When I first heard Neil Young was teaming with Daniel Lanois I must admit I was expecting an album more aligned to previous Lanois production works like Bob Dylan ‘Time Out Of Mind’ U2 ‘The Unforgettable Fire’, or Peter Gabriel ‘So’. Not so.
‘Le Noise’ musically reminds me of 1994’s ‘Sleeps With Angels’ in feel, an album Neil has rarely revisited. There is no band. This is raw Neil, just Young and his guitar.
You will hear the past throughout parts of this record. ‘Sign Of Love’, for example, harks back to ‘Zuma’ days. When he ups the noise, Neil plays like he is in Crazy Horse mode minus the powerhouse band. ‘The Hitchhiker’ was written by Neil back in the 70s and is finally released here. Think ‘Zuma’ again, lyrically as well as musically, with its reference to the Incas, a popular subject of Young’s in the 70s and early 80s.
The combination of Young and Lanois makes for an interesting blend but to appreciate ‘Le Noise’ you have to hear it completely in one setting. Neil dropped the occasional tracks online to give fans a preview of this record but as stand-alone tracks it is difficult to wrap your mind around where this is going.
Once again Neil Young has reinvented himself with ‘Le Noise’.
The sentiment of ‘Living With War’ is continued on ‘Love and War’ and ‘Angry World’.
There are a couple of quieter moments on the record including the laidback ‘Love and War’ and ‘Peaceful Valley Boulevard’ pull it right back.
The tracklisting is:
'Walk With Me'
'Sign of Love'
'Rescue Me'
'Love And War'
'Angry World'
'Hitchhiker'
'Peaceful Valley Blvd.'
'Rumblin''
