Neil Young
Are You Passionate?
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A year cannot pass without some classic rocker releasing a record of noble insight on life and love. These albums usually are collectively trashed or praised by critics- with record sales generally echoing the assessment. A good one reflects the attaining of a dignified sense of wisdom through aging- see Bob Dylan ’s Time Out of Mind. The ones that evoke criticism usually are berated for having no balls. In these, it’s clear that the performer got sick of being referred to with past tense implications, and wanted to create something that will place them back on the mainstream music scene. The result is often one of those ‘getting in touch with the young people’ efforts that end up as awkward as Manute Bol on skis- see any recent Clapton project. Thankfully, Neil Young avoids the latter on his new record, Are You Passionate?. Instead he’s put together an album that, while not revealing any new side of the rustically urbane musician, is honest and focused.

The record starts off charmingly enough, with Neil demonstrating what’s become a trademark exhibition of something somewhere between stylish and almost purposely cumbersome. “You’re My Girl” is a light but surprisingly soulful opener, sounding somewhere in-between Steely Dan and Motown. “Mr. Disappointment,” the second track, is a meditation with thoughtful lyrics about failing with love. It’s gloomy, but in that perfect therapeutic way.

In a lot of these tracks, Young dances around the line that separates the grittier version of rock and roll he helped initiate, and the tiresome fifty-five year old upper class hippy turned doctor music that is totally gutless but too cautious to really despise.

In the end, however, Neil shows that he can still perform awesome songs. “Goin’ Home” confirms this in explosive fashion. The raw and emotional guitar that is quite possibly the most recognizable in rock completely obliterates what might be called a repetitive tale of nostalgia that too closely echoes “Everybody Knows this is Nowhere”- a classic cut from the 1969 album of the same name. This song really stands out above the rest. It’s not surprising to find the liner notes telling us that Crazy Horse (Young’s heavy backup band that truly helped originate grunge music) helped him out on this one. The end result is really nothing other than a kick ass rock song, almost nine minutes of uncut perfection minus the feeble backups on the chorus (Crosby, Stills, and Nash make it a flawless live song). The first single, “Let’s Roll,” is catchy enough to get some serious radio play.

Ultimately, this is a solid album, mainly because Neil has remained true to himself and come up with some tracks that are pretty effective. It’s not an intense record at all, and might even be better as background rather than on headphones.

The work sags a bit towards the end, but the contained duration of eleven songs prevents the slower love tracks from becoming boring; instead the brevity of the recording maintains the slower songs discreet elegance and gives them a rather soothing quality. It would be exhilarating to hear Neil turn up the amps and rock out with Crazy Horse for a few more tracks, but his softer and more sentimental outlook presents a more sophisticated side from an artist who’s done it all regardless.

Neil Young’s Are Your Passionate? is a wary but tasteful extension of a true musician. There’s one great song and a few good ones, with the rest being too delicate and blasé to really rip into. You couldn’t go wrong picking this one out for yourself… or your parents.

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