Neil Young

Silver & Gold

Silver and Gold Is Best Neil Record Since Rust Never Sleeps

Review Score:

(8/10)
Silver and Gold quickly establishes it's own identity among the best records in Neil's catalog. A quiet, restrained record, Silver and Gold sounds somewhat like Comes A Time, but certainly isn't a carbon copy. I was pleasantly surprised at how strong Silver and Gold is since CSNY took the "best" 4 songs for their release. I actually feel Silver and Gold benefitted from the loss of those 4 songs, though Looking Forward would have been a nice fit. My favorite tracks include Good to See You, Silver and Gold, The Great Divide, Red Sun, and Distant Camera. The weakest are Daddy Went Walkin and Horseshoe Man. Daddy Went Walkin is almost a ditty, which seems to be a necessity for the classic Neil records (Crippled Creek Ferry, Are You Ready For the Country, Motorcycle Mama, Old King, etc.) Though Reactor, Freedom, Ragged Glory, and Harvest Moon have been ranked as the best Neil work of the last 20 years, I believe Silver and Gold is better than any of those records and is second only to such albums as Rust Never Sleeps, Harvest, and After the Goldrush. True Neil fans will find this album as enjoyable as a visit from an old friend.

More Reviews: