Reprise

Talkin To The Trees feels like a full-on fresh-blooded leap forward as Young steps into his sixth decade in his creative odyssey filled with fearless twists and turns. The Chrome Hearts feature Spooner Oldham (Organ); Micah Nelson (Guitar and Vocal); Corey McCormick (Bass and Vocal); Anthony LoGerfo (Drums); with Neil Young (Guitar, Harp, Piano, Vibes). All songs are written by Neil Young, co-produced by Lou Adler and Young, and recorded at Shangri La Studios in Malibu.

Oceanside Countryside is the latest of Neil Young's great "lost" albums to be released as part of his Analog Original Series. The album was recorded from May to December 1977, preceding the release of Comes A Time in 1978. The two albums share the same country/folk sound, and three songs ("Goin' Back", "Human Highway" and "Field of Opportunity") appear on both albums.<br/><br/>The vinyl release of Oceanside Countryside includes some tracks that are on the CD of the same name in Neil Young's Archives Vol. III. However, this track list is how Oceanside Countryside was originally planned to be released. Recorded on tape, these are the original mixes done at the time of recording. <br/> <br/>All the songs on the "Oceanside" are performed solo by Neil Young. On "Countryside" Young is joined by a band of his friends: Ben Keith (Steel Guitar), Rufus Thibodeaux (fiddle), Karl T. Himmel (drums), Joe Osborne (bass). On "The Old Homestead" Tim Drummond plays bass and Levon Helm plays drums. "Pocahontas" is Young solo.<br/><br/>Please note that while the songs on Oceanside Countryside appear on Archives Vol.III, the versions are not always the same and the track list is the running order for the original Oceanside Countryside album. On this Analog Original vinyl release, the versions of "Lost in Space," "Captain Kennedy" and "The Old Homestead" are from Hawks & Doves in 1980. "Sail Away", "Goin' Back", "Human Highway", "It Might Have Been", and "Pocahontas" are the same versions as on Archives Vol. III in digital. "Field of Opportunity" and "Dance Dance Dance" are the original versions that have Young on backing vocals instead of Nicolette Larson as they appeared on Archives Vol.III.

Mastodon: Hushed and grim [Gatefold / 2 Vinyl LP]

WELD (1991) is one of the most groundbreaking albums of Neil Young's history. It's a live album recorded with Crazy Horse after the release of RAGGED GLORY. It was from a wildly creative period of the band's history, and as Neil Young has often done, gave notice that he was a rock & roll originator who could never be second-guessed.

For the past two decades, Toast has been whispered about in collectors' circles in hushed tones, as Young has dropped pieces of information about it here and there, especially as it contains three never-before-released songs.<br/>Last year, in his online daily newspaper, The Times Contrarian, Young wrote about the album in-depth. "The music of Toast is about a relationship," he said. "There is a time in many relationships that go bad, a time long before the breakup, where it dawns on one of the people, maybe both, that it's over. This was that time."<br/><br/>Aptly, Toast is heavy and distressed, brimming with electrifying tension. Even its sweet-sounding opening track, "Quit," features the refrain, "Don't say you love me." "Standing In The Light of Love" and "Goin' Home" let the Horse off the tether in fields of overdriven guitar; an out-of-work logger grapples with his faith on the breakneck "Timberline;" and on "Gateway of Love," Young dreams of a less painful future over a hypnotizing 10 minutes, leading into the somber, brokedown "How Ya Doin'?" The songwriter sums up the album best during its shadowy finale "Boom Boom Boom": "All I got is a broken heart, and I don't try to hide it when I play my guitar."

"Why do these old songs live so vividly now? They do to me."<br/><br/>Neil Young with Crazy Horse in all their "Ragged Glory". <br/>Neil & The Horse have played together for over 50 years and the performances of these songs is a true highlight of that long relationship.<br/><br/>9 songs on 2 LPs, with the original song titles replaced with selected lyrics. ("Farmer John", being a cover, retains its original title.)<br/><br/>The album was recorded in 2023, with this line-up:<br/><br/>Billy Talbot - Bass, vocal<br/>Ralph Molina - Drums, vocal<br/>Micah Nelson - Guitar, vocal, piano<br/>Nils Lofgren - Guitar, vocal, piano<br/>Neil Young - Guitar, vocal, harmonica<br/><br/>Neil: "In the spirit it's offered...made this for the Horse lovers. I can't stop it. The horse is runnin'. What a ride we have. I don't want to mess with the vibe. I am so happy to have this to share."

When Neil Young assembles a special edition of his songs, the delight is in the details. DUME is a new limited-edition all analog vinyl pressing of 16 songs originally collected for Neil Young's Archives Vol. II release in Fall of 2020. The recordings-some part of the historic ZUMA album sessions by Neil Young & Crazy Horse, and others previously unreleased-are a detailed look at one of the most exciting periods in Neil's rock & roll life. DUME captures the live-wire spark of Young's music during those years, and this full-bore attack is somewhat of a turning point for Young and the band. The mid-70's were an era when new high-water marks were appearing everywhere. Ampage and attack were being pursued, and the songs on DUME are prime examples of what lay ahead. The 1960s had opened the floodgates on solo artists and groups using the freedom they had earned when they took control of their own musical destinies. The '70s had begun on a high note and kept growing in creative leaps and bounds. Artists had found a way to move in their own direction and follow a path that opened before them.<br/><br/>These sixteen tracks from the ZUMA-recording period on this limited-edition vinyl pressing turn into a somewhat kaleidoscopic view of the era, and really present an album that becomes its own being. The freshness of never-heard-before versions of well-known songs, along with the original songs themselves on newly pressed high-quality vinyl from the original analog tape masters, is like an audio reset for everything gathered. In the always-evolving efforts of Young, the past and the future meld into one never-ending presentation of his musical life in the highest audio sound quality available, and in new collections that allow an original light of what he's accomplished so far.