On The Beach
by Neil Young

Arguably his best album. Sure, there are no hit singles, but that's the beauty of Neil young. For those who have only listened to harvest or after the gold rush, give this a listen.

From Flay 02/23/2017 13:00 | #186204 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

This one keeps growing on me. It's rising up the ranks of my favourite Neil Young albums having already surpassed Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, Rust Never Sleeps and Harvest, and it's hot on the heels of After The Gold Rush, which is one of my favourite albums of all time. I really appreciate the bareness of the sound, which, when coupled with the sometimes disillusioned and cynical lyrics, makes this a very emotive album. To me Ambulance Blues is the stand out song (I'll throw in another Desolation Row comparison as well), but other favourites are Revolution Blues, See The Sky About to Rain, For The Turnstiles and On The Beach. I've now listed over half the album, but there really are no weak songs.

From Tamthebam TOP 100 COMMENTER 06/27/2018 13:58 | #217377 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

A great Neil Young album 2nd only to Gold Rush I.M.O. Ambulance Blues, Vampire Blues, Walk On, See the Sky About To Rain are amazing tracks but the title track On The Beach is the best track here. The only slightly low point is For The Turnstiles but this album should be rated much Higher than Harvest or Rust.

Compared with the preceding Neil Young album "Harvest", "On the Beach" marks a pretty significant style in change. Where "Harvest" was generally a very melodic and catchy album, with strong roots in country music, the songwriting here is very much "Down to Earth", leaning strongly on the blues, and at times quite similar to the style of Bob Dylan.

One song sticks pretty much out from the rest; the beautiful "See the Sky about to Rain", which is a lot in the style of "Harvest" and also a personal favorite of mine.

Another very memorable track is the closing song "Ambulance Blues" which sounds like a song that Lou Reed could have written.Other favorites are "Walk On" and the acoustic "For the Turnstiles"

All songs are worthwhile, of course, and the album is another good example that you'll never know which way Neil Young will go next. Lyrically the songs are often dark and disillutioned.

Among the musicians you will find prominent names as David Crosby, Graham Nash and Rick Danko and Levon Helm from the Band.

Neil Young's best record in my opinion. Part of his acclaimed, informally-coined 'Ditch Trilogy' (along with 1973's live album 'Time Fades Away' and 1975's 'Tonight's the Night'), this album finds Neil Young colored by pessimism and melancholy, which, as often does in art, makes for more compelling songwriting. Ranging from ambivalent ('Walk On', 'On The Beach', 'Ambulance Blues') to defiant ('Vampire Blues', Revolution Blues'), Young sings and strums his way through what's essentially a stoned blues rock album (with folky overtones here and there for good measure).

In my opinion, one of the greatest albums of all time. This record has gone from being an overlooked gem from its release to now being held in high esteem as one of his (if not the) best.

Essential picks: On The Beach, Ambulance Blues, Walk On, Revolution Blues