionhead/Da Da Dali" is either a veiled message on selling out, a quaint fantasy, or both, coupled with a Tin Pan Alley send-up. "When the Shit Hits the Fan/Sunset Blvd." is a love letter of sorts to the Los Angeles that Rundgren left behind; ironically he begins the song with the line, "Earthquake in New York City." He then closes the side with the reprise "Le Feel Internacionale," broadcasting, "Utopia is here," a band whose sound is previewed on this album in some respects.

Side two is comprised of more traditional songs, and is thus labeled, "A True Star." "Sometimes I Don't Know What to Feel" is a more vulnerable take on the "feels" he mentioned in the previous suite. "Does Anybody Love You?" contains the curious line, "Love between the ugly is the most beautiful love of all." Rundgren does himself one better than he did on Something/Anything? with the ten minute "Medley: I'm So Proud/Ooh Baby Baby/La La Means I Love You/Cool Jerk." Rundgren raves, "A meal at McDonald's/Nothing fills a man when he's hungry for love" on the demented would-be lovesong "Hungry for Love." The song is baffling—and, of course, that is the name of the game—presented next to the sincere "I Don't Want to Tie You Down." Rundgren said at the time, "For [David] Bowie, the songs are a background for a theatrical presentation rather than a musical one [...] Alice [Cooper] and David really break the illusion at a certain point. It seems to leave the realm of strict theater."² He may have been commenting further on this on "Is It My Name?" when he exclaims, "There is cause and effect/There's a reason I'm so erect," and asks, "My voice goes so high you would think I was gay/But I play my guitar in such a man-cock way/Why don't you love me?/Is it my name?" which may indicate frustration at the inability to succeed at the level of Alice Cooper or David Bowie.

"I've never been able to give up certain things that you have to give up to become a star, such as eliminating the more frayed aspects of my personality and becoming a unified thing and representing one thing as much as David or Alice represent one thing. I've never been able to play it straight. I always end up acting like a kid, blowing it and giggling. I don't take it seriously enough to act like I'm supposed to act. If I had an audience with the Queen, I'd giggle through the whole thing." —Rundgren, Interview Magazine, 1973

Finally, Rundgren plays himself straight and summarizes his message with "Just One Victory," a wondrous call to arms where he comments on his critics ("I've been listening to what's been going down/There's just too much talk and gossip going 'round/You may think that I'm a fool, but I know the answer/Words become a tool, anyone can use them) and proclaims, "The time has come to take the bull by the horns [...] We need just one victory and we're on our way."

Todd Rundgren, as he put it, established a new language with A Wizard, a True Star. It may not have the eminence of his prior work, but it is a dense LP with an abundance of ideas and just as diverse as the sprawling Something/Anything? by which he made his name. It has potential to be a revelation to casual fans, and for the true fans, it is an essential milestone.

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1 2 interviewmagazine.com/music/new-again-todd-rundgren^↩

Prince and the New Power Generation—[Love Symbol]

Prince and the New Power Generation—[Love Symbol]

[Love Symbol]—Eventually changing his name to it for a time, Prince adopted what was termed a "love symbol" for the name of his second album with the New Power Generation: an apparent combination of the traditional male and female symbols. He did not originally choose it to represent his identity, leaving it to mean, in the context of the album, it must speak to the concept; the album does follow a certain story, though it is obscured by the omission of several planned interludes in favor of an additional song. Longer than Diamonds and Pearls (1991), but less swollen, [Love Symbol] is nothing if not dynamic.

"My Name Is Prince" samples successive early Prince records ("I Wanna Be Your Lover" from Prince [1979], "Partyup" from Dirty Mind [1980], and "Controversy" from Controversy [1981]) as the artist proclaims, "My name is Prince" and "Funky fresh 4 the 90s," contextualized by Tony M's aggressive rap verse. Prince, long hip to musical trends, was convinced the hip hop leaning would make it the album's ideal single; he was partially correct, scoring a top 40 hit, but it did not end up the most successful single. It sets the tone for the mostly-cohesive album, something like a party record with a kind of harmless danger, despite lines like "I put my foot in the ass of Jim Crow." Prince claims on "Sexy M.F." that "In a word or 2—it's u I wanna do/No, not cha body, yo mind u fool," which given his history seems dubious, but the groove is undeniable. "Love 2 the 9s" is irresistible; Prince's future wife Mayte Garcia auditions when Prince beckons, "T. will whip out a 37 questionnaire and/Machine gun a sister like he just don't care;" "'How many kids u got'/'Egad, I'm shocked.'"

"The Morning Papers" is a great, fantastic love song, while "The Max" is dance from the underworld: something like Prince's own version of "Thriller." A short segue—of which there were supposed to be many, but were cut due to space limitations—gives some background to the concept, with Vanessa Bartholomew (played by Kirstie Alley) attempting to reach Prince for an interview. "Blue Light" is a traditional Prince theme presented as a reggae number. "I Wanna Melt with U," its title stylized with an eye (as is every other instance of the pronoun in the CD notes), is filthy funk that was thankfully added to the album at the last minute. "Sweet Baby" is one of the only unimaginative and borderline lousy inclusions. "The Continental" is an awesome, twinkling rocker featuring a sexy outro by Carmen Electra (another Prince girlfriend). "Damn U" (whose video also spotlights Electra) is a romantic, dreamlike slow-dancer. The short "Arrogance" demonstrates that Prince is at least self-aware, and highlights what is probably the true subject of the album.

