the art of artlessness

Review Score: (8/10)
The tunes seem plain. The lyrics are plain except for the howlers ('my software's not compatible with you'). The ideas seem miniature like a soothing James Taylor record. His voice reaches for surprisingly high notes, never with much strength. That's the first impression; a couple more listens later I'm asking myself why I keep playing it. Either Neil's a habit or this is a pretty strong effort, about what you'd expect after his longest ever layoff. I guess it's the sincerity of it all that's winning and disarming. I still think 'Razor Love' is a weak song and 'Buffalo Springfield Again' is dull. Everything else on the record is rock solid. As always Neil follows his muse wherever she leads. This time she's going home and home is pretty inviting. I wish that Emmylou Harris had sung more of the high notes and that co-producer Ben Keith was given some more bars for his splendid pedal steel.

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