Hot on the trails after his country revival and soft as a breeze record Prairie Wind, Neil Young delivers a whopper of an album criticizing the Bush administration in all Young's ragged glory. It's a stunning move for the rocker to follow up the gentle Prairie Wind in such speed and such fashion. Many believed Young had settled down; that he was through with the grunge basement rocking and that he had returned to his old folk roots. On the contrary, in fact: the exact opposite is the case. Living With War displays the legend reviving the power and necessity of music to act as protest as well as reviving his Crazy Horse days of distorted rock'n'roll. It's not only a enjoyable album, but it's an important statement; a document witnessing the the tragic infliction of today's world.



The album is delivered in a guerilla sort of fashion; by putting the distribution into the hands of the people, Young has released the album, first and foremost, as a free entity. The album can be listened to by simply searching the album title, or by visiting here http://www.hyfntrak.com/neilyoung2/AFF23252/. It's a suitable way for eager listeners to digest the album and a brave step to freeing music from the bounds of consumerism. Mind you, I'm no critic of labels, but this is just appropriate.



The album features Young picking up his electric guitar and turning up the distortion once again. Alongside him is a talented drummer and bassist, a trumpet player, and a hundred voice choir simulating the voices of a nation. The album's ten songs are concise, to the point, and potent. Young strips away his symbolic and visionary lyrics to ones which are straightforward and obvious. The chorus are sometimes call and answer and sometimes Young singing alone; gently or impatiently, all the while playing his guitar as though it was part of his soul. It's a devastating and encouraging record.



The record opens with "After the Garden" an anthem which, in the first two lines of the lyrics, sets the tone for the rest of the album. After opening the song with some typical Young riffs and a punchy drum fill Young states "Won't need no shadow man, runnin' the government/Won't need no stinkin' war". Young really pushes his voice through the wall of sound and he cuts through the voices of the choir to nearly cracking his aging pipes. The song drives you to get up and start clapping along, making you want to sway with the rhythm and stomp your foot.



"Living with War" follows "After the Garden" and Young tones down the intensity of the entire song allowing the one hundred voices to resound deeply and sublimely. The lyrics are promises like, "I take a holy vow to never kill again/ to never kill again" and the chorus is Neil Young leading a heartfelt march of peace. The trumpet (the usual instrument of military order) encourages the marching feeling and plays solemnly and mournfully. After this song comes "The Restless Consumer" where Young pounds out a rhythm as if the moon was falling from the sky. The choir, along with Young, starts singing at a higher pitch and then Young drops to a lower one as the Choir chants out "Don't Need!" and Young speaks truthfully about what consumers could do without. The music makes you demand for answers and excites the feeling of change.



"Flags of Freedom" and "Let's Impeach The President" are my personal favorites. With the latter Young pays tribute to Bob Dylan's "Chimes of Freedom" in a folk man's tradition. He re-writes the words and uses the tune and chorus to relay multiple messages of a need to reform, just as Dylan did in 1964 when he wrote the original. Young even mentions Dylan in one verse and the feeling is complete when Young blows into his harmonica, creating flowing phrases of harmony, like those of wishes in the wind.



"Let's Impeach The President" is the song most people are talking about. The meaning of the song is obvious and is effective. After we hear a few verses of the notorious President's actions we are treated to news clips of his speeches and it is an unfathomable experience when coupled with the hundred voice choir and Neil Young's distorted guitar. The clapping of the choir intermingled in the fade out of the song is a clear sign of the artist's intentions for a reaction.



The album ends with the entire choir singing "America The Beautiful", it even makes me proud, and I'm Canadian! It's a beautifully raw arrangement as independent voices unexpectedly reach out of the mass and accent the entire body of music. It's a reminder of not only what America is, but what it can be; a unified group of every person working together for the sake of the nation. After all the scathing criticism of the administration it is what is needed; a remembrance of what was left behind.



It's not a perfect record; it's raw, a little unorganized, a little immediate, but it's truthfulness is un-paralled. It's only a beginning though, this release will undoubtedly set off sparks in many artists ,and it is what is needed if we wish to see beyond the bleakness of consumerism and the dictatorship that is the Bush administration. I not only believe in the record itself, but I believe more so in the cause.



Track Listing

1 After the Garden

2 Living With War

3 The Restless Consumer

4 Shock and Awe

5 Families

6 Flags of Freedom

7 Let's Impeach the President

8 Lookin' for a Leader

9 Roger and Out

10 America the Beautiful