"The Flow" reprises the hip hop undercurrents, suggesting that Prince is not ready to fully embrace the onset of rap ("Girl, I hate 2 say this—nigga, please!"). The singalong "7" was the album's biggest hit, the number seven referring to the number of assassins hired to do away with Mayte's character in Prince's eventual movie accompanying the story, 3 Chains o' Gold. "And God Created Woman," with almost-new age keyboard, is a quality horn-tinged man-and-woman musing under the guise of the Book of Genesis. "3 Chains o' Gold" (the object the aforementioned assassins were contracted to obtain) is slightly overblown for what is supposed to be the summation of the album's plot, though it is not exactly substandard. The following segue, where Prince, wanting to spread "the truth," claims his name is Victor and that he is 320 years old and "into [his] 5th soul," giving the work a feeling of secret-society ambage not unlike the Illuminati (which, for the record, is symbolized by an eye). The album then closes with "The Sacrifice of Victor," ending as it began, with a self-referential quality that also echoes Sign "☮" the Times (1987).

Concept, as always, proves a double-edged sword for Prince; Purple Rain (1984), for all its pomposity, was a great set of songs, if sometimes preposterous, and so is [Love Symbol]. It languishes at times, but at its best it is one of the most eclectic Prince albums, and therefore has an inherent worth distinct from the rest of his music. Beyond the abstract, though, its greatest songs are pop perfection, and for that reason alone it is an essential listen.

Neil Young & Crazy Horse—Rust Never Sleeps

Neil Young & Crazy Horse—Rust Never Sleeps

Rust Never Sleeps—When Neil Young released the career-spanning Decade in 1977, it marked the end of an era. The 70s were not always kind to Young, who scored a hit with Harvest in 1972, but lost his friends, Crazy Horse guitarist Danny Whitten and roadie Bruce Berry. The grief he experienced was channeled into much of his music from the time, most notably Tonight's the Night (1975, but recorded variously from 1970-73). That album was released in place of Homegrown, which was meant to follow On the Beach (1974), but was shelved by Young, who called it "a very down album." Many of Young's albums from the subsequent period of time around the turn of the decade were unfinished or hodgepodge. When he scrapped Homegrown, he began slowly dispersing its songs through Zuma (1975), Long May You Run (1976), American Stars 'n Bars (1977), and Decade, at which point he had begun work on Chrome Dreams, which also would never be released. Some of its songs were holdovers from Homegrown and ended up taking up most of American Stars 'n Bars, while the rest have become miscellany and, more notably, the genesis of Rust Never Sleeps.

After the sidestep of Comes a Time (1978), which was his most straightforward country-rock record since Harvest had scored him a hit, and the production of his movie Human Highway, Young began a new tour where each show featured separate acoustic and electric sets. Rather than attempt to emulate the performances in-studio, Young decided instead to use concert recordings with overdubs, effectively making Rust Never Sleeps a live album aside from two songs on the acoustic side. The notes to the CD issue say that Rust is "a loose-knit concept album built around Young's conviction that an artist's reach must always exceed his grasp; that the alternative to creative growth was stagnation and irrelevancy." The record is bookended by differing versions of the same song; side one opens with "My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)," co-written by Ducks bandmate Jeff Blackburn, which remarks that the recently-deceased Elvis Presley sadly "faded away." He then name-checks Sex Pistols singer Johnny Rotten, wondering if Rotten will meet a similar fate: fading into obscurity, drug-addled and overweight. What's exceptional about the song is that it says all this despite its sparse lyrics and arrangement.

Young reaches a new high on the autobiographical "Thrasher," commenting on his rocky tenure with the commercially-upheld Crosby, Stills & Nash, offering, "I searched out my companions/Who were lost in crystal canyons" before he left for the California countryside prior to the release of Harvest. "When the thrasher comes," he sings, referring to the onset of crass commercialism, "I'll be stuck in the sun like the dinosaurs in shrines/But I'll know the time has come to give what's mine," stating he will remain true to his principles. The song closes out with a moving harmonica solo. "Ride My Llama" is a bucolic number that recalls Zuma, except when Young sings, "I met a man from Mars/He picked up all my guitars/And played me traveling songs." "Pocahontas," named of course for the Native American icon, details the slaughter of those people by settlers, positing "We'll sit and talk of Hollywood/And the good things there for hire/And the Astrodome and the first tepee/Marlon Brando, Pocahontas, and me." It also includes the satire, "I would give a thousand pelts/To sleep with Pocahontas/In the morning on the fields of green," as Young cleverly rolls down to a melancholy lick as he does every time the song hits on a mournful observance. "Sail Away" is the simplest message, accompanied by Nicolette Larson, who was featured heavily in a backing role on Comes a Time (for which he probably considered the song).

"Powderfinger," basic enough that it could be about any number of things, details a premature death, with the powerful lyric, "Raised my rifle to my eye/Never stopped to wonder why/Then I saw black and my face splashed in the sky." Young originally offered it to Lynyrd Skynyrd and recorded it himself for Chrome Dreams as a shorter acoustic ballad. "Welfare Mothers" is the most puzzling song in the set: "Welfare mothers," who "make better lovers," wash "down at every laundromat in town now." It does rock, however, as does "Sedan Delivery," which may be something like the story of a parallel-universe Bruce Berry. "Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)" helps support this theory, being the darkened mirror image of the opening song, with the key lyrical difference being "You pay for this, but they give you that;" Young previously employed the tactic of closing Tonight's the Night with a more ragged version of the title song, and on Rust it not only ends ragged but positively mucked-up.

Having already made numerous masterpieces, it would have been easy to mark Neil Young for lean years as the 1980s approached. Instead, he delivered his most astounding work yet, without a single average-or-worse cut, and set a watermark for thoughtful, inventive rock and roll, which, as he puts it, is here to stay.