Neil Young
Storytone
Warner Bros.
Street: 11.04.14
Neil Young = Crazy Horse

You never know what Neil Young is going to do next. After 2012’s aptly named Psychedelic Pill and this April’s set of covers, A Letter Home, the newest chapter in his musical saga (35th release, to be exact) contains stories told in duotone, so to speak, each song rendered in minimal, acoustic guitar versions and with full orchestration. This approach works better for some tunes than others, and none of them, unfortunately, rank with his best work. The album release was celebrated by an art opening for Young’s first-ever West Coast exhibition of his watercolors, including his design for the album cover, in Santa Monica. –Stakerized!