I am in all truth, no great fan of rock critics, many of whom either rely upon flattering their own ego to produce a piece of musical criticism that usually falls into simply stating faults and then adding a couple of lines relating to positives. This though can also be reversed, with the positives given and the negatives pushed under the rug, and yet even though I do admit that I would do much the same in many cases, the review that Rolling Stone Magazine, (previously) one of the most respected rock magazines around, gave for Harvest by Neil Young seems to me more self-indulgence than criticism. The rock critic who rated this review panned this album on far too many levels, when it is now, rightly, seen as a brilliant piece of rock history and now sitting as No.78 on the Rolling Stone Magazine 500 Greatest Albums, retribution if there was any.

The songs on the album focus for the most part on more folk-rock stylings, with a couple of tracks dominated by the orchestral sound of the London Symphony Orchestra and another couple more electric guitar driven. But the highlights on the album are really the more folk, acoustic numbers that bring Neil Young to a level that becomes far more personal and inviting, bringing in the audience and allowing them to become more involved within the songs, allied equally with the personal lyrics eloquently sung by Young. It is an album of highs, with only minor lows, but even then there are still positives, and that is what makes a great album.

Track Listing

This is the first of two songs on the album that take on an orchestral backing for the most part, although this is by far the better, with a lyric and feel that seems far more convincing. At first I was not quite sure about this song, considering it one of the lesser pieces on the album, but after quite a few listens, probably about twenty in the period of three days, I began to see this as one of the big highlights of the album, taking on a life that moves beyond some of the mere formalities of the other songs and taking you to a level that few can reach. The idea behind the song does at first glance appear to be quite anti-feminist, in that the woman he desires can look after his house and him, while he lives a life away from her. But then the song develops and we realise that it is slightly more than that, and we again return to this idea of dependency, when he sees an actress in a film playing a maid, with whom he falls in love. Whether this idea is a simple one I am not sure, but considering the idea of an actress, we again move into the idea of roles that are not our own, in that he wants a life where he is dependant on someone else, which is perhaps not really the role he is destined to hold. For me this is a complex song to quite pin down, but the orchestral backing seems to give it somewhat of an ethereal quality, with the lyrics becoming almost other worldly and falling away from some of the perhaps more obvious ideas, and yet still remaining unfixed. I do know that perhaps my ramblings may be taking some of this too far, but for me this is a great song that I would urge people to listen to a few times to truly grasp the meaning and quality of the song.

This for me is far and away the weakest track on the album, taking on the orchestral backing of A Man Needs A Maid, but to a much greater extent, which is to its detriment. And the backing would be fine if only for some return to form in the lyrics, but they seem to linger too much and go to a place that is removed from much of the album. It has been compared to the stylings of a Moody Blues track in terms of its optimism, which it does seem to have for a world full of nature and life, but this for me is a step too far in the wrong direction. It is bearable, but for me this is the weakest track on the album and does mean that falls away from it perfection thus far.

This song is the only live song here, recorded at UCLA, but you don’t realise that for the sound quality until the songs conclusion when we here the rapturous (and rightly so) from the listening crowd. The song itself is a lament about how heroin has destroyed and killed so many great musicians, something stated during the introductions to this song in a few early shows. It was originally written for Danny Whitten, the guitarist in Crazy Horse, who later died because of his addiction, but it really does capture a sense of generalisation, an idea that was hinted at in Live At Massey Hall 1971, where he indicated that heroin was responsible for the fall of many young, up-and-coming musicians. And although the song is short, coming in at just around two minutes, it speaks volumes for the addiction of young men on drugs, and the damage that it causes. It is a song that knows before it has happened, the addict will set, like the “setting sun”, it is a lament for something that is definitive. One of the best songs on the album, but I always want it to continue beyond its short life, and expand for the sheer power of the song.

This has been called an extended guitar workout with The Stray Gators, the band Neil Young worked with for this album, but it is more than that, with the lyrics developing into an extension of some of the tragedy of the previous track and expanding it, I feel, onto youth. The lyrics themselves are completely non-specific, not dealing even with genre, and yet this suits it, giving it a quality that few songs or even song writers can reach, in that the song says far more than the lyrics ever truly put across. The gaps in the vocals, where the guitar comes in is necessary for the lyrics to gain some hold on you, making you think and consider, whilst still providing a near psychedelic instrumentation. This is a song that again does need a few listens for a true appreciation to develop, but I have always felt that that is no bad thing, as it allows you to become more of a part of the song, and in many cases my favourite songs develop in this way, going from mediocre pieces to masterpieces.