Year of the Horse (Live)

The first thing you hear is Neil yelling, “They all sound the same! It’s all one song!” before tearing into a blistering take of “When You Dance.”  Of course he’s selling himself short here. Year Of The Horse is Neil Young & Crazy Horse’s second live album of the 1990s and some critics panned this effort as redundant, but it doesn’t take a hardcore fan to hear a different energy in this setting. For starters, this live recording was meant to accompany Jim Jarmusch’s same named documentary about Neil’s 1996 tour and it reflects the band’s solidifying chemistry even during the more chaotic parts (like the solo on a nine minute long “Barstool Blues). Also, around this period Neil’s longtime producer and good friend David Briggs had died from lung cancer. So these selections were Briggs’ favorite songs, selected by Neil as a sort of rock ‘n’ roll eulogy to the man, played and sung with a fiery passion that sometimes dips into melancholic waters. The woeful rendition of “Human Highway” is sadly beautiful with its acoustic minimalism and a lonesome harmonica that sounds like it’s mourning right alongside Neil and the band.