New CDs From Neil Young and Hanson  by Cook Young

The CD, formerly slated to be released under the moniker of Acoustica is, as you would expect from the original title, a collection of light folksy tunes. Most tracks feature Young and acoustic guitar with some austere instrumentation added to round things out, a fiddle here, the obligatory Linda Ronstadt vocal there. Should you misinterpret my opening paragraph (no doubt the angry emails from Neil Young loyalists will be streaming in shortly), this is by no means a bad album. It's got Papa Neil's trademark voice, which appears to be in good enough shape, and much of his trademark tunesmith craftsmanship. So what's the problem?

If I had to put my finger on any one thing, it would be this: In the course of Silver and Gold's three-year gestation, along came Crosby, Stills, and Nash, who signed up Neil for another go at glories past and present. As part of the merger, Neil offered up the best four tracks from Silver and Gold for CSN&Y's forthcoming release Looking Forward. What we're left with is pleasant enough detritus, but detritus all the same.

Evidently, Young himself apparently had some misgivings about extracting the cream from the crop. "Some people questioned the wisdom of letting these songs go," he says. "But I felt at the time that my album may have been suffering under its own weight and that by taking them out I could free up the whole thing. I listened again and, with the new running order, it seemed like an entirely different album to me, raised to a whole new level."

Though Young's candor is always refreshing, I don't know if "raised" is the correct word to describe what seems to have happened here. The album does have its moments – the haunting melody of "Razor Love" is beautifully mesmerizing, as are many of the passages on the CD – unfortunately, they are obscured in the most part by its failings. Try this lyric on for size (from "Instant Camera"): "If love is a piece of dust shining in the sun, all I want is a song of love." Even from kooky Neil, we expect something a bit more sensible than this.

On the plus side, the post-looting compositions are probably better than most of the crap you'll hear on the radio (and the Internet) these days. The songs are tuneful and plaintive, if not somewhat lazy sounding. We've seen Hard-Rock Neil (Rust Never Sleeps), Electronic Neil (Trans), Country Neil (Old Ways). I guess it's time for Tired Neil. Over the past three decades, Young has been a standout, if not somewhat inconsistent, artist. As mentioned, even this latest release is probably better that 99 percent of the stuff you'll hear, buy, or download these days. Nevertheless, if Young were to compete with himself, this time around he would surely lose.

The CD opens with "You Never Know," a distinctly '70s sounding track, complete with Hammond organ, all spruced up for today's more demanding consumer. Aside from the edgier tone, the song, like the rest of the album, is no radical departure from the band's former efforts. And if you're a Hanson fan, eagerly waiting to run down to Wal-Mart to pick up the band's sophomore release, perhaps this is a good thing. If you're a record exec at the Island Def Jam Music Group, it most assuredly is. This Time Around sounds like a chart buster, for sure. And on a good note, despite being commercial, Hanson's style of songwriting does manage to stay clear of the current sound diluting the airwaves a la Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync.

Stephen Lironi and Mark Hudson have once again been recruited to produce the CD and the result is a flawless if not somewhat predictable effort. The pair approaches the new rocking Hanson by adding plenty of power chords and searing guitar leads. (Jonny Lang appears as a guest artist, as does Beck and John Popper.) Not to take the product too far from commercial territory, Lironi and Hudson smooth out the sound with layers of piano, acoustic guitars and Hanson's trademark harmonies.

On track number six, "Dying To Be Alive," Hanson apparently decided to augment their sound with another classic '60s/'70s influence: Sly and the Family Stone. This time, however, the group not only pulls old records from the closet, they actually recruit the artist herself. Rose Stone, from the Family Stone, appears to add wailing vocals, giving the three white boys a little more soul than they could ever hope to achieve on their own, try though they may.

The next track, "Can't Stop," is where the band obviously makes a stab at cutting loose, mixing the antiquated sound of a Hammond organ with the more modern sound of record scratching. The result is, well, a mix of the antiquated sound of a Hammond organ with record scratching – which brings me to this point. If there's any one complaint I have with the Hanson product it's that it is so obviously a product, in the true sense of the word, calculated, packaged, and delivered for maximum cash flow. There may be some excellent musicianship here but I don't sense a whole lot of substance. Maybe I'm just impatient – I'm looking forward to the day when the boys grow tired of doing as the adults of the world tell them to. Rebellion, that's what true rock and roll is about, me thinks.

April 2000