Neil Young - Heart of Gold

[Drunk Monk]

Loved it. Jonathen Demme is a smart filmmaker when it comes to music. Just like in Stop Making Sense, he just showcases the artists. No frills. No MTV effects. Just close up shots of what they do on stage. I wish he had caught Jerry back in the day.

I'm a huge Neil Young fan - can't think of how many times I've seen him - electric, acoustic, with CS&N, so many beautiful Bridge benefits. He is one of my great living music muses, right behind Dylan and the reggae masters. He had a brain aneurysm and went in the studio to write his last album, which is a lyrical powerhouse, a requiem, a postcard from the edge of death.

For the film, he does the album, followed by many old standards (Harvest Moon, Heart of Gold, Old Man, Needle, etc.) at the Grand Ol' Opry House on one of Hank Williams guitars. He fronts a huge band for this, including a gospel chorus and a large string section, plus Emmylou Harris looking disturbingly like Deborah Harry. Stacy thought it was lyrically great, but too many songs about getting old and dying, plus it didn't really showcase his guitar, piano or harmonica work. There's one - and only one - formidible jam and that's on banjo. Still, I was moved by many of his new songs - When God made me is spot on, and the song for his father (who recently died after suffering dementia) was quite resonnate. And a brilliant use of credits. It's a must for any Neil fan...

[King Bob]

Since you said I was getting soft to have liked Bewitched, I have to say the same to you about this. Now I did really like Stop Making Sense, so this may be a good film, but I've found Mr. Young's recent music to be a bit sappy. Too insipidly hippie-ish in the CSN vein, which I suppose is not surprising since he's worked with them. We listen to KFOG at work, so they play "The Painter" a lot, and I'm growing to hate it. It's too gutless, and lyrically weak ( e.g. "if you follow every dream, you might get lost"). I'm not saying he has to play like he did on "Cortez the Killer" or something, but it needs a little grit - and less "wisdom".

[Drunk Monk]

If we weren't getting soft, we'd be out having adventures instead of posting here.

Ok, it's a fair cop. The Painter sucks, I agree. But the other tracks work given the aneurysm - Stacy wasn't as moved as I was and she's more into Neil than me. Neil is far from his electric days on this one. Have you ever heard him with CS&N? He's thunderous by contrast and really goes for that impact. There's nothing like watching rows of old hippies in the $200 seats buckling under the amplitude of Neil electric.

The movie should really be called Prairie Wind though. It's a snapshot, perhaps one of the last.