Earlier this year, Neil Young and Crazy Horse gathered at Studio in the Clouds in Colorado to record their first album in seven years, following 2012’s “Psychedelic Pill.”
In their newest album called “Colorado,” Young and Crazy Horse pay tribute to Young’s ex-wife Pegi, who died in January at the age of 66 after a year-long battle with cancer.
Pegi spent many years touring with Young on the road as a back-up singer before releasing five country albums of her own. Alongside Jim Forderer and speech pathologist Dr. Marilyn Buzolich, Pegi also founded The Bridge School in 1986, a non-profit organization that aids children with physical and speech impairments including cerebral palsy after Young and Pegi’s son, Ben, was born with the condition.
The 39th studio release for the Canadian singer-songwriter with his Crazy Horse band is his first with band member Nils Lofgren since 1971. “Colorado” revolves around deeply-personal ballads, poetic lyrics and personal turmoil. Anyone who has been a life-long fan of Young would agree that he has a tendency to create his most memorable albums amid heavy feelings of loss, grief and anger.
“Colorado” was released to audiences last Friday, along with an accompanying 90-minute documentary film entitled “Mountaintop” that could only be viewed by select audiences.
In “Mountaintop,” audiences are introduced to some behind-the-scenes clips of recording in-studio with Young and Crazy Horse. Viewers can witness the tensions, humors and love of a band that has been rocking for five decades as they share their passion for music making.
However, since Young began filming his musical endeavors in the early 1970s, Young’s low-budget videography suggests that his directing skills have not improved and that he should stick solely to what he knows best. Creating though-provoking and controversial music.
The film includes Young and the Crazy Horse band at the Colorado recording studio, littered with Young complaining about the volume of his amplifier and some less than ideal dark and awkward camera angles. The band dealt with oxygen tanks to counter the studio’s high altitude, as well as faulty equipment and loud PA system feedback. Cameras were rolling all over the studio, capturing each and every technical difficulty and the arguments that followed.
After Young’s longtime manager Elliot Roberts suddenly died in late June, plans to launch a “Colorado” album tour came to a halt. As of now, there are no formal plans for touring, Lofgren is hopeful that the tour will take place sometime in 2020.
A two-time inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Young continues his 50-year journey with Crazy Horse. Most recently, Young performed at Farm Aid in September, which took place at Alpine Valley Music Theatre in East Troy, Wisconsin. The Farm Aid concert featured a unique lineup of musical artists advocating for awareness about the loss of family farms and keeping family farms on the land. As a non-profit organization, Farm Aid has raised millions of dollars since the 1980s to promote the resiliency of family farms.
“Colorado” shows that, at the age of 73, Young has lost none of his passion and outrage for the declining state of the natural world. Much like in his 2015 album, “The Monsanto Years,” Young is yet again an outspoken advocate for environmental conversation and preservation, despising the use of agrochemicals for farming. In his new song “Shut It Down,” Young criticizes climate change deniers, noting “All around the planet, there is a blindness that just can’t see.”
While “Colorado” does not count as a massive chart-topping resurgence or rebirth for Young, fans cannot deny that Young and Crazy Horse’s return feels natural and brings back a wave of nostalgia while sticking to the traditional mold of Young’s musical advocacy.
Image from neilyoungchannel via YouTube
