After The Gold Rush Analysis
Neil Young; After the Gold Rush 1970
Album Review Music 2700
Jill Davies 250414488
Neil Young’s third album; After the Gold Rush is a mellow approach to rock and roll during the early 70’s. The album also demonstrates Young’s Folk roots with a slight country feel. Young plays pop and folk dimensions that are heard throughout the album but with caution and conservatism. Neil becomes a mainstream artist however his sound falls outside the sounds heard in commercial mainstream rock and folk music due to his careful style and distinctive voice. After the Gold Rush is an example of why Neil Young’s sound is so distinctive.
The Album opens with the track “Tell Me Why”. This song consists of simple chord progressions as well as only consisting …show more content…
of vocals and guitar. The backup singers chime in harmoniously to emphasize certain lyrics periodically. Their warbling voices accompany and help frame Young’s signature quavering voice beautifully. Young and the other vocalists sing in a soft and simple timbre but with country twang. You can hear a rockabilly aspect to the song. The texture of this song is a clean and thin with little instrumentation. This song is among one of the softer songs on the album because Young sings and plays with a smooth and long attack. The performance of this song is clear and simple with no noticeable sound altering after recording.
“Till the Morning Comes” enters with a playful piano solo playing simple articulated chords. This audibly pleasing piano arrangement is unlike his other piano arrangements because in this song we hear a more bouncy and faster tune. Neil young sings soft and smoothly the lyrics till the morning comes and is offered in a repeated cut. A flugelhorn is heard in this track adding to the playful tone of this song. Back up vocals sings in a high tenor pitch “till the morning comes” repeatedly. The song ends after a fade out of the harmonized repeated vocals that are mixed with piano, leaving you with the feeling to hit repeat since the song ends awkwardly after 1:20.
“When You Dance I Can Really Love,” gives the listener a harder mix of guitar, piano, bass and drums that provides a very thick texture and rather muddled mix of all the different sounds. Although in some sections of the song you can distinctly hear the articulation of each instrument, ultimately the listener is caused to strain the ear to distinguish between all the instruments loudly playing all at once. Echo is provided that adds to the loud distortion periodically. The performance of this song instrumentally can generally be duplicated but without the distortion. Near the end of the song is a pure instrumental section with reverberation and a messy layer of instrumentals that leaves an impression of a harder and more rock and roll timber than the other songs on the album.
“Oh Lonesome Me” is a melancholy song with mournful lyrics. The song provides a blues feel with the harmonica sound front and center on the track. The harmonica sound quavers and reverberates on the track enhancing the blues emotion. The light strumming on the guitar, light piano melody as well as how the drummer lightly hits the cymbals makes the track sound thin in texture and provides a soft folk and jazzy timbre.
Another song that is melancholy and with mournful lyrics is the song inspired by Joni Mitchells and Graham Nash’s breakup, “Only Love Can Break Your Heart”.
In this track guitar, piano, bass, and drums are heard with considerable attention to detail in how the instruments are deployed. The piano provides the harmonic framework that lays down the beat of this rather simple song. The guitar chords are played in a slow twang manner. Neil Young sings in his distinctive high tenor that sounds like his voice is a creaking warble when he draws out a word. However when Neil and the backup vocals sing together they sing in an appealingly soft pitch that is softer than Neil alone. The majority of the song is sung in tonal harmony that provides a thick yet clean texture. However about 2:15 into the song, an undeniable sonic sound is heard. The overwhelming bass at that point in the song seems completely out of place, accidental and awkward.
Neil is consistent with his disheartened lyrics in the album. There is also a homogeneous sweep of sound throughout the album due to his folk roots and idiosyncratic voice. The song “Don’t let it Bring You Down” is heard in a twangy yet miserable tone to provide emotion. The lyrics paint a haunting picture about life and its unfortunate events. E.g., “Dead man lying by the side of the road with the daylight in his eyes.” Alongside these lyrics the song is sung in a depressing tone of voice. There is a jazzy blues feel to the song due to the strong piano influence as well as
guitar.
“I Believe in You” has a simple beat that is anchored by the drums at the beginning of the song. Apart from the other songs on the album, Neil incorporates the vibraphone into this song. The vibraphone provides a damped sound that lasts for several seconds. This song has a lot of distortion but especially during the piano solo and Neil sings in a high-pitched nasally voice. The vocals and the instrumentation performance have obviously been adjusted to give the song a haunted echo effect.
“Birds” is a beautifully and simply performed piano song that is clean and clear in timbre and thin in texture. You can hear a consonant sound and a strong sense cadence. The song is thin because the only elements to the song are vocals and simple piano with no reverberation. The accompanying vocals accent the song nicely. The breakup themed song is sung in a soft manner and is not sung in Neil’s usual high-pitched tenor voice.
