Neil Young – Mixed Pages of Storytone (2014) [Official Digital Download 24/192]

Neil Young dives into his own past and comes back with a refreshing sound. On “Storytone” the Godfather of Grunge sounds unusually elegant and harmonious this time.

Restless as always, the 68-year-old hippie veteran is already releasing his second album this year with” Storytone”. But a bigger quantum leap to “A Letter Home”, which appeared at the beginning of the year, could hardly have been imagined. “A Letter Home” was a rustic low-fi album, produced by garage blues musician Jack White. Authentic and puristic, it was recorded in a kind of telephone booth from 1947 (the Voice-O-Graph was actually intended to transmit messages at that time) and was a musical challenge even for young disciples with its noise and other disturbing noises. But just like” A Letter Home”,” Storytone ” has a nostalgic touch.

“Storytone” challenges you in a different way. Neil Young no longer sings alone in the telephone booth, but has gathered a 90-piece orchestra around him. And that accompanies him on his revue through many genres. As a bonus, the double album also includes all songs without orchestra. This investment is worth it if you like it more purist. In the middle of it, between strings and brass, the loner and individualist Neil Young has settled in. And strangely enough, it works: the oblique harmonica fits the gentle orchestra. The partly crooked falsetto voice harmonizes with the strings. Even if Neil Young with his distinctive voice has a penchant for the not-perfect and does not always want to hit the right notes. But in doing so, he manages the balancing act between country and classical music without sounding cheesy.

“Plastic Flowers” could come from songwriting from the “After The Goldrush” era. The orchestra sound makes it clear where the journey should go. Even earlier back to the beginnings of Young in his time at Buffalo Springfield. At that time, Jack Nitzsche was responsible for enriching folk music with orchestral arrangements.

With “Storytone” the German arranger Chris Walden takes over this task. But Walden didn’t make the mistake of over-producing the album. According to Young, the recordings were not edited in retrospect. Either they were sitting or not. Nevertheless, the album impresses with finely crafted sound design. The arrangements are subtle, even if the pathetic beginning of the album suggests otherwise. There is no sound or feedback too much, as with other noise excursions from Young. The only wild element that remains is the harmonica, which here and there breaks out of the harmonically arranged song structures. And on” I Want To Drive My Car ” there are exceptionally booming fuzz guitars.

Overall, “Storytone” has become an album of quiet and thoughtful tones. Harps or even muffled chimes gush out here and there and a mandolin is also used in “Tumbleweed”. At these points, the album threatens to sink into kitsch at short notice. “Tumbleweed” is reminiscent of a Disneylandscape, in whose bambi-like nature the good old Uncle Neil has made himself comfortable with his mandolin.

So the first, threatening bars of” Who’s Gonna Stand Up “could also come from the”Pirates of the Caribbean” soundtrack. “Who’s Gonna Stand Up “openly denounces fracking and other environmental abuses in the United States, forming the album’s anthem, which is amplified by the chorus, which proclaims:”Let’s build the green and save the World, we’re the people known as earth”. Neil Young demonstrated how this world improvement should look in concrete terms by retrofitting his car fleet with biohybrid engines.

So it’s not too surprising that the next song suddenly says “I Want To Drive My Car”. So, according to Young, driving a car does not have to be in contradiction with environmental commitment. Young has always been in favor of contradictions. His patriotic statements also caused some confusion, for example when he opened concerts in Germany with the German national anthem.

In addition to the boogie-woogie outing on “I Want To Drive My Car” – where his voice sounds deep and rough like Johnny Cash – Neil Young pays homage to the old big band era in “Say Hello To Chicago”. Neil Young presents himself as an entertainer in the style of Frank Sinatra. Neil Young as Dandy? It’s hard to imagine. It seems he traded the lumberjack shirt for a tweed suit. And he does not mumble into himself, but sings clearly and clearly. That’s refreshing, because Neil Young really doesn’t have to reinvent himself anymore, he has done that often enough. With a certain coolness, he was a pioneer of grunge and dreampop in the 1970s. That’s why “Storytone” doesn’t seem as conservative as the orchestra packaging might suggest. With “Storytone” he simply returns to his roots and even a little further back in the past.

So the circle closes at the time when Young started his career half a century ago. He seems conciliatory and ageless. There is no sign of his former anger on “Storytone”. Two years ago he sang on “Psychedelic Pill” still resigned and grumpy – from the loss of quality in music by MP3s – he now seems almost optimistic. But still fragile. “I’m Glad I Found You “revolves around his new love for Daryl Hannah,” Glimmer ” pays respect to his ex-wife Pegi, from whom he recently broke up. In” When I Watch You Sleeping “and” All Those Dreams ” the line between wakefulness and sleep is blurred, between dream and reality Neil Young drifts away.

Not only through the open handling of his love life “Storytone” has become one of Neil Young’s most personal albums. “Storytone” shows that Young is an all-round talent who – whether unplugged, amplified or with an orchestra-always remains the rock in the surf of the other musicians. Especially the light strings make Young appear as a heavy counterpole, as a kind of American Buddha, who also does not lose his grip on the ground through such opulence.

TRACKLIST

1. Neil Young – Like You Used to Do (Mixed Pages)
2. Neil Young – When I Watch You Sleeping (Mixed Pages)
3. Neil Young – I Want to Drive My Car (Mixed Pages)
4. Neil Young – Plastic Flowers (Mixed Pages)
5. Neil Young – Glimmer (Mixed Pages)
6. Neil Young – All Those Dreams (Mixed Pages)
7. Neil Young – Say Hello to Chicago (Mixed Pages)
8. Neil Young – Tumbleweed (Mixed Pages)
9. Neil Young – Who’s Gonna Stand Up? (Mixed Pages)
10. Neil Young – I’m Glad I Found You (Mixed Pages)

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