Product Description

Young's fourth album includes the No.1 single 'Heart Of Gold'. Essentially a folk-rock country album, its songs are treated to a much more lavish production than those of his previous release 'After The Goldrush'. On 'Harvest' he is accompanied by Jack Nitsche, Ben Keith, Tim Drummond and Kenny Buttrey.

Track Listing

1. Out On The Weekend
2. Harvest
3. Man Needs A Maid
4. Heart Of Gold
5. Are You Ready For The Country
6. Old Man
7. There's A World
8. Alabama
9. Needle And The Damage Done
10. Words (Between The Lines Of Age)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #999 in Music
• Released on: 1984-04-27
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
Proclaiming his intentions with "Are You Ready for the Country?", Young detoured briefly to the Nashville mainstream. On this 1972 album, even the singer's acquired-taste voice comes across smooth and beautiful--the smash "Heart of Gold", with steel guitars and Linda Ronstadt's backup vocals, is by far Young's most commercial-sounding song. His usual dissonant touches, like the otherworldly guitar in "Out on the Weekend", are less spooky in this new context. The last two tracks, the deceptively gentle "The Needle and the Damage Done" and the hypnotic rocker "Words (Between the Lines of Age)", predict "Tonight's the Night", Young's haunted 1975 classic. --Steve Knopper

Customer Reviews

And what a harvest!
An astonishing work. Merely one of the many gems that are scattered throughout Young's career. Rather than waxing lyrical about this album, it is better just to say that I can't think of a single second on this ambum that isn't sheer quality. A couple of years ago I lived with a group of people that only listened to house music. I leant this to one of them, and before the end of the week our whole house had turned into Neil Young converts. Next to Bob Dylan, Young is one of the greatest artists of all time. A prolifically creative genius.

Enjoy.

Peerless Genius.
Okay. Pub argument Number 120. Who is the greatest song-writer ever? Dylan, Lennon and McCartney are all in with a shout. Brian Wilson, Kurt Cobain, Roger Waters, the list goes on. But seriously, how could anyone take this title other than Neil Young. I mean it, this guy is so good, it defies belief.

I did try to collect a few Neil Young albums a few years back. In time they disappeared or got sold, and I continued to listen to all sorts of mindless rubbish (what the hell was I supposed to know, I was only a punk kid). But over the last few years i've come to the conclusion that not only is Neil Young far better than even people think he is, but even amongst the elite, he's virtually untouchable.

Don't believe me? Then listen again. Every single song on 'Harvest' is masterful. Honestly, not a single note is wasted anywhere. My favourites are probably 'A Man Needs A Maid', a touching ballad about then-girlfriend Carrie Snodgress, 'Needle And The Damage Done', concerning heroin addicted rock musicians and 'Old Man', a song about old and young lives being similar.

But whatever the merits of the rest of the album, it's 'Heart Of Gold' that remains Young's masterpiece. His only number one single and the fan's firm favourite, a beautifully soft ballad that for me, is endlessly re-listenable.

If there's one thing I hate, it's hyperbole. But for 'Harvest' i'll make an exception. And if William Blake was a rock star, he'd be Neil Young. He really is that good.

So to conclude, there are great song-writers, and then there's Neil Young. And anyone who wants to disagree had better step outside.

Golden Harvest
I'm sure many people waited eagerly for this release and I was certainly one of them. The fear was that it would be a huge disappointment after Goldrush - well it wasn't. Harvest has taken on almost a mythical feel over the years.

Many consider it his best work and certainly it met with critical acclaim and is still talked of today. When Young releases a low key, tuneful album it is always described as "The New Harvest" and the composer also references the album many times in his subsequent offerings.

It was more progressive than Goldrush. To me the songs aren't quite so effective but there is no denying the power and beauty of an album that once again contained some outstanding music with the likes of "Harvest", "A Man Needs a Maid" "Heart of Gold" (I can hear you singing it now and two songs with much stronger messages "Old Man" and a foray into drug culture "The Needle and the Damage Done."

The only question on the lips of Young fans were "where does he go from here and can he produce a trio of essential albums?"