The last song on the album listed is “Cripple Creek Ferry”. Young plays the piano in this song and is accompanied by guitar. The song is obscure lyrically but is a nice wrap up to the album in a cheerful tone. The song ends in a fade out providing the listener with anticipation of more Neil Young songs to come.
Perhaps the most influential song on the album is “Southern Man”. This confrontational song paints a dark picture of reality of slavery in the south. Like most folk songs there is a political relevance to the song. Neil Young sings of the racism towards blacks in the south. It is a story of a southern man who is a symbol of the entire south, where Neil discuses the hypocrisy of the situation and asks the South to “pay them back” for the abuse. Neil sings in an acid tongue and lashes out with his raw and dirty electric guitar solos. The back up singers also sing with an unpolished sound and raw vocals compared to other tracks on the album. Southern Man is energetic and is louder in volume in order to catch the listener’s attention. This is Neil’s emerging act of raw rock and roll on the album and is apparent in his bitcrushed playing of his guitar that provides a harsher sound impression. It is also a step towards the jazzy side with the loud piano framing the beat. Certain parts in the song provide a wall of sound that is created with reverberation, especially near the end of the song. The chorus of the song is sung harmoniously and softly as opposed to when Neil young sings during the bridge in an unpolished creaky angry tone along with shattering guitar. This timbre is completely different than what we hear on the other songs of the album. The timbre is hard and dirty and with a very heavy texture creating a cavernous sound.
Lastly “After the Gold Rush” is another mellow song that contributes the Neil’s almost completely homogeneous sounding album. In this song we hear a slow flugelhorn playing in a wider more conical bore and essentially sounds pure with little studio alterations. The flugelhorn adds low range and a fatter timber that is softer and more reflective then an electric guitar. This sound provides a good reflective tone that allows the listener to take in the politically relevant lyrics. Along with the piano it provides a soft and sad instrumental portion. After the Gold Rush is about urbanization and the affects on Mother Nature. The mix of the flugelhorn, piano and vocals creates a sympathetic ambience that is clear yet full bodied.
Neil’s tendency to juxtapose his songs together creates a homogeneous folk rock album. He is cautious with his work in this album and doesn’t try anything to risky, creating many similar sounding songs. Other than Southern Man, his songs supply a relaxing and melancholy mood. His album is distinctive not because of the frequent twang of his guitar or periodic jazzy piano notes, but because of his undeniably distinguished voice that sets him apart from every other folk rock / rock and roll artist of his time. His voice is renowned and cannot be imitated. As we hear in After the Gold Rush, Neil Young creates an individual sound all his own.
Album Review Music 2700
Jill Davies 250414488
Neil Young’s third album; After the Gold Rush is a mellow approach to rock and roll during the early 70’s. The album also demonstrates Young’s Folk roots with a slight country feel. Young plays pop and folk dimensions that are heard throughout the album but with caution and conservatism. Neil becomes a mainstream artist however his sound falls outside the sounds heard in commercial mainstream rock and folk music due to his careful style and distinctive voice. After the Gold Rush is an example of why Neil Young’s sound is so distinctive.
The Album opens with the track “Tell Me Why”. This song consists of simple chord progressions as well as only consisting …show more content…
of vocals and guitar. The backup singers chime in harmoniously to emphasize certain lyrics periodically. Their warbling voices accompany and help frame Young’s signature quavering voice beautifully. Young and the other vocalists sing in a soft and simple timbre but with country twang. You can hear a rockabilly aspect to the song. The texture of this song is a clean and thin with little instrumentation. This song is among one of the softer songs on the album because Young sings and plays with a smooth and long attack. The performance of this song is clear and simple with no noticeable sound altering after recording.
“Till the Morning Comes” enters with a playful piano solo playing simple articulated chords. This audibly pleasing piano arrangement is unlike his other piano arrangements because in this song we hear a more bouncy and faster tune. Neil young sings soft and smoothly the lyrics till the morning comes and is offered in a repeated cut. A flugelhorn is heard in this track adding to the playful tone of this song. Back up vocals sings in a high tenor pitch “till the morning comes” repeatedly. The song ends after a fade out of the harmonized repeated vocals that are mixed with piano, leaving you with the feeling to hit repeat since the song ends awkwardly after 1:20.
“When You Dance I Can Really Love,” gives the listener a harder mix of guitar, piano, bass and drums that provides a very thick texture and rather muddled mix of all the different sounds. Although in some sections of the song you can distinctly hear the articulation of each instrument, ultimately the listener is caused to strain the ear to distinguish between all the instruments loudly playing all at once. Echo is provided that adds to the loud distortion periodically. The performance of this song instrumentally can generally be duplicated but without the distortion. Near the end of the song is a pure instrumental section with reverberation and a messy layer of instrumentals that leaves an impression of a harder and more rock and roll timber than the other songs on the album.
