Track Listing

1. Rockin' In The Free World
2. Crime In The City
3. Don't Cry
4. Hangin' On A Limb
5. Eldorado
6. Ways Of Love
7. Someday
8. On Broadway
9. Wrecking Ball
10. No More
11. Too Far Gone

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5733 in Music
• Released on: 1989-10-09
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .22 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review
Freedom was Young's return to form after almost a decade of electronic experiments and mediocre novelty music. "Rockin' in the Free World", a howling anthem about homelessness, depression and drug dealing, bookends the album--and, in 1989, proved the singer/songwriter hadn't completely dropped into obscurity. The romantic ballads ("The Ways of Love"), grunge-predicting guitar-rockers (a siren-screaming version of "On Broadway"), and one amazing, punk-like story-song ("Crime in the City [Sixty to Zero, Part I]") constitute Young's strongest writing in years. --Steve Knopper

CD Description
After spending the '80s going through stylistic changes, Neil Young released FREEDOM, a more straight-forward rock album that was no less lyrically complex despite its appeal to abroader piece of the mainstream. Playing with an assortmentof musicians versus a set back-up band like the Stray Gators or the Shocking Pinks, this 1989 release is pure Neil Young. Like any great songwriter, Young populates these songs with memorable characters. "Crime In The City (Sixty To Zero Part 1)" is like a mini-Robert Altman movie with criminals and crooked cops rubbing shoulders with producers and artists whereas Rommel, oil riggers and televangelists populate "Someday".
Although Frank Sampedro is the only participating member of Crazy Horse, Young still manages to get a big guitar crunch on the predominantly stripped-down "Don't Cry" anda ferocious cover of "On Broadway". The subtler moments arealso capitivating whether it's a duet with Linda Ronstadt on the folkie "Hangin' On A Limb" or the slow-burn, Spanish twang of "Eldorado" that occasionally burps up a bit of heavydistortion. Young's indictment of the Reagan '80s comes on bookended versions (one live acoustic, one electric) of the anthemic "Rockin' In The Free World" that howl with righteous indignation.

Customer Reviews

Money well spent...
While there are more than enough individual tracks dotted around his huge number of recordings to justify Neil Young’s major reputation there are only a few albums that, on their own, hold together as satisfyingly complete “works”. And… in the (self imposed) absence of any sensible retrospectives since 1977’s “Decade” (definitely the best place to start for any “casual buyer”) those not “in the know” could be in for some seriously expensive mistakes. So, what’s been worth the money since then? Well…for anyone looking for the mellower side of this brilliantly mercurial but annoyingly erratic artist here’s a few suggestions: “Comes a Time” (1978), “Freedom” (1989), “Harvest Moon” (1992) and “Unplugged” (1995).

“Freedom” – his best album from the 1980’s – opens with two of his finest tracks: the anthemic “Rockin’ in the Free World” and the driving acoustic riffs, wonderfully atmospheric sax breaks and lyrically brilliant textures of the 8 minute “Crime in the City”. Good start, with much more to follow. In particular, the beautifully wistful “Wrecking Ball” (reworked, as with many of Neil Young’s stand-out tracks, even more effectively by someone else, in this case Emmylou Harris), the insidious anti-drug riffs of “No More”, the catchy harder electric rock of “Eldorado” and the beautifully gentle country/folk rock of “Too Far Gone”, “Hanging on a Limb” & “The Ways of Love”. And, with only the, albeit well executed, excursions into “heavy metal grunge” of “Don’t Cry” & “On Broadway” and the somewhat strained vocals of “Someday” sitting uncomfortably in such a satisfyingly laid-back set the album leaves you feeling… happy! Money well spent.

Rocking in the Free World
Saw Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 yesterday, this song played over the end credits. Nobody moved from their seats at first. The words

''There's one more kid
that will never go to school
Never get to fall in love,
never get to be cool.'

Keep on rockin' in the free world''

will be with me for a long, long time.

An unheralded disappointment
"Freedom," critical opinion would have us believe, marked Neil Young's return from his 1980s wilderness, back into the land of quality musicianship. Two points need making to refute this: one, that Young's eighties output, while patchy, is certainly not the minefield of atrocity general consensus would have us believe; and two, that "Freedom" isn't actually all that good. "Rockin' in the Free World," a song which garners much of the praise that the album gets, is a fair enough Young song, although you can't imagine him spending that long on it, and bookending the album with acoustic and electric versions is simply wrongheaded: this is no "Hey Hey, My My." Elsewhere, while "Crime in the City (Sixty to Zero Part 1)" and "Eldorado" are dramatic songs with interesting arrangements, much of the LP is given over to a glossy, radio-friendly production sound, which can't mask the paucity of the material. Indeed, the finest of the songs here is "Too Far Gone," a tearful ballad of lost love and regret. That this song was written in 1976 and left off 1977's "American Stars n Bars" album tells you a lot about the material Young was writing around the time of "Freedom," an album which induces ennui more than ecstacy.