Rust Never Sleeps

This is the second Neil Young album on my journey, following Harvest. Plus I’ve already heard acoustic opener “My, My, Hey, Hey” before. Rust Never Sleeps is Neil’s second album with the band Crazy Horse, with half of the songs left over from writing sessions for their first collab album Zuma.

The vibe I got from listening to this album was that it was meant to be a more experimental affair for Neil, particularly in how varied the lyricism can get. Some songs are statements Neil made in relation to his career and the lasting legacy of rock and roll music, like with the bookending songs “My, My, Hey, Hey” and “Hey, Hey, My, My” as well as “Thrasher”. Other songs paint well-written stories of tragedy like “Pochahontas” and “Powderfinger”. Then there’s “Ride the Llama” which is about travelling in space and rocking out with aliens. Needless to say, this album gets wild in places.

Add to all that, Rust Never Sleeps is split between acoustic pieces on side A, and the fuzzy guitar-driven rockers on side B. Side B in particular has been cited as influential to the grunge movement of the early 90s.

For as much as I appreciate the variation in songwriting and volume, I don’t think this album is as strong as Harvest. Not every experiment is a success if songs like “Ride the Llama” and “Sedan Delivery” are to go by. Also not helping matters is the inconsistent production quality given that some songs were recorded live and others were overdubbed. It is rather noticeable on the ears.

Still for what’s it worth, I had a fun time with Rust Never Sleeps as this album gets a solid recommendation.

Incredibly boring. First half is the same song with a minimum of variation, but the album gets slightly better as it goes on. Would be an uninspired 3, but I hate his voice, and whatever he was trying to do with the solo in powderfinger.

Loved Hey Hey, My My. The rest was also fine. Good ol' classic rock.

This album is so good. One side is acoustic one side electric. With the second side growing sludgier and louder with each song. My My, Hey Hey, and Hey Hey, My My are perfect bookends. One of the best examples of effective sequencing in an album.

An odd choice for a Neil Young record on this list. I mean I would have to think that he's got another one or two on here for sure. I wonder why this one was chosen? It's a good album but as far as essential Neil Young I don't know if I would count this record. Maybe that's just me.
I feel like you either really like Neil Young or you hate him. I like him, super unique voice for sure and I always appreciate that. He's good at crafting a song and a wonderful guitar player. For this particular album, I feel like it starts off great with My My Hey Hey and then kind of just goes down after that. It's too much of the softer kind of singer/songwriter Neil Young and less of the harder rockier version and I much prefer the latter. A decent album though, 3.5/5 rounded to 3 because, come on, a live album with studio overdubs like this isn't exactly a live album.

It's better to burn out than to fade away... This album obviously had some influence on Kurt Cobain, which is interesting considering this song is mostly related to the end of rock and roll. This album is really good. Nice mix of live recordings and studio recordings with interesting titles and themes.

It was pretty nice, but a little all over the place. I like his voice i dont know what people are on tbh

3.88 per track. Not the best for Neil Young but it's Neil Young so it's great.

Fin plade, lidt sjovt med live/studio konceptet. Jeg kunne godt lide det!

As high a 4 stars as 4 stars can be. My only real “issue” with this album is that I think it slightly pales in comparison to Live Rust, which is probably my favorite Neil release of all-time and includes the ultimate versions of “Powderfinger” and “Sedan Delivery”, among others. But otherwise, it’s hard to complain about most anything here. Neil is at the top of his game compositionally. I probably rank 6-7 Neil studio albums before this one, but that’s just a testament to the strength of his best output. Albums like this more than make up for shit like This Note’s for You.

4/5

Starts with folky vibe and then last three songs, starting with Welfare Mothers, rock out! (I did some research, turns it vinyl was acoustic on one side, electric on the other). Sail Away and Thrasher, on the acoustic side are the highlight songs for me.
Greatly exceeded my expectations based on what i knew from the radio. Honestly I’m not usually a fan and expected to suffer for an hour but was pleasantly surprised.

I seem to be a fan of Neil Young sans Crazy Horse, but with the group I find often that his music goes from personal, introspective tunes with a soft guitar accompanying it, to brash, boring, and even dull rock tunes with very little to care about. However, this album seems to reach that solid balance point of being something for everyone, similar to Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited. The contrast between the A side and B side give me a larger appreciation for the range of the Young, and while not every song hits here, unlike his solo works often seems to, it still is a far more enjoyable collection of songs than other albums between the pair. I also feel that this album has more grunge, especially in that last track, than Ragged Glory would ever hope to, and that certainly also helps.

If I could rate each part of this album, I think I’d give the front half a strong 3/5 (for my sensibilities) and the back half a 4/5, almost solely on production that feels at least 7 years ahead of its time.

Obviously, that balances out to 3.5, but as an entire album, I don’t think I’d feel right rounding that up to 4 – that would put it at the same level as the Yes album, the Springsteen album, and the Funkadelic album, and I just don’t think I enjoyed this as much as those. I think it’s about even with Parklife for me. Definitely better than Run-D.M.C. though.

I just don't care for his voice. Good lyrics are only as good as they are comprehensible.

Can't listen to this due it not being available on Spotify and YouTube's ad blocker blocking still blocks my browser when I disable my ad blocker.

Fuck yes... This is I think my favourite Neil Young & Crazy Horse album. Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black) is an awesome song. So is My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue). I liked his stint with Crazy Horse. Some awesome music came out of those years. I forgot how beautiful of a song Thrasher is. Welfare Mothers is a straight up rocker. Super heavy and probably some of the funniest lyrics Neil ever sang: "Welfare Mothers make better lovers". This album is just hit after hit. 5 stars easy.

Favourite songs: "Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)", "My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)", Thrasher, Welfare Mothers, Powderfinger, Sail Away, Sedan Delivery, Pocahontas

Least favourite song: if forced to pick, Ride My Llama

5/5

That was a lot better than I thought it was going to be.,

Really enjoyed this, definitely one of Neil's best. Some great songwriting and melodies, and I like the transition from acoustic to electric in the middle. Hard to believe it was recorded live; the quality is great! You can really see the influence on grunge music on the second half. 9/10

Tällä levyllä livehommat toimii! Taattua laatua, 4/5.

Solid outing for Neil Young (and Co.). My My, Hey Hey and Hey Hey, My My are by far the best tracks - both are great, but the acoustic version is more poignant. Neil's singing on this album is solid (for him), a nice improvement from Tonight's the Night. Except for MMHH/HHMM, the lyrics are meh. No clue what's happening with the lyrics for Welfare Mothers ("Welfare mothers make better lovers"??). Sedan Delivery is a cool song and the electric tracks in general are a good reminder of why Neil Young is called the godfather of grunge. Also liked Thrasher and Powderfinger. Overall I enjoyed the album - can't call it a 5, but I'd definitely listen again.