Neil Young is back, and he is pissed
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Neil Young really is at his best when he’s pissed. The emotional range on his new Living With War (Reprise) is fairly broad, but the disc’s driving force is an anger as powerful as the Crazy Horse rhythm section, as raw as Young’s overdriven guitar, and a sharp as his stinging solos. Not sure if there’s anything on here that has the immediate anthemic power of his Reagan-era protest salvo “Rockin’ In the Free World,” but there are a few that come close. And he stays away from the kind of topical traps that can make a song seem dated before its time. It’s good to have angry Neil back.Apparently, Eddie Vedder was so mad he couldn’t even come up with a title for the new Pearl Jam album, which finds the band rocking harder and with more purpose than they have in years. Yeah, Pearl Jam remain essentially an update of a classic rock band on this self-titled disc for J Records (labelmates: Carrie Underwood, Jamie Foxx, Barry Manilow), though it isn’t always easy to spot the influences, especially here, where their garage-punk roots eclipse just about everything else. It’s not Vedder’s style to take an issue head-on in song: he’d rather internalize and empathize than point fingers. But as embattled titles like “World Wide Suicide,” “Army Reserve,” and “Marker in the Sand” suggest, he’s just as mad as Young at the current state of affairs. It’s good to have an angry Eddie back too.
Related:
Rallying cries, October already!, Two’s company, More 
- Rallying cries
An increasingly unpopular war, a body count that grows daily even as our commander-in-chief touts our military triumphs, and an increasing sense of uneasiness as it becomes all too apparent that our leaders have been less than candid.
- October already!
Only 11 weeks and counting of Christmas shopping remain, so head out to some budget-friendly shows in the meantime.
- Two’s company
When Lightning Bolt debuted oh-so-many years ago, it’s pretty likely they had no idea what kind of zany spell they’d cast over the city’s music scene.
- Flashbacks: September 1, 2006
These selections, culled from our back files, were compiled by Ian Sands and Paul Babin.
- Neil Young - side
- St. Anger - side
- DIY all over again
Cut from the earnest and emotional mold of bands such as Taking Back Sunday, Coheed & Cambria, and our own Monty Are I, the Coming Weak is one of the area’s fastest-rising combos.
- Neil Young: Heart of Gold
Filmed over two nights at Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, this Neil Young concert documentary is a must-see for fans and will delight those with a limited interest in Young.
- Melancholy holiday
Given their predilection for moody, textural, electro-organic soundscapes and songs that resonate with melancholy disillusionment, Mobius Band don’t seem the type to buy into a Hallmark holiday.
- Perfectly strange
He still likes to mix it up between tours with his trusty Crazy Horse.
- Happy endings
The end is nigh! And I’m not talking about the mortgage market.
- Less
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, Celebrity News, Entertainment, Music Stars, Music, Pop and Rock Music, Neil Young, Crazy Horse, Sheryl Crow, Marvin Gaye, Eddie Vedder, Less
