Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Toast

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Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Toast

Postby C » 09 Jul 2022, 21:28

slightbreeze wrote:With his back catalogue, easy to do. I keep telling myself "No more Neil" (I have more albums by him than any other artist), but I'm mulling over buying "Barn", as the reviews have been, generally, excellent.


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Played Toast for the first time this evening. It is absolutely superb - far superior to Barn in many ways.

In 2000, Neil Young and Crazy Horse took up residence at Toast – a recording studio on San Francisco’s Mission Street.

https://www.uncut.co.uk/reviews/album/n ... st-139177/

Read for yourselves about the reworking/retitling of some tracks bobbing up elsewhere - without Crazy Horse, I'm not bothered about that or that part of the history.

To my old ears this album isn absolute corker and the best of a bunch.

I love the way its been recorded - not murky, like Barn; no overlong tedious tracks (inc the streamy ones); easy sound and not abrasive - I love noise and abrasion but the balance here is just perfect; great songs with fantastic instrumentation; some delightful twists and surprises - a delight- with nods to the likes of Frank Zappa, Miles Davis and Deep Purple.

This is a great album.

I have got really excited about this one - I will be playing it again on Hi-Res Qobuz again tomorrow - at least once- and buying a copy when the price comes down!

This album has made me happy.

[7 songs 53 minutes approx]

- a great cover too





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Re: Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Toast

Postby ChrisB » 10 Jul 2022, 00:17

Think you've convinced me. I've read that one track "borrows" from "Smoke on the water"?

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Re: Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Toast

Postby C » 10 Jul 2022, 11:42

slightbreeze wrote:Think you've convinced me. I've read that one track "borrows" from "Smoke on the water"?



oooof!

I had a happy little chuckle on my face

It's a bloody corker of an album Chris!




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Re: Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Toast

Postby The Slider » 10 Jul 2022, 12:19

Fucking ada, you're easily pleased.
Recycled second division Neil.
It is not unpleasant but it is the very definition of inessential.
Complete Ramones Mp3 set on its way

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Re: Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Toast

Postby mudshark » 11 Jul 2022, 17:26

Managed to listen to the first three songs on the way to the office this morning. The first one is nice, the second pretty damn good and the third sounds like a song Redbone rejected in 1973 because it sounded too corny. The excellent guitar makes it half decent but can't cover the fact that it's a horrible tune. I'll listen to the rest on the way home!

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Re: Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Toast

Postby 50 Shades Of Blue » 11 Jul 2022, 23:26

mudshark wrote:Managed to listen to the first three songs on the way to the office this morning. The first one is nice, the second pretty damn good and the third sounds like a song Redbone rejected in 1973 because it sounded too corny. The excellent guitar makes it half decent but can't cover the fact that it's a horrible tune. I'll listen to the rest on the way home!

Brgds
Erik


Just listened to the first 3 tracks as well.
I'm with you, tracks 1 & 2 good.
Track 3 is 8 minutes of dross and I canned it at the halfway mark, unable to continue.
Some mother's talking 'bout Guns' n 'Roses
As if i give a fuck
At best i think they suck

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Re: Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Toast

Postby mudshark » 11 Jul 2022, 23:27

Nice album. Not a corker. I didn't realize it at first, because I listened to the disappointing Are You Passionate? only once and that was a long time ago, but the albums share a few songs, possibly under a different title. But I think the renditions on Toast are better, probably thanks to Crazy Horse (as opposed to the MG's on the AYP album). How Ya Doin is the best song on the album, for me. 3x Boom is very pleasant but should have been half its length. Nice enough for a 21st century NY album, but for me not a corker by any stretch of the imagination. Not as good as Barn and can't hold a candle to the superb Homegrown, to compare it with his 2 releases prior to Toast.
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Re: Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Toast

Postby Nervous Ned » 12 Jul 2022, 17:03

Sorry .. another thumbs down from me. To these ears it sounds exactly what it is; an album not worthy of release at the time. I mean ... it's not bad as such, just mediocre. Crazy Horse sound unengaged, with the drums in particular sounding like they've been rejected by Mark E Smith because they're too plodding.
The backing vocals jar and Boom Boom Boom is WAY too long ... I thought it was fading out only to find it was only halfway through.
I actually heard most of this stuff in the 2001 and 2002 concerts Neil played. I remember She’s A Healer In particular, being good.
It's better than Barn, but that's faint praise I probably need to play it more than once, but that's not going to happen.
Last edited by Nervous Ned on 13 Jul 2022, 06:55, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Toast

Postby The Slider » 12 Jul 2022, 20:21

Those songs were duff first time round
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Re: Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Toast

Postby C » 12 Jul 2022, 21:35

The Slider wrote:Those songs were duff first time round


Behave lad!





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Re: Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Toast

Postby C » 12 Jul 2022, 21:36

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Lord Rother wrote:And there was me thinking you'd say "Fair enough, you have a point Bob".

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Re: Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Toast

Postby mudshark » 13 Jul 2022, 00:58

About 20 years ago there was a thread about 'artists who never made a bad album'. I remember I argued that Lou Reed was such an artist and I'm pretty sure (I could be wrong, but many people say I'm not :-)) Slider picked old Shakey. Of course, that was before all the duff songs...
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Re: Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Toast

Postby Nervous Ned » 13 Jul 2022, 06:54

By 2002 Neil had released Landing on Water and Reactor ... both are way worse than Toast.

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Re: Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Toast

Postby The Slider » 13 Jul 2022, 08:01

mudshark wrote:About 20 years ago there was a thread about 'artists who never made a bad album'. I remember I argued that Lou Reed was such an artist and I'm pretty sure (I could be wrong, but many people say I'm not :-)) Slider picked old Shakey. Of course, that was before all the duff songs...



I may have cited Waits - who had a great 80s and didn't release even a mediocre album till Real Gone, which was after peak Mojo days -but as has been said, NY's 80s is less than stellar. I'd not have tried to make a case for him.
Costello is the only other candidate I can think of.
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Re: Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Toast

Postby Nervous Ned » 13 Jul 2022, 08:37

I think Wait's fall from grace was a lot earlier than Real Gone. There was The Black Rider which is a real slog to get through. I'll ignore the Jarmusch soundtrack. The real stinker is Mule Variations where Tom seemed to have descended into self parody. I never bothered with him after that.

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Re: Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Toast

Postby C » 13 Jul 2022, 09:13

Brian Eno



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Re: Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Toast

Postby Hugh » 14 Jul 2022, 01:16

Nervous Ned wrote:I think Wait's fall from grace was a lot earlier than Real Gone. There was The Black Rider which is a real slog to get through. I'll ignore the Jarmusch soundtrack. The real stinker is Mule Variations where Tom seemed to have descended into self parody. I never bothered with him after that.



Both Mule Variations and The Black Rider are fine albums. Alice onwards was where he lost the genius.

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Re: Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Toast

Postby ChrisB » 14 Jul 2022, 11:53

Played "Toast" twice. To be honest, it's "ok", nothing more, nothing less.

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Re: Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Toast

Postby John_K » 14 Jul 2022, 15:08

I've played Toast 4 times now, it's improving a little each time I hear it, but not setting my world alight.

The completist in me was compelled to order the CD, but not to splurge on the vinyl...

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Re: Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Toast

Postby Nervous Ned » 14 Jul 2022, 16:23

Btw ... has anyone noticed that Neil rips off Dawn's 'Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Old Oak Tree' on the first track? ... desperate or what? :D


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