Unplugged

“Unplugged”, a review of some of his best tracks from the previous 25 years, takes this often tired format to its highest levels. Opening with “The Old Laughing Lady” (a wonderfully laid-back acoustic re-working of a stand-out track from his first solo album) and followed by a beautifully low-key version of his Buffalo Springfield hit “Mr Soul”, the album just flows from start to finish. And… on the way through you get arguably better versions than the original outings of “Pocahontas”, “Harvest Moon”, “Look Out for My Love” & “Transformer Man”. Played and sung with the sincerity of an artist who wants to deliver a cohesive retrospective of his career, and impressive in that it avoids revisiting many of his better known, more obvious choices, this is mellow music at its very best and an album that leaves you feeling… happy. Money well spent!


Not enough stars available   January 2, 2004
 3 out of 3 found this review helpful

for this album which is almost up to the quality of Live Rust. The collection of tracks works well and is a good representation of the extreme highs and lows of his output. It may not feature Cowgirl in the Sand or Cortez but the versions of Helpless, Unknown Legend, Harvest Moon , well in fact every track, represent excellent versions of these tracks. That is what works so well with Neil Youngs music, acoustic versions sound as good as the more "heavy" versions.

As previously stated in one of the other reviews, the star of this collection is Like a Hurricane. the use of the pump organ was inspired.

If you need to try Neil Young, as everyone should, this album gives you one side of the equation. Try Live Rust for the other.


Pivotal Neil Young...   March 13, 2003
 1 out of 1 found this review helpful

The from cover says it all, mad hair and shades.There are few artist's that pull off "The Unplugged" idea as well as "Mr Young".
An hours worth from one of music mavericks, who on this recording outshines even his studio work with unbelievable harmoica playing on the sinster,unfamiliar "Mr Soul" and often accompanying himself on acoustic guitar to great effect, the standout track for me is the pump organ accompanied "Like a Hurricane" which is just heart stopping in it's beauty and execution.
A must have in any music fan's collection. ESSENTIAL.....


Good, but......   November 22, 2002
 5 out of 9 found this review helpful

People are probably going to say why did I only give this 3 stars - but in my opinion the 5 star tag is overused.

I really enjoyed this album. The stand out track for me is the re-working of 'Like a Hurricane', it absolutely blew me away when I heard it. Such emotion in Young's voice, you can really feel the words. It's one of the best live tracks I've ever heard. There are other good tracks on this CD, but not enough to warrant a higher star rating. If you are a Neil Younng fan, buy it; but I think he has done better.