Neil Young

It's 1979. The legendary 70s, marked by hard rock, progressive, and country rock, are drawing to a close. The punk revolution is emerging onto the scene, and as usual Neil Young, the solitary Canadian, isn't just standing by watching… Having weathered the terrible crisis brought on by the drugs that took away guitarist Danny Whitten and his friend Bruce Berry, and having come through the darkness of "Tonight's The Night" (an incredible document of life), Young returns to the light with "Zuma" (1974) and "Comes A Time" (1978), ready to write yet another new page in the history of music.

"Rust Never Sleeps" was born out of a series of concerts that Neil Young and Crazy Horse recorded in the second half of the 70s. From that historic tour they would extract the unreleased tracks for the record, and later the ones that would make up the well-known "Live Rust". Every night, Young brought his own anxieties onto the stage, the signs of the end of the hippie era, the angry jolt of newborn punk, the melodies of his country rock.

The self-titled video (judged in 1987 by "Rolling Stone" magazine to be "one of the greatest live shows of the last twenty years") actually shares the tracklist of "Live Rust". It's a genuine show, with strange hooded figures acting as roadies on stage, silhouettes of amplifiers, a microphone, and even giant tuning forks. Photos from that show were used for the cover of "Rust Never Sleeps"; the performance is truly thrilling, but, as with any live show, not without a few rough edges. So for that album and for "Live Rust", the best versions recorded on tour were chosen. The video, because of its distinctive nature, is authentic, warts and all.

The record, divided as in every Young live album into a solitary acoustic part and an electric ride with Crazy Horse, opens with "My My Hey Hey (Out Of The Blue)", a deeply evocative acoustic track that defies time. "Rock and roll can never die," sings his thin voice, almost breaking, "the King is gone but is not forgotten…", referring to Elvis Presley, symbol of rock and roll. Young is aware that an era is ending, as he sings in the beautiful second track, "Thrasher", but just as determined to defend old rock and roll, "like dinosaurs in the shrine". Young is a dinosaur of rock, but his gaze toward the new is clear, in his nod to Johnny Rotten (Sex Pistols) within that same "My My Hey Hey", also remembered for the line "it's better to burn out then to fade away", quoted in Kurt Cobain's farewell note (confirming how these themes have stood the test of time).

The acoustic section continues. The Canadian sets aside present-day anxieties and dives into the past with classic pro-Native American songs, like "Ride My Llama" and the famous "Pocahontas", not forgetting the sweet "Sail Away", with Nicolette Larson on second vocals. The theme of the extermination of the Americas returns after the fantastic "Zuma", a 1975 album entirely dedicated to this subject. The rage over burned teepees and the deaths of countless Pocahontases continues into the electric section too, with the album's masterpiece: "Powderfinger". The title refers to a rifle (translated literally it means "powder finger") and isn't easy to interpret. It tells of an invasion and a boy who has to defend his loved ones. But he's too young, and his desperate cry ("shelter me from the powder and the finger") goes unanswered: his resignation leaves a bitter taste, and a tear ("remember me to my love, I know I'll miss her…").

The unleashed Crazy Horse back up Neil Young's dirty but always passionate guitar: Ralph Molina keeps simple time but with great precision, Billy Talbot plays with his usual big heart, Frank Sampedro is the "utility man," doing unglamorous but essential work... et voilà, the inimitable Crazy Horse sound. A warm, uniform, full, essential sound, the result of a lot of heart. Little technology, no obsessive control over hundreds of effects. Young's Gibson (the same one since the '70s, visible in "Live At Red Rocks," worn down by years of pick strokes) is plugged into a pedalboard with which he controls only the volume and occasionally kicks in the delay; for the rest, just distortion, some whammy bar, and feeling - that essential ingredient of rock that so often makes up for technique.

The record moves on with tracks like "Welfare Mothers" and "Sedan Delivery," exposés of society's darker corners (the first hails divorce, the second depicts urban decay) that few have ever given due credit to in the history of music. The album closes with the electric version of the opening track, a recurring topos in Young's body of work. "Hey Hey My My (Into The Black)" ends the album the way it began, but with an extra dose of anger, almost punk in spirit, with the Fender amps by now spent, Young hammering at the guitar to produce his trademark harmonics, urging everyone to defend themselves and live to the fullest, "cause rust never sleeps"...

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14/11/2006