Silver & Gold

Neil Young

On the heels of the congenial reunion he had earlier this year with Crosby, Stills and Nash — Neil Young has released Silver & Gold, an acoustic cousin of Harvest and Harvest Moon. An artist who never ceases to evolve while staying true to his roots, Young has buckled down for one of his most reflective and personal albums. This is the mellow side of Neil with an eloquent shine, sustained by his own brand of intensity and poignancy.

It's hard to resist the country-flavored simplicity of songs like "Red Sun" and "Distant Camera." Like most of the material here, they flow effortlessly with little pretense. Then there's "Buffalo Springfield Again," an ode to Young's distant past, where he sheds no blame and hints of things to come. With an acoustic guitar and some spiraling notes on his harmonica, "Good To See You" opens the CD on a very positive note. Targeted at his audience as well as his family, here is a song ingrained with the sort of feel-good quality that would struggle for identity in this day and age. The title track, "Silver And Gold," along such fare as "the Great Divide" and "Without Rings," is reminiscent of the Comes A Time album — a down-home love song that "never seems to get old, it's better than silver and gold..."

With long-time collaborator/steel guitarist/Stray Gator, Ben Keith, on board as well as support from such heavies as Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris, Duck Dunn and Jim Keltner, Silver & Gold places Neil Young at a juncture in his career where he is finally coming to terms with who and what he is. Clocking in at just under 40 minutes, The CD is a concise and stylish document dedicated to his wife, Pegi and inspired by his son, Ben. It's almost as if the outside world has received an invitation to step into the man's backyard. With Young, however, one should never get too comfortable. For his next release, all hell could break loose and he could go grunge with Crazy Horse. And the elegance and sentimentality would be sidelined for the next few years.

~ Shawn Perry

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The Neil Young Collection