Product Description

This is the first time that Neil Young's 1974's album, 'On The Beach', has been made available since the deletion of the original vinyl issue. It was the first studio album to be issued by Young after the commercial success of 1972's 'Harvest' (1972's 'Journey Through The Past' and 1973's 'Time Fades Away' were a soundtrack and a live album). Ben Keith who provided pedal steel on 'Harvest', appears here, as does Rusty Kershaw, who wasn't to record with young again until 1992's 'Harvest Moon'.

Track Listing

1. Walk On
2. See The Sky About To Rain
3. Revolution Blues
4. For The Turnstiles
5. Vampire Blues
6. On The Beach
7. Motion Pictures
8. Ambulance Blues

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6478 in Music
• Released on: 2003-07-14
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Enhanced, Original recording remastered

Customer Reviews

Ditch Masterpiece
For those of you who haven't heard the story, after the success of the single Heart of Gold from the hugely popular Harvest album, Young famously said "the song put me in the middle of the road, which became a bore so I headed for the ditch".

To prove the point he made three albums that contained none of the mainstream appeal of Harvest. On the Beach was the last of the three ditch albums recorded, but was second released, mainly because the record company deemed Tonight's the Night too chaotic, and it was temporarily shelved.

History lesson over, let's talk about this record. Not only is it the best album Neil ever made, it is also the best album I have ever owned. I came to the table via the oft travelled Harvest/Goldrush route, and amazingly, when I think about it now, when I first heard Beach I hated it and put it in the cupboard for two years. When I heard it again, I was progressively enchanted.

The first track, Walk On, although nice enough is nothing like the remaining seven. The despairing tone of Tonight's the Night is replaced with barbed cynicism that is musically and lyrically mesmerising. The album simmers with brooding classics like Revolution Blues, an apocolyptic vision of LA, said to refer to Charles Manson, and Vampire Blues, not surprisingly a swipe at big cars and the oil they consume.

The mood continues to darken right up to the last track, and man, what a last track. Ambulance Blues is a few seconds shy of nine minutes long; the very finest nine minutes in the history of recorded music. A brooding, bitter tirade about the old days, Young's musical critics, and the ambiguous status of Young's collaborational band, Crosby Stills Nash and Young. Once under your skin, the emotion is breathtaking.

If you're eager to move on from Harvest and Goldrush, buy this album, listen to it once only, then listen to Zuma, Rust Never Sleeps, or something mellow like Comes a Time, then take this out again. But be warned, continued playing of this masterpiece may seriously damage your appreciation of anything else.

The world is turning.......i hope it don't turn away.
Not much more to add to all the extensive reviews of this particular Neil Young. Readers will be aware of most of its history. Its unavailability in "regular" cd form, until very recently. This rather added to the album's cult status, which contrived to make secondhand vinyl copies seriously expensive. (Up to £100, apparently, through the more "unscrupulous" outlets.)

The cd issue faithfully recreates the original album's artwork, to make a very pleasing package. (Not just a crummy, little booklet.) For me, there are three of my all-time favourite Neil Young tracks. Firstly, "See The Sky About To Rain". Very downbeat, but extremely uplifting. It's followed by "Revolution Blues", which features one of Neil's most effective guitar solos and the succinct lyric "i hope you get the connection as i can't take the rejection". And there's the sublime title track. Some will feel it's bit whiney in style, i'm sure. But it's probably just an honest reflection of Neil Young's depressed state of mind at the time. It has a brooding magnificence, an economical, under-stated guitar solo and another favourite line: "The world is turning, i hope it don't turn away".

No selection of Neil Young cd's is complete without it, to use the well-worn expression. Those who aren't familiar with it, would be well-advised to invest the time and money into discovering it.

Dark, mature and wonderful
Some of the bands or artists I like I find it very difficult to be objective about. Van Halen, for example, could do anything they like and I`ll always love Eddie. Neil Young isn`t quite in that category; like Lou Reed ("Metal Machine Music", anyone?) he`s always keen to experiment, shock, annoy his record company etc. and can miss as often as he hits. Some of his output in the early 80s sounded like the products of a bored, disordered mind, such as "Landing On Water" and "Everybody`s Rockin`". Of course when Neil hits, he hits big...

I can`t think of much by Neil Young that is better than this CD. I have listened to more or less everything by Neil Young, and during the early-to-mid 70s he released some seriously impressive records - such as "Time Fades Away" and "Tonight`s the Night" - and this sits alongside those classics. Not just chronologically, but in mood and feel and maturity too. It`s dark! Generally speaking, the frothy subjects in life don`t make good listening of course. The two "blues" songs on "On The Beach", "Revolution..." and "Ambulance..." might not sound like music from New Orleans, but I doubt if anyone has sounded more angry or bitter. I love them both; the lyrics on "Revolution..." are seriously twisted, and it`s hard to imagine a bigger departure from the hippy-rock of Buffalo Springfield. "Ambulance..." is just about as perfect as music gets. You`ll just have to listen to it as I can`t justify that claim using mere words!

The other songs are very strong too, of course. It`s pretty mellow in terms of volume but there`s such an underlying sense of menace and depression, "See The Sky About To Rain" quite nicely sums up the feel. "Walk On" is a wonderful opener, addressing a subject most of the other songs mention too - critics, opinions, fame. "Vampire Blues" contains the best one-note solo since "Cinnamon Girl". "Motion Pictures" is an ode to his then-lover Carrie Snodgress (the actress Young falls in love with in a "A Man Needs A Maid"). You get the feeling Neil is about to collapse mentally and physically. History tells you that he more or less did, and that`s all chronicled on 1975`s "Tonight`s The Night"!

You have to own this too.