“Oh Lonesome Me” is a melancholy song with mournful lyrics. The song provides a blues feel with the harmonica sound front and center on the track. The harmonica sound quavers and reverberates on the track enhancing the blues emotion. The light strumming on the guitar, light piano melody as well as how the drummer lightly hits the cymbals makes the track sound thin in texture and provides a soft folk and jazzy timbre.
Another song that is melancholy and with mournful lyrics is the song inspired by Joni Mitchells and Graham Nash’s breakup, “Only Love Can Break Your Heart”.
In this track guitar, piano, bass, and drums are heard with considerable attention to detail in how the instruments are deployed. The piano provides the harmonic framework that lays down the beat of this rather simple song. The guitar chords are played in a slow twang manner. Neil Young sings in his distinctive high tenor that sounds like his voice is a creaking warble when he draws out a word. However when Neil and the backup vocals sing together they sing in an appealingly soft pitch that is softer than Neil alone. The majority of the song is sung in tonal harmony that provides a thick yet clean texture. However about 2:15 into the song, an undeniable sonic sound is heard. The overwhelming bass at that point in the song seems completely out of place, accidental and awkward.
Neil is consistent with his disheartened lyrics in the album. There is also a homogeneous sweep of sound throughout the album due to his folk roots and idiosyncratic voice. The song “Don’t let it Bring You Down” is heard in a twangy yet miserable tone to provide emotion. The lyrics paint a haunting picture about life and its unfortunate events. E.g., “Dead man lying by the side of the road with the daylight in his eyes.” Alongside these lyrics the song is sung in a depressing tone of voice. There is a jazzy blues feel to the song due to the strong piano influence as well as
guitar.
“I Believe in You” has a simple beat that is anchored by the drums at the beginning of the song. Apart from the other songs on the album, Neil incorporates the vibraphone into this song. The vibraphone provides a damped sound that lasts for several seconds. This song has a lot of distortion but especially during the piano solo and Neil sings in a high-pitched nasally voice. The vocals and the instrumentation performance have obviously been adjusted to give the song a haunted echo effect.
“Birds” is a beautifully and simply performed piano song that is clean and clear in timbre and thin in texture. You can hear a consonant sound and a strong sense cadence. The song is thin because the only elements to the song are vocals and simple piano with no reverberation. The accompanying vocals accent the song nicely. The breakup themed song is sung in a soft manner and is not sung in Neil’s usual high-pitched tenor voice.
The last song on the album listed is “Cripple Creek Ferry”. Young plays the piano in this song and is accompanied by guitar. The song is obscure lyrically but is a nice wrap up to the album in a cheerful tone. The song ends in a fade out providing the listener with anticipation of more Neil Young songs to come.
Perhaps the most influential song on the album is “Southern Man”. This confrontational song paints a dark picture of reality of slavery in the south. Like most folk songs there is a political relevance to the song. Neil Young sings of the racism towards blacks in the south. It is a story of a southern man who is a symbol of the entire south, where Neil discuses the hypocrisy of the situation and asks the South to “pay them back” for the abuse. Neil sings in an acid tongue and lashes out with his raw and dirty electric guitar solos. The back up singers also sing with an unpolished sound and raw vocals compared to other tracks on the album. Southern Man is energetic and is louder in volume in order to catch the listener’s attention. This is Neil’s emerging act of raw rock and roll on the album and is apparent in his bitcrushed playing of his guitar that provides a harsher sound impression. It is also a step towards the jazzy side with the loud piano framing the beat. Certain parts in the song provide a wall of sound that is created with reverberation, especially near the end of the song. The chorus of the song is sung harmoniously and softly as opposed to when Neil young sings during the bridge in an unpolished creaky angry tone along with shattering guitar. This timbre is completely different than what we hear on the other songs of the album. The timbre is hard and dirty and with a very heavy texture creating a cavernous sound.
Lastly “After the Gold Rush” is another mellow song that contributes the Neil’s almost completely homogeneous sounding album. In this song we hear a slow flugelhorn playing in a wider more conical bore and essentially sounds pure with little studio alterations. The flugelhorn adds low range and a fatter timber that is softer and more reflective then an electric guitar. This sound provides a good reflective tone that allows the listener to take in the politically relevant lyrics. Along with the piano it provides a soft and sad instrumental portion. After the Gold Rush is about urbanization and the affects on Mother Nature. The mix of the flugelhorn, piano and vocals creates a sympathetic ambience that is clear yet full bodied.
Neil’s tendency to juxtapose his songs together creates a homogeneous folk rock album. He is cautious with his work in this album and doesn’t try anything to risky, creating many similar sounding songs. Other than Southern Man, his songs supply a relaxing and melancholy mood. His album is distinctive not because of the frequent twang of his guitar or periodic jazzy piano notes, but because of his undeniably distinguished voice that sets him apart from every other folk rock / rock and roll artist of his time. His voice is renowned and cannot be imitated. As we hear in After the Gold Rush, Neil Young creates an individual sound all his own.