Freedom (studio album) by Neil Young

After many many years of not engaging with Neil in any meaningful way and thinking that his greatest albums were behind him this came out of the blue and hit home, so hard.

Started my love affair all over again and was the kick start to the great albums of the 90’s and beyond. Great stuff

This album just feels rather bland on the whole and he doesn't really experiment with his sound at all. There are a couple of great tracks on here, such as the closer, but it just doesn't have that consistency to be considered amongst his best. Every song sounds pretty similar and a bit boring and like he has run out of ideas. The vocal is the main strength with it being pretty good throughout but once again nothing ground breaking. The guitar work also shines at points in some songs. It is a hard album to rank as it isn't really bad as you can definitely listen to it and find some enjoyable moments in there but it also isn't really good in terms of musical quality as it is one note and dull. Overall, it is just such an average album in my opinion and not one I find myself wanting to listen to again after the few listens I have had.

Much has been said about Neil Young's experimentation in the 1980s.

As a fan, it was decent work. It looks like many listeners are just not satisfied unless Neil reprises his role as either a country-folk acoustic troubadour or rocks out with Crazy Horse.

I enjoyed Neil's dynamic 1980s experimentation and it was nice to hear some return to form for this record.

Never mind style. Neil is his best when he has a strong set of songs that don't go on too long. Aside from the Rockin' in the Free World crowd-pleaser, there are excellent songs here like Hangin' on a Limb and Wrecking Ball.

The production doesn't stray too far from the country-folk he is known for, and it mostly keeps its role of supporting the songs instead of distracting the listener.

Recommended.

A Side: Rockin' in the Free World
B Side: Wrecking Ball

From VictorVale 01/12/2021 13:33

Grande acerto. Desengasgou o rock entalado!

From teague 06/14/2020 01:44

A fine enough record. It is undeniably his best of the 80s, but the bar is set pretty damn low. This album does feature Rockin' in the Free World, an absolute anthem. Other than that, the music is fairly uninteresting, but not without highlights (Crime In the City, Eldorado).

From Sandrof1969 02/18/2018 12:55

Non ci voleva molto a capire che Neil Young con l'elettronica, la dance, il rockabilly, le tastiere modaiole non c'entrava niente. Ecco qua Neil Young back in action: un'ora di musica ( qualche lungaggine di troppo, in effetti ), nessuna pretesa di sconvolgere il mondo con chissà quale trovata e la sorpresa di sconvolgerlo, il mondo, con un album come non gli riusciva da dieci anni e come non gli sarebbe riuscito più.

Not spectacular, but certainly the best Neil Young album since, rust never sleeps. Rockin' in the free world is one of Young's greatest ever songs. The rest isn't bad either.

From Tamthebam 02/12/2015 07:58

After 6 rather disappointing studio albums in the 80's he left Geffen records and returned to Reprise and a great return to form with this album. Great album there are elements of rock, folk, country everything Neil Young is good at.

Rather average. Nothing clicks on me.

Junodog sums it up very well. Another great Neil album, arguably amongst the 10 best of his career to date.