This is the start in a series of reflections on Neil Young’s discography. I am starting this series on Neil Young’s 74th birthday with his self-titled debut album. My hope is to write a reflection on every one of his 68 albums. This will include studio and live albums. I will do this in chronological order by the date albums were released. I will not be including albums he was only featured on, were he was a member of a group, or compilations.
As this is Neil Young’s debut album, you can still hear him settling in as a solo artists after his time playing with Buffalo Springfield. The most obvious sign of this are the elements of 60s (psychedelic) rock throughout the project. Rock organs, effects pedals and strong backup singers are all present on this album. Personally, the 60s rock sound present on his work with Crosby, Stills, Nash, etc is what makes me not really like those albums.
Aside from my surprise at the genre, this album has 10 strong songs. Many of them show the beginnings of someone who would go on to be a defining artist of the 20th century. On this self titled album, he is still a patient and insightful storyteller. He was not afraid to take risks: the intro song is entirely instrumental and the last song is close to ten minutes long, featuring only Young accompanied by his acoustic guitar. The last song, “The Last Trip to Tulsa,” is the most “Neil Young” sounding of them all. For an album named after the man himself, it sounds far from what I expect from him.
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