LISTEN TO NEIL YOUNG'S NEW
ANTI-WAR ALBUM RIGHT NOW

Okay, I'm listening to it right now myself, and I have to say that it's pretty F'ing great. Full disclosure: I'm a big Neil Young fan from way back. I've always loved his garage band sound, dirty and grinding, coupled with heartfelt lyrics belted out in his weird squeaky voice. He's been a big influence on my own songwriting. One of my arena-rock highlights was seeing him play with his sometimes backing band Crazy Horse in Austin back in 1986. Great Show. It was wild hearing "Out of the Blue and into the Black," one of the greatest rock songs of all time, in person. So, obviously, you'll have to filter my critical claims with an understanding of my predisposition toward liking it.

I'm also biased in that I hate Bush and this stinking war in Iraq.

Anyway, this album, like I said, is great. It's in his classic style, a couple of heavily distorted electric guitars, bass, drums, and the occasional addition of harmonica and blaring trumpet. A blazing trail of anger weaves through the entire record, elevating Young's simple but catchy compositions to artistic heights rarely achieved in today's overly commercial and emotionally dishonest pop music market. The lyrics are straight-up, no playing around with metaphor. Young simply trusts that his message is enough, and it is.

In fact, I've found the lyrics, via Fox News of all places, for the album's standout cut "Let's Impeach the President." Check 'em out:

LET'S IMPEACH THE PRESIDENT

Let’s impeach the president for lying
And leading our country into war
Abusing all the power that we gave him
And shipping all our money out the door

He’s the man who hired all the criminals
The White House shadows who hide behind closed doors
And bend the facts to fit with their new stories
Of why we have to send our men to war

Let’s impeach the president for spying
On citizens inside their own homes
Breaking every law in the country
By tapping our computers and telephones

What if Al Qaeda blew up the levees
Would New Orleans have been safer that way
Sheltered by our government’s protection
Or was someone just not home that day?

Let’s impeach the president
For hijacking our religion and using it to get elected
Dividing our country into colors
And still leaving black people neglected

Thank god he’s cracking down on steroids
Since he sold his old baseball team
There’s lot of people looking at big trouble
But of course the president is clean

Thank God

Just for good measure, the album ends with a rousing a capella rendition of "America the Beautiful" sung by a gospel choir. It brought a tear to my eye. Because that's what the record is about. Young's new songs don't bash America. Rather, it's just the opposite: he rages about how a great nation continues to be run through the sewers by insane evil men. You don't cut a record like this unless you love this country.

This is easily the best and most relevant rock music in a decade. I'm glad the genre still has some life left in it.

Listen to it here, courtesy of Eschaton.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$