height=290You won’t get much of an argument from anyone if you say Neil Young is the worst singer in the history of rock ‘n roll.
Yet despite this seemingly insurmountable handicap, he’s managed to produce a couple pretty good songs over the years.
But now the aging rocker is about to release a CD completely dedicated to songs about electric cars. That’s not a typo. Electric cars. “Fork in the Road” includes catchy titles like “Cough Up the Bucks,” “Hit the Road,” “Get Around” and “Fuel Line.”
Here’s a video of the title track. Consider yourself warned.
This post was last modified on February 5, 2009
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Meine Englisch is a much badder, sorry. I think that the Neil Young has be a much gooder singer in this time not like before.
Your hearing is as bad as your English then
I could have used HelmutErnst at the Rammstein gig in Minneapolis on May 8. Some German translation would have been helpfull. Language aside, 1 of the best shows I've seen, & the biggest arena production I've ever seen. 24 trucks & a crew of 100 for the "Made in Germany" tour, it was massive.
BTW, with all the gigs I'm going to this year, my hearing may be as bad as his English skills.
I could have used HelmutErnst at the Rammstein gig in Minneapolis on May 8. Some German translation would have been helpfull. Language aside, 1 of the best shows I’ve seen, & the biggest arena production I’ve ever seen. 24 trucks & a crew of 100 for the “Made in Germany” tour, it was massive.
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At least we find some common political ground. My sons (one very liberal, the other liberal leaning but not very political) went to that same concert in Chicago, and also thought it was great. One of them mentioned that the group comes from what used to be East Germany, and that one member is internationally certified in pyrotechnology. (Otherwise, they'd never be able to get away with some of those effects.)
Not really my kind of music, but looks (from the clips I've seen) like a very interesting show.
A few things...
They are from East Berlin.
Their frontman, Till Lindemann, is a pyrotechnician.
Rammstein are by no means everyone's cup of tea. You either get it or you don't. They also get away with subject matter because they are a German langage act. Their fans generally know what the songs are about, they know many of the lyrics, but don't know exactly what all the lyrics mean. I fall into this group. There are websites that have translations & meanings, & I looked into them to make sure I was'nt supporting anything I did'nt want to support.
As for their shows, visually stunning. Very well done stage production, well thought out lighting, & Yes, lot's of pyro. Plus they might be the best in rock at the art of stagecraft. They have to be good, since most of their audience does not really speak much German. So they have learned to come across visually & have a very good interaction with their fans.
BTW, If you voted Olivia's comment down because it was her & did'nt read what she wrote, you suck. Not much of a political statement. We see eye-2-eye on nothing, & there was nothing there to vote down.
On a recent road trip we were debating the top American Rock Bands of all-time. My list came down to two bands. The Doors and Skynyrd.
Aerosmith might have made the final two but since they got sober.....they suck.
I love some of Neil Young's stuff. It rocks. I saw him live once and he was with Crazy Horse and it was the loudest show I ever attended.
Now as for whether or not I am a right-winger...I am probably a bit right, but I played left-forward in soccer. I don't have any idea what Carrie Underwood looks like. I assume she's hot because she is pretty famous. But I am not a douche bag.
I went to over 40 Grateful Dead shows in my life but the fake hippies became too much to take. I resented some college punk driving to a show in daddy's BMW and then getting in my face and urging me to eat "meatless" chili or veggie hotdog at his stupid tailgate.
It guess it all comes down to the famous phrase "shut up and sing".......
LaNoise...LaNoise...LaNoise... If we all try real hard we can all still rock the ages like Neil
Regarless of all of this.....Neil Young is still better than watching the Lawrence Welk Show re-runs on PBS.
Depends on how drunk you are. At some point, them old boys in their Century 21 jackets start sounding good. Of course, I'm probably going to be puking my guts out in a few minutes -- and the beer goggles have definitely made that old hog on the barstool next to me look awfully good.
Give me some old soul/Guy Clark/Artie Shaw/Duke Ellington/EARLY pink floyd, where they played music to drive your flying saucer by.
As one old hippie to another all I can say is ROCK ON NEIL!
I didn't know about this site when this little item came up but since someone decided to resurrect it I gotta comment. I bought the album soon after it's release and like all his albums there are songs I like, songs I don't like.
I don't like Neil so much for his singing ability any more than I like Johnny Cash for his. It's the content, the words of the song, the message, that is important. That is why I own every album both of these great artists have ever recorded.
I feel the same about Lynard Skynard, Pink Floyd, Aerosmith, many other musical artists. While the music, the blending of the instuments, gives a song its flavor, it is the words that hold the meaning and make a song great.
I forgot to mention, of course I think the Electric Car album is awful, and he's a lunatic.
All I can say is listen to the album again, then later, again. Like most of his work, it has to grow on you before you appreciate it. Several of the songs are actually pretty good if you listen with a tongue-in-cheek attitude.
Pssst! I like Neil young's old work (not him though) too. It's Editor that doesn't like him.
Hey, that's not right. I kind of like Neil Young. It's the concept for this album that I find so stupid.
hang on worst singer? the bands you listed either growl, scream or shout. You cant have a go at someone just because they still making albums at an old age its his passion. Also worst album? what was the last good iron maiden album or metallica album?
Metallica? "Death Magnetic" was put out in 2008, & it's excelent. It was the return of the old, hard driving Metallica sound of their first 4 albums. Great to see them back after "St Anger".
Maiden? Well, "The Final Frontier" came out last summer, & it is a very solid release. Also, "A Matter of Life & Death" in 2006, "Dance of Death" in 2003, & "Brave New World" in 2000 have came out since the turn of the century. They are all very good albums, with material that is very relivent without being political. Plus they just keep releasing live albums after almost every tour, & the last 3 this past decade are also top shelf.
