Neil Young & Promise Of The Real
The Monsanto Years
(Reprise)
This is the 36th studio album released by the Canadian legend but don't be daunted by that big number. Be daunted instead by the fact that it's actually his sixth album since June 2012. There are many people - a lot of them fans of Neil Young - who won't actually have bought as many as six albums since June 2012.
And yet there's remarkable diversity across all of these releases, each of which has its particular pros and cons: the scratchy nostalgia of A Letter Home and lush orchestral/one-on-one intimate alternate versions of Storytone, the extended jam reunion with Crazy Horse on Psychedelic Pill and heavy pub-rock covers of Americana, the revealing archive performance of Live At The Cellar Door.
So where is Young at with The Monsanto Years? In a politicised place, for sure, as he takes agricultural multinational Monsanto to task for its development of genetically modified crops. It sometimes sounds like a rush job, the harmonies sloppily compromised, the uninspiring music rarely delivering on the basic sentiment of the lyrics, but somehow that very spontaneity gives the album an activist's energy.
Young plays here with Willie Nelson's likeminded sons Lukas and Micah and the former's band, Promise Of The Real, but their input is fairly negligible as it's totally Young's show. He has been sharper and angrier before, but his message is as relevant as ever.
Alan Morrison
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