It’s difficult being a Neil Young fan. When I say difficult, I’m not making a reference to his political stances, his mercurial nature, or his idiosyncratic and impulsive approach to record making. What I’m referring to is the constant stream of new releases, in the form of official bootleg recordings, archival live concerts, “lost” studio albums, multi disc box sets, super deluxe anniversary editions, as well as the occasional new album. For a physical media enthusiast, the sheer volume of new product Neil Young releases, especially in the last decade or so, can be overwhelming. So, the question is do you need all of it; which depends on the kind of Neil Young fan you are. The type 1 fan needs everything, and will of course want exactly that. The type two fan wants most things, but cares less about alternate takes, hits compilations, or repetition. The third type of fan sticks mostly to the studio albums, a few choice live albums, and the occasional archival release that peaks their interest. The last type of Neil Young fan pretty much sticks to well known albums and hits. I put myself in the second category. I scoop up pretty much everything, but I am usually happy with one format of most albums, and will generally skip anything that has too much material that I have already.
The reason I am boring you with the types of Neil Young fans that exist, and what their collecting habits are, is that there is another new Neil Young album on the shelves. (Well sort of, the current editions have been recalled because of what Neil Young referred to on his archives website, as the presence of “interesting errors.” Of course those of us who pre-ordered the album have our copies, “interesting errors” and all. From what I can tell the big error happens in the middle of Vampire Blues, when it sounds like an amp or speaker got kicked over and the resulting buzz drowns out the music. Of course this was one of the pre release singles, so it seems like it should’ve been caught right away, so who really knows?) The purpose of this review is to tell you who this release is for, if and when it is back on shelves and online. If you are in the first two categories, you are gonna get it no matter what I say. If you are in the fourth category of fan, you are probably safe to skip this one as the focus is on lesser known material. So that leaves us with the third category. Is the Coastal soundtrack something the type 3 fan should pick up? I say yes, but allow me to make the case.
Coastal is a soundtrack to a tour film of the same name capturing Neil Young’s first tour post the global pandemic. The Coastal tour took place in 2023 during stops down the California coastline. It was to be a true solo tour, just Neil with his harmonica, his piano, and his guitars. As far as the setlists were concerned, Neil had announced that the focus would be on lesser known songs and deep cuts. For hardcore fans, the thought of Neil combing through his huge catalog of songs for relative obscurities, to dust off and perform live on stage, was exciting. While I didn’t make the tour, I followed the setlists, and was delighted to see that, for the most part, Neil stuck to his stated vision of lesser known cuts. Most sets did include the mega hit, “Heart of Gold,” which likely acted as a life raft for more casual fans in danger of drowning in an ocean of non hits.
Speaking of oceans, the Coastal soundtrack opens with an excellent solo acoustic version of “I’m the Ocean,” from the 1995 album Mirrorball, on which Neil was backed by Pearl Jam. In an acoustic setting, you are more able to hear and take in the surrealistic imagery of the original song, without sacrificing its inherent driving musical urgency. Neil must’ve been listening to Mirrorball a lot during the pandemic, as he went back to it two more times for versions of “Throw Your Hatred Down,” and a solo electric take of “Song X.” For the latter Neil sings it in an uncharacteristically lower register, to great effect. Neil mines the nineties again with “Prime of Life,” from the underrated 1994 classic album Sleeps With Angels.
“Vampire Blues” from 1974’s ditch trilogy classic, On the Beach, gets a great response from the crowd. Neil does this one on the electric guitar, and despite the mid song interruption, I mentioned earlier, it is a great performance. If it weren’t for that one moment, which hopefully will be fixed during the recall, I would declare it the definitive live take, at least from the versions I have heard.
The Buffalo Springfield days are revisited with a whispered take on “I Am A Child,” and a super rare version of “Expecting to Fly.” The song comes across very well even stripped of the original’s psychedelic ornamentation.
To be fair as a hardcore type 2 Neil Young fan with type 1 tendencies, everything I’ve mentioned is stuff that I expected to like, and was not let down. The real test for me was “When I Hold You In My Arms,” from 2002’s little-loved Are You Passionate, and “Love Earth,” the opening cut from his most recent album of new material, 2022’s Crazy Horse backed World Record. “When I Hold You In My Arms,” is a ballad; part love song, part reflection on aging, and part political protest. The song has its good points, but I’ve always struggled with the schmaltzy lyrical cliche of “when I hold you in my arms it’s like a breath of fresh air.” And yet, in this performance, with Neil sitting alone at the piano, the song works. In fact, this song, I never really had time for in the past, becomes a high point on the album, especially when Neil turns from the piano for a brief and well placed electric guitar solo. “Love Earth,” is one of Neil’s many environmentally themed songs, and like many of his environmentally themed songs it can come off as well intentioned, but also a bit cornball. Don’t get me wrong, “After the Goldrush,” and “Vampire Blues,” are great environmental songs, but they are the exception. “Love Earth” is nowhere near the same class as those beauties. However, once again, the odds are defeated, as the performance here, redeems an otherwise dopey song, into not quite a classic song, but at least a charming one. Against all expectations, it’s actually the audience participation on “Love Earth,” that makes it work; turning the tune into a rousing campfire like sing-a-long.
It’s these little surprises that makes the Coastal soundtrack a worthy addition to nearly any Neil Young fan’s collection. Neil thrives in front of an audience, even with a slightly age withered voice, and his warts and all approach to music making. Neil is nothing if not authentic, and with Coastal you get an authentic, and quite good live Neil Young album.
Justin Griffin | Now Spinning Magazine
