NEIL YOUNG
Landing On Water/Life (Geffen)
Reviewed by John Sekerka

---

Finally issued on CD, these two Young discs should make all the completists quite delirious. No landmarks by any stretch of the imagination (what was during the mid eighties?), they nevertheless show Young at what he does best: reaching forward and reaching back. The rough, synth laden Landing on Water contains some of Young's best writing, though as with a lot of his efforts, you have to sift through sonic experimentation to get there. "Hippie Dream" and "Drifter" are just waiting for resurrection in another format to take their rightful places alongside Young classics. A year later, probably from the backlash, Young decided to bring Crazy Horse back to the fold. We are treated with some classic playing, the requisite jamming and even some harmonica moments, though Young is in fact carrying on in the same vein, just switching stylistic gears. Ever the music chameleon, Young has travelled many bizarre roads, though throughout it all he remains a consummate writer, if not an all together successful genre explorer.

© 2001 - John Sekerka