After The Gold Rush - NEIL YOUNG*****

Tell Me Why/After The Gold Rush/Only Love Can Break Your Heart/Southern Man/Till The Morning Comes/Oh Lonesome Me/Don't Let It Bring You Down/Birds/When You Dance You Can Really Love/I Believe In You/Cripple Creek Ferry

With his third solo album After The Gold Rush Neil Young moves into top gear with this collection of melancholic and introspective songs that would establish his reputation as one of the best singer-songwriters of the 1970s. (US:8 UK:7)

"An amazing display of Young's talent, this album easily shows off most aspects of this man's artistic width and depth; from pure tenderness (as on Birds) to burning rage (Southern Man) and anything in between. This is Neil at the top of his game, inspirational and durable."

"Unlike his two previous albums, Young is at his best here when he is at his most melancholic. Most performers would be happy to come up with one classic per album, but After The Gold Rush presents an embarrassment of riches, one right after the other. Songwriting that is masterful, yet seemingly effortless."

"Neil Young had the talent to create convincing music from the simplest of building blocks and it was never made to look as easy as it was here. A handful of chords and the most obvious of tunes seem to fall into each others arms as if they were made for each other."

"This is one of Young's best albums. The songs range in subject matter from introspection, to protest songs, to love songs, to sing-along ballads. The sound is more consistent, it's heavily influenced by country and folk music. Every song is solid and quite a few are Young standards."

"When I listen to it, it's from start to finish. Not a bad song on the entire effort. Loved it when originally came out and still do. One of those rare albums that still sounds fresh after many decades."

"After The Gold Rush has a great mixture of soft, thoughtful, and beautiful acoustic based tracks alongside really raw and powerful electric stuff. I think all the tracks are wonderful; it just does not get any better than this."

"There's an intangible element here that elevates tracks like Birds to knockout status. Perhaps it's the aura of a great songwriter approaching his prime."