cortez the killer wrote:Neil Young albums released after turning forty:
Landing on Water (1986) Life (1987) This Note's for You (1988) Eldorado (1989) Freedom (1989) Ragged Glory (1990) Harvest Moon (1992) Sleeps with Angels (1994) Mirror Ball (1995) Broken Arrow (1996) Silver & Gold (2000) Are You Passionate? (2002) Greendale (2003) Prairie Wind (2005) Living with War (2006) Chrome Dreams II (2007) Fork in the Road (2009) Le Noise (2010) Americana (2012) Psychedelic Pill (2012) A Letter Home (2014)
The bolded ones are those I consider to be good to great. Plenty of quantity (more post-40 releases than pre-40 ones) & quality there.
Not trying to hijack this thread, but damn NY is prolific. I am familiar with most of the ones Cortez bolded but will have to check out the rest. Seeing NY live is definitely on my bucket list.
Don't you dare cock block the rock (™)Smitty 2016 all rights reserved.
I consider Psychedelic Pill at top ten Neil Young album and on some days a top five. I love that record as much as Ragged Glory, Zuma and Live Rust Neil Young has a strong body of work, post 40.
I have nowhere else to go. There is no demand in the priesthood for elderly drug addicts
It didn't dawn on me until reading this but Guy Clark was around 35 when he released his first album (Old No. 1) in '75. I'm not sure how his success compares to DBT as far as sales but I'm pretty sure he's known around the world for his songwriting.
Kudzu Guillotine wrote:It didn't dawn on me until reading this but Guy Clark was around 35 when he released his first album (Old No. 1) in '75. I'm not sure how his success compares to DBT as far as sales but I'm pretty sure he's known around the world for his songwriting.
Good call. Add Guy Clark to the list. So far we have DBT, Leonard Cohen, Willie Nelson, Guy Clark and The Sensational Alex Harvey Band on the "artists who signed their first record deal after the age of 35" list.
Lux Interior was 34 when the first Cramps album was released. I don't know if The Cramps should be in this list because the rest of the band was younger and Poison Ivy had just as much of a role as an arranger and songwriter as Lux did.
I guess the thing that DBT, Cohen, Willie and Guy all have in common is that they made their reputations through very strong songwriting. Alex Harvey was a veteran performer -- he was a minor teen idol in Scotland in the 1950's and performed in the London production of Hair. He was also an outstanding songwriter.
I have nowhere else to go. There is no demand in the priesthood for elderly drug addicts
RevMatt wrote:Good call. Add Guy Clark to the list. So far we have DBT, Leonard Cohen, Willie Nelson, Guy Clark and The Sensational Alex Harvey Band on the "artists who signed their first record deal after the age of 35" list.
Willie's first record (at least according to Wiki) was in 1962 with And Then I Wrote. He would have been 29 at the time.
RevMatt wrote:Good call. Add Guy Clark to the list. So far we have DBT, Leonard Cohen, Willie Nelson, Guy Clark and The Sensational Alex Harvey Band on the "artists who signed their first record deal after the age of 35" list.
Willie's first record (at least according to Wiki) was in 1962 with And Then I Wrote. He would have been 29 at the time.
Probably should change the title of the list then. Willie didn't make it big as recording artist until the 70's but he was already highly respected as a songwriter. I am reading the current cover story on Willie in Rolling Stone right now.
I have nowhere else to go. There is no demand in the priesthood for elderly drug addicts
Knowing Cooley is out there somehwere in America, belting out Zip City with the band raging behind him and the crowd singing every word. That's comforting to me.
Kudzu Guillotine wrote:My point with Willie is that he didn't have a hit (of his own) until 1975 at the age of 42.
Yes. The one thing that amazes me about Willie's story is the path he followed. Nowadays we take for granted that the path for a great country artist who doesn't quite fit in with the Nashville system is to relocate to Austin or a similar type of place and put out records with his road band. But when Willie did this it was uncharted territory. Most people would have advised him to stay in Nashville and keep writing and plugging songs. Maybe play a handful of showcases in Nashville each year to help plug his material. Prior to Willie and Waylon a country artist could have success outside of the Nashville system if they went to L.A. and became part of that town's studio/publishing system (The Bakersfield guys in the early sixties, Bobbie Gentry in the late sixties).
