Neil Young & Crazy Horse >>>>>>>>>>>>>> Neil Young solo
 

Is this a common opinion?

NEVERTHELESS, it is mine.

I can't compare. Probably his work with Crazy Horse is definitive to me because I love the insane noise, but Neil Young solo is also very very good

I don't think a clear division can be made. There are great CH and great solo albums, and pretty mediocre CH and solo albums. Also, albums like Rust Never Sleeps contain overdubbed solo tracks. Early CH is cool, but by the mid 70s they are just another backing band.

Rust Never Sleeps is so good.

But I don't find myself a fan of Harvest or any of his other big "classics".

Psychedelic Pill, the 2012 Crazy Horse album, is one of the best things he has ever done

...since 1990

I can't get behind this. Many of his early solo albums have CH on them, like Tonight's the Night, which is awesome and tracks off of After the Gold Rush, which has some of his best song writing. I don't really hear a division between his solo and non-solo stuff until much later.

Interesting take. I was more comparing the album's billed as either solo or CH. I guess if they are on a lot of the album's anyway, the line gets blurrier.

no way, Psychedelic Pill is actually supreme. It goes toe to toe with anything he has ever released. The guitar on that album is just fucking beyond

another really underrated album is Mirrorball, which is Crazy Horse style but the backing band is Pearl Jam

I don’t know. Pill sounds to me like a meandering Ragged Glory, which was the last “new sound” I heard come from them. RG also meanders for many of the songs. I do like that one though. Honestly that and Harvest Moon were the last great things Neil did.

I dunno, I disagree. I think he has continued to produce great music in every era, though not every album has been consistently great since the 70s

I also think Harvest Moon is his most overrated album, though I do like it.

I also think Psychedelic Pill is pretty different than Ragged Glory. It's far darker and denser, though the guitar is similar in some ways.

I've been slowly working through the discography. I'm in the 90's now.

I really dug S/T, Everybody Knows, Comes A Time, Rust Never Sleeps, and Zuma most. But I also think Hawks and Doves, Old Ways, American Stars n Bars, and Ragged Glory are all solid. Oh, and Trans - that's kinda goofy but I like it. :D

There are about twenty or so songs that I like scattered between Gold Rush & Harvest Moon, but none of the albums between that period grabbed me as a whole.

So you are missing two of his best albums: Tonight's the Night and On the Beach.
Also, there are only 3 years (1970-1972) separating Gold Rush from Harvest (if you meant Harvest Moon, that album is 1992), so 20 songs is actually that whole period.

Anyways, lots of the 1976-1980 Neil Young output is actually overdubs and re-recordings of songs he wrote before 1976, such as for the unfinished 74-75 Homegrown album. A bunch of the Rust Never Sleeps songs is 1976 solo stuff that was just released.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homegr...il_Young_album)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitchh...il_Young_album)

Basically, outside of Trans and a few scattered songs, everything good Neil did was pre-1976 IMHO.

Couldn't get into either of those albums, but I do like Albuquerque & Mellow My Mind from Tonight.

And yeah, I meant about 20 songs between 1970-1992 (Gold Rush, Harvest, Tonight, Landing, Freedom, and Harvest Moon)

I'm clearly a NY noob. I went in listening to his stuff pretty much blind. I do appreciate him more when he's in country music mode.

Vampire Blues tho

I really really like the three psych jam trax that kick off Broken Arrow.

On the Beach is low key his greatest album ever.

I think it's like his Pisces Iscariot

U CRAZY 4 THIS ONE, B

There's nothing "low key" about the supremacy of On the Beach. I will admit that there's still a good stretch of his stuff I haven't heard but I don't see my opinion on this changing

The songs are just so good, but they are also very understated

hmm, not necessarily. I love a big crazy horse jam, but Neil has so many incredible solo songs

if you don't like after the gold rush and on the beach, you aint a neil fan

:dammit:

I would also recommend Time Fades Away, which is a “live album” but is actually more of a stand alone album recorded live.

I'm liking Prairie Wind. It slaps.

Yes Prairie Wind is good

Love me some Neil Young, though I've probably only explored 1/3 of his discoraphy.

Debut album - I quite like some of the songs but there's defo too many overdubs.
EKTIN - great stuff altogether. Cinnamon Girl one of his best songs. That and Down by the River and Cowgirl in the Sand are worth buying it.
After the Goldrush - I really think some of his most affecting and moving songs are on this album, I always tell people who only know Harvest to get into this.
Harvest - Was my entry album, I still love it, though some of it is overplayed.
Zuma - didn't grab me like the others but I like a lot of it
Mirror Ball - I love this album, it's a little long but has some great moments. Ferocious playing
Broken Arrow - I sort of liked it at the time but haven't listened to it in years.

I've also heard a lot of Harvest Moon and Sleeps With Angels, though I don't own them.

I know I'm missing a big chunk, so defo want to explore Tonight's the Night, Time Fades Away, On the Beach, Ragged Glory (though I've heard it). I've not heard anything he's done in the last 20 years really, though I did hear some of Greendale. Things like Living With War just didn't appeal to me.

If I was to right now go out and buy the best three albums I haven't heard, what should they be?