Neil Young - Ragged Glory Review


Album : Ragged Glory  
Artist: Neil Young
Released: 1990
Producer: Neil Young and David Briggs
Label: Reprise

Crazy Horse:
Frank Sampedro: Guitar, Vocals
Billy Talbot: Bass, Vocals
Ralph Molina: Drums, Vocals

Songs: Country Home, White Line, Fuckin´ Up, Over and Over, Love to Burn, Farmer John, Mansion on the Hill, Days that Used to Be, Love and Only Love, Mother Earth (Natural Anthem). 

Type of Music: Grunge

Comments: 

It’s not easy to be a Neil Young Fan. One year earlier he added some slightly distorted guitars to the songs on Freedom and it worked nicely in a couple of songs. 
In 1990 however, Neil probably went to Seattle, discovered Grunge Music, thought it would sell quite good and called his good old friends from Crazy Horse who already played that kind of music long before it was known as such. Everybody went to the studio, completely distorted their guitars and rapidly recorded an album that was called Ragged Glory.  

The first thought that came to my mind when listening to the album was: Hey, this sounds like an industrial version of Tonight’s the Night! Same distorted guitars, same voice that sings slightly out of tune. There are quite some differences though. On Ragged Glory I miss quality songs, I miss a clear production and, most of all, I miss a sentiment. Where Tonight’s the Night reminded me of a backstreet little bar in New Orleans before the flood, Ragged Glory reminds me of a visit I once brought to a steel mill.  

There are some good song ideas to be found in this puddle of mud. Best song on the album by far is Mansion on the Hill. The Crazy Horse background vocals turn it into a catchy pop song. The song is literally followed by two honest sounding grunge-ballads Days that Used to Be and Love and Only Love. And both Over and Over and Love to Burn are basically nice songs that deserve a different kind of treatment.

In the good old sixties we had the EP or Extended Play, a single with three or four songs on it. In my humble opinion, Ragged Glory would have been an excellent EP.

Green: Great Songs - Black: Good Songs - Red: Could Be Better

Rating: Scale 0-10                        
Average Song Quality: 5,10
Production/Sound Quality: 5,00
Do I want to hear it again soon: 3,50

Who should buy this Record: Only for Die Hard Neil Young Fans
 

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