I have nowhere else to go. There is no demand in the priesthood for elderly drug addicts
Knowing Cooley is out there somehwere in America, belting out Zip City with the band raging behind him and the crowd singing every word. That's comforting to me.
cortez the killer wrote:Neil Young albums released after turning forty:
Landing on Water (1986)
Life (1987)
This Note's for You (1988) Eldorado (1989)
Freedom (1989)
Ragged Glory (1990)
Harvest Moon (1992)
Sleeps with Angels (1994)
Mirror Ball (1995)
Broken Arrow (1996)
Silver & Gold (2000)
Are You Passionate? (2002) Greendale (2003)
Prairie Wind (2005)
Living with War (2006) Chrome Dreams II (2007)
Fork in the Road (2009) Le Noise (2010)
Americana (2012)
Psychedelic Pill (2012)
A Letter Home (2014)
The bolded ones are those I consider to be good to great. Plenty of quantity (more post-40 releases than pre-40 ones) & quality there.
Not trying to hijack this thread, but damn NY is prolific. I am familiar with most of the ones Cortez bolded but will have to check out the rest. Seeing NY live is definitely on my bucket list.
I am sure some wouldn't agree (I think I recall Bill saying he wasn't a fan of Greendale), but your bold/not bold list is exactly like mine. Nary a single difference. It's like Neil can turn it on and turn it off. Most don't release the "off" albums, but he does.
In my humble (true) opinion , English Oceans is their best album. Love everything about it, the incredible songwriting, the alternating sequencing, the immediacy of the sound, the rawness, the production, etc., etc.
Markalanbishop wrote:In my humble (true) opinion , English Oceans is their best album. Love everything about it, the incredible songwriting, the alternating sequencing, the immediacy of the sound, the rawness, the production, etc., etc.
To me without a doubt it's their strongest album since Decoration Day, front to back without absolutely no filler. It's a fucking highlight for me is the alternating songs and the grittiness of the sound.
The only reason it edges out The Dirty South for me personally is John Henry and the Buford Pusser songs.. I Find songs about John Henry to be annoying and I just don't care about the Pusser legend in a musical form, although the songs are brilliant.
CalebCalebson wrote:
The only reason it edges out The Dirty South for me personally is John Henry and the Buford Pusser songs.. I Find songs about John Henry to be annoying and I just don't care about the Pusser legend in a musical form, although the songs are brilliant.
I could argue for the Dirty South for exactly the same couple of songs. I've always sort of preferred history to character sketches.
CalebCalebson wrote:
To me without a doubt it's their strongest album since Decoration Day, front to back without absolutely no filler.
The dreaded F-word again. I seem to remember TC covering this already, but once again: a band such as DBT has no filler. Why would they?
Filler is for bands with singles, in the traditional sense of the word. DBT doesn't do "filler".
CalebCalebson wrote:
To me without a doubt it's their strongest album since Decoration Day, front to back without absolutely no filler.
The dreaded F-word again. I seem to remember TC covering this already, but once again: a band such as DBT has no filler. Why would they?
Filler is for bands with singles, in the traditional sense of the word. DBT doesn't do "filler".
No Offense but I consider Shonna's tracks on certain albums filler, as well as the Rob Malone tracks on SRO. All those I usually skip and find subpar to everything else the truckers have put out. Sorry but that's the way it is for me. English Oceans was the first album since Decoration Day where I didn't and still don't find myself wanting to skip one or two tracks.
CalebCalebson wrote:
To me without a doubt it's their strongest album since Decoration Day, front to back without absolutely no filler.
The dreaded F-word again. I seem to remember TC covering this already, but once again: a band such as DBT has no filler. Why would they?
Filler is for bands with singles, in the traditional sense of the word. DBT doesn't do "filler".