As for Neil Young, I don't know what's left in his tank. But he never took his own advise. You know, "It's better to burn out, then to fade away". But hey, as long as the editors at Rolling Stone keep kissing ass, he'll stick around a little longer, & I guess I don't blame him.
No, not all prog is concept, but prog-rockers are the ones most likely to delve into that water. All the stuff I mentioned is concept, as it carries a through-line of an idea across the album. (OK, so "Tarkus" is just on one side, for those who remember what a "side" is!) Sometimes the through-line is musical instead of lyrical. (Pendragon and Flower Kings are prone to do this.) And that also fits the definition of "concept."
Concept stuff can be little 3-minute ditties, as long as they're connected with an overarching idea. Hence, Al Stewart. His "Between the Wars" stuff would have been great on radio, but radio is (to oversimplify it) the territory of assholes.
Radio is (and always was) so flagrantly stupid that it approaches "evil" in the way it destroys art. Sometimes a person can be so incompetent in his job that just showing up at work becomes a malicious act. Radio programmers fit this description.
What pisses me off about Floyd is that people buy a Floyd album and that's it. They're done. OK, if you thought that was good, then try The Flower Kings. "Nope. I have 'Dark Side of the Moon,' which is socially acceptable art-rock, so I'm done buying all the art-rock I'll ever need." Shallow. F*cking shallow.
i dont think anyone here has ever heard of a CONCEPT ALBUM
Now you've done it. You hit my "play" switch! :)
I have indeed heard of concept albums. I prefer concept albums to ordinary albums. I like for music to be about something. Concept albums allow for an extension of ideas that 3 and a half minuntes doesn't provide.
Marillion: "Misplaced Childhood" (A good contender for the best concept album ever)
Al Stewart: "Between The Wars" (Historical acoustic pop. A completely perfect album. He also did an album entirely about wine "Down in the Cellars"; not my sort of thing, but brilliantly done; and an album about personal isolation: "Modern Times" which could be my favorite album of all time... by anyone... ever)
Arena: "The Visitor" and "Contagion"
Neal Morse: "One," "Testimony" & "?"
The Flower Kings: "Flower Power" (Includes the hour-long "Garden of Dreams." Utter, utter genius!) Sort of a Swedish Yes, but with Zappa-styled guitar.
IQ: "Subterranea"
Pallas: "The Sentinel"
Maddy Prior: Just about any of her albums. She does wonderful song-cycles, collecting old folk tunes together with new works.
The Alan Parsons Project: Just about anything. "Tales of Mystery and Imagination" and "Gaudi" are big standouts.
Transatlantic: Neal Morse meets Flower Kings meets Marillion meets Dream Theatre. OMG. Really: OMG.
Eloy: You've never heard of them and this is a crime.
The Tangent: Same remark as above.
Pendragon: Same remark as above.
Some old classics: ELP "Tarkus" (odd, but fun); Yes "Tales From Topographic Oceans (even more odd, but excellent); Jon Anderson "Olias of Sunhillow"; Genesis "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" and "Duke"; Jethro Tull "Thick As A Brick" and the even better "A Passion Play." (Also their wrongly-maligned "Under Wraps," which is a fun collection of secret agent songs.) Frank Zappa "Joe's Garage" (nasty, but brilliant).
Yeah, yeah, you probably want Pink Floyd, but I'm kind of sick of their shtick and all the blind worship. Everyone else does it better than they ever did. The Flower Kings absolutely make Floyd tiny in their rear-view mirror! But Roger Waters' "Radio K.A.O.S." is great fun and an interesting departure.
The only thing I took issue with is that many people don't understand what a concept album is, & you adress what maybe the main reason, 3 & a half minute songs that get airplay. Then you start getting into stuff that may be considered progressive (prog-rock)in rock music terms that is not always found on concept albums. Pink Floyd is 1 example you mentioned, I'll use it here since most people have at least heard 2 or 3 songs by them. They almost never do a 3-4 minute radio track, they usually end up past 6 or 7 minutes. Other groups like Rush, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Nightwish, & Queensryche roll out material that is not radio friendly because of length. Many people don't have the attention span to listen to songs that long in today's ADD/ADHD society. Radio is killing music in many ways, & believe the internet & satellite radio are saving it. The groups that can actually go out & play their stuff live are the ones that will cash in.
Why would you think that? More people then you think know about concept albums. They are usually for the more hardcore base of fans of someone who would release a concept album, they almost never lend themselves to commercial radio airplay & hitting high on the charts.
This entire thread wins the prize for "Most hilarious Back-and-Forth". Funny how when you insult somebody's music (which I never do, having extremely eclectic tastes myself) how quickly they come out of the woodwork to defend the artist. I neither like nor dislike Neil Young, having never really listened to his work. That being said, it's funny how so many people jumped right over the main point; the fact that he's releasing an album full of songs about electric cars. I don't care who the artist is who does something like that, it's freakin' hilarious.
Also, the video is no longer available. Aww. I wanted to see him sing "I get around (but certainly not as fast as I used to)". See what I did there? Got the electric car and his age in one bad joke. It looks easy, but it's not.
The only people who don't like Neil Young are right wing douchefags and people who don't get music. Go listen to your Carrie Underwood albums. She has such a great voice. Fags.
Why listen to that, when I can listen to 'Panheads Forever' by DAC?
Not exactly, I don't like Neil Young, I like Carrie Underwood because she's hot, but I'm not big on her music. I like lots of stuff, but my main preference musically is hard & loud. That means Maiden, Metallica, AC/DC, Rush, Nightwish, Within Temptation, Rammstein, & The Fixx, to name a few. People like what they like, & should not have to apologize for their music tastes.