Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. When Worlds Collide
2. Fuel Line
3. Just Singing A Song
4. Johnny Magic
5. Cough Up The Bucks
6. Get Behind The Wheel
7. Off The Road
8. Hit The Road
9. Light A Candle
10. Fork In The Road

Disc 2:

1. DVD: Fork In The Road video
2. DVD: Johnny Magic video
3. DVD: A Day In The Life video
4. DVD: Live Concert video: A Day In The Life

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4981 in Music
• Released on: 2009-04-06
• Number of discs: 2
• Dimensions: .13 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review
Neil Young has been on a bit of a roll of late. The Canadian crooner has been busy re-issuing live albums (Live At Sugar Mountain, Live At Massey Hall), picking up headline festival slots (Glastonbury, the Isle of Wight Festival, Hyde Park Calling) and has also found time to release a glut of new material. Following on from 2007’s Chrome Dreams II, Fork in the Road is a quickly-recorded, vaguely eco-themed album about…automobiles. Cars have long been an obsession for Young and here he takes the bull by the horns, praising their virtues while simultaneously acknowledging climate-change issues. Recorded in just a few weeks, the record even sounds like a car--all rhythmic, grainy revs and testosterone blues-rock swagger. The songs within might not be particularly sophisticated, but they do make for excellent road trip material. --Danny McKenna

CD Description
'Fork In The Road' is the raw, unpolished studio follow-up to Neil Young's eclectic 2007 release 'Chrome Dreams II'. Here the Canadian folk-rock pioneer returns to the production values of 2006's 'Living With War' - this time presenting a batch of car themed songs that often allude to the state of the economy. While much of the material here is delivered ata relentless pace, the pedal-steel fuelled ballad 'Light A Candle' is one of the album's finer moments. This edition includes a bonus DVD which features a powerful live take on the Beatles' 'A Day In The Life'.

Customer Reviews

Should I Buy It?
This new album raises the usual dilemma with all recent Young albums. Should I buy it?
Based on the poor reviews in the general and music press I almost avoided this one. Yet the press are curiously swayed by fashion. Despite topping the bill at festivals in Britain this summer, Young is no longer flavour of the month. This is partly due to his recent spate of archive albums. These may be great for the fans, but have left the general listener baffled. Others still seek vainly for the next `Harvest'. At arm's length, the lower star ratings in Young's recent back catalogue give the impression of a major talent who has burnt out.
Yet Young always deserves more attention than most artists. I took the plunge and bought `Fork in the Road' and have not been disappointed. It suffers from a similar fate to a Richard Thompson album: a couple of standout tracks, a couple of bummers and the rest are reasonable. Although the raw Bo Diddley style guitar suggests that half the tracks are simply throw-away, yet they are simply part of Young's style.
The only downside is an affliction which has hit major artists since McCartney's first solo album way back in 1970. This is the use of partners as backing vocalists. I'm sure that Mrs Young would be the first to admit that she is no Emmylou, Nicolette or Ronstadt. However the bland saccharine backing almost sinks the standout track.
Overall, if you enjoyed Living with War, you should buy this album. If you prefer the acoustic bliss of Prairie Wind, avoid it.

Singing a song won't change the world
Neil Young has entered a period of stunning activity of late, most likely brought about because he thought he was going to die a few years back. We've had Prairie Wind, Living With War, Chrome Dreams II and the wonderful Heart of Gold concert all in the space of four or five years. Fork In the Road seems to empathise with an idealised 'middle America', living their lives more or less oblivious to and at odds with the idiotic powers at be. War, money going AWOL, and the comfort of a big old rusty truck.
It all hangs together and chugs along very well but the problem I have with this album is that very little stands out. The title song and Just Singing a Song are pretty cool but, and I hate to say this because I LOVE Neil Young, the album sounds like a bit of a knock off, a bit pedestrian. And the sound quality, dvd or not, sounds very muddy indeed. Its a shame really, its one of those albums that would have been great with a bit more time spent on it, but this sounds like a weekend in a barn with a tape recorder going.
I'll doubtless listen to it a lot more, but you know what? I miss Crazy Horse.........

Not the greatest, still a good 'un
I read some savagings of this album in the press before I owned it. It's Neil so I'd have bought it anyway, but I think a lot of those playing it once over have missed the point. Sure, this is Neil on another flight of fancy, driven (no pun intended) this time by the project to convert his Lincoln Contintental to an eco-friendly beacon for motoring of the future. And sure, his brainstorms can lead him well away from the mainstream and into work others struggle to understand. But we're nowhere near the confusion of Greendale which is more like a novel, or the indulgence of Everybody's Rockin which must have been fun to make, but did little to advance his reputation.

For Neil watchers better signposts this time might be Broken Arrow or Re-ac.tor, seemingly effortless rock-outs, chock full of flying riffs, fleeting solos and instantly memorable melodies. For all the criticism of the focus on the 'Linkvolt' car project Fork in the Road does look outwards and deliver some deep thinking and Neil's usual dry humour. Just Singing a Song is a statement of principle that it's okay to talk about issues but getting out and doing something is what counts. The beautiful and sparing Light a Candle is a ballad to compare with his best, and a deeply-felt statement of optimism. The title track has Neil cussing, pointing fingers at washed up bankers and getting down to what matters with a combination of rightious fury and dark mischief.

It doesn't pay to pour over the lyric sheet and put your life on hold too many times when listening to Fork in the Road, but it's a perfect companion in the car or at home because it has those flashes to suggest the man is still on fire. When it grinds along and sputters into those fiery guitar licks, for all that it might have been recorded with his usual haste, it still has that full-on/full of life feel.