No Offense but I consider Shonna's tracks on certain albums filler, as well as the Rob Malone tracks on SRO. All those I usually skip and find subpar to everything else the truckers have put out. Sorry but that's the way it is for me. English Oceans was the first album since Decoration Day where I didn't and still don't find myself wanting to skip one or two tracks.
You not liking them doesn't make them filler. It's semantics, yes, but words mean things
And I knew when I woke up Rock N Roll would be here forever
That's why it's just like my opinion man. I didn't say it's a definitive and everyone needs to agree with me on this thing. English Ocean to me is their 3rd best album and I didn't mean to ruffle any body's feathers by having that opinion or explaining why I like it.
CalebCalebson wrote:That's why it's just like my opinion man. I didn't say it's a definitive and everyone needs to agree with me on this thing. English Ocean to me is their 3rd best album and I didn't mean to ruffle any body's feathers by having that opinion or explaining why I like it.
Nobody's feathers are ruffled. Personally, I don't understand why anyone would want to post their thoughts/opinions and not want to discuss them but if that's your expectation you're going to continue to be uncomfortable around here.
Let me try to explain once more, not that I have any confidence that I'll have any more success than I've had in the past. Smitty's remark that the DBT's don't do filler is perfectly legitimate in the context of the usually understood meaning of the "singles plus filler" approach to album making. Labeling Malone's and Tucker's contributions to certain albums as "filler" is perfectly legitimate as well and I might say that it raises an interesting question about the nature and intent of filler. Of course, it's my own particular quirk that I find something like that interesting. One could then go on to discuss what is and isn't meant by filler and whether those songs do or don't meet the definition or simply ignore that topic as being wholly uninteresting (not everyone has the same quirks, even among fantatics). Either way, it's a conversation, not a personal attack or flaming exercise. I'm sure there are places on the internet where people go to simply post their opinions w/out response. I don't know for sure because I have no interest in that sort of thing but I do know that this isn't one of those places. Like everyone, you're welcome to have your opinions, conventional or not, popular or not. But if you don't want to discuss them or explain them this probably isn't the place to post them.
What used to be is gone and what ought to be ought not to be so hard
CalebCalebson wrote:That's why it's just like my opinion man. I didn't say it's a definitive and everyone needs to agree with me on this thing. English Ocean to me is their 3rd best album and I didn't mean to ruffle any body's feathers by having that opinion or explaining why I like it.
Dude there is nothing wrong with what you said. I tend to agree. If the word "filler" is off the table then I'll substitute it with the word "fat". There are definitely albums that could stand some trimming. Opinions vary on what should be trimmed.
CalebCalebson wrote:That's why it's just like my opinion man. I didn't say it's a definitive and everyone needs to agree with me on this thing. English Ocean to me is their 3rd best album and I didn't mean to ruffle any body's feathers by having that opinion or explaining why I like it.
I'll defer to BTB and Zip on this one. Maybe you have a different definition of "filler" than the traditional one.
I still can't get over the terrible production on Cooley's tracks. Background whine makes my hair stand up. Great songs, love them live, but the album is at the end of my DBT list.
Between SRO, Dirty South and Decoration Day, the one of those three I think is the best DBT album is usually the one I just finished listening to. For me, those three consistently stand above the rest.
Brighter than Creation's Dark is a solid fourth for me. It's not as cohesive as the other three, but I really connect with a lot of the songs on it.
I'd rank English Oceans just above or just behind Pizza Deliverance. Top to bottom, I'd probably say EO is more cohesive, but some of DBT's best songs are on Pizza Deliverance.
As much as I like English Oceans, it would be 5th or 6th favorite for me. But considering the strength of DBT's catalog, 5th or 6th for them is better than most bands' best. Even if the next album is only my 9th or 10th favorite, that'll still be one damn good album.
, English Oceans is their best album. Love everything about it, the incredible songwriting, the alternating sequencing, the immediacy of the sound, the rawness, the production, etc., etc.
