• Reviews

• All
• Music
• DVDs
• Live
• Cinema
• TV
• Books
• Comic Books
• Video Games

Oct 25, 2023 Web Exclusive By Ian Rushbury

It came as no surprise that when grunge broke in the early ’90s, Neil Young was held up as a massive influence. His cavalier “faux sauvage” approach to playing the electric guitar, fitted right in with the “Stooges meet Steve Jones” approach of many of the leading lights from that nascent genre—especially Pearl Jam.

Official Release Series Discs 22, 23+, 24 & 25 gathers up Freedom, Ragged Glory and live album Arc/Weld, which span the years 1989 to 1991. All three are fascinating albums detailing a particularly energized period of a diverse career.

Freedom combines the acoustic troubadour side of Young’s oeuvre with his unkept, loud guitar style. “Rockin’ in the Free World” has become a bar band staple the world over, while “Don’t Cry” and “Someday” are acoustic and reflective. Freedom prepares the ground for Ragged Glory—an album which is aptly summarized by its title. He’s rejoined by his legendary backing band Crazy Horse and the intensity never dips for the entire duration of the record. The original album is bolstered by some rare unreleased material.

Weld is a double live recording of a contemporary live show that pushes the envelope further with Young and Crazy horse blasting through “Cinnamon Girl,” “Welfare Mothers,” and “Powderfinger” among others with a combination of reckless abandon and precision. The accompanying third album, Arc is an intriguing if inessential foray into “Metal Machine Music”-style feedback abuse.

Official Release Series Discs 22, 23+, 24 & 25 is from a period where Young was back in fashion for the first time in years. Did he care? Probably not. He was too busy being Neil Young. (www.neilyoungarchives.com)

Author rating: 8/10