Neil Young Vinyl Records – Harvest, After the Gold Rush & Essential Albums on Vinyl

Neil Young is one of the essential songwriters of the rock era. Born in Toronto in 1945, he moved to Los Angeles in the mid-60s, co-founded Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, and then — from 1969 onwards — embarked on one of the most sustained and eccentric solo careers in American music. More than fifty albums, moves between acoustic folk and maximalist electric guitar, experiments with computers, rockabilly, synth-pop and country, and a complete unwillingness to stand still.

The early run — Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (1969), After the Gold Rush (1970), Harvest (1972), Tonight's the Night (1975), On the Beach (1974), Zuma (1975), Rust Never Sleeps (1979) — is as consistent a stretch as any songwriter has produced. Young on vinyl is a defining format experience: he has a public obsession with analogue sound, championed the Pono player, and mastered his catalogue with extraordinary care. The original Reprise pressings and the Neil Young Archives Performance Series are all superb.

Best Neil Young Albums on Vinyl

After the Gold Rush (1970)
His masterpiece. Tell Me Why, After the Gold Rush, Only Love Can Break Your Heart, Southern Man, Don't Let It Bring You Down — a record of genuine emotional directness and some of Young's most perfect writing. Essential.

Harvest (1972)
His best-selling record. Heart of Gold, Old Man, The Needle and the Damage Done, A Man Needs a Maid — the country-inflected album that made him a genuine rock star, much to his own ambivalence. Beautifully recorded in Nashville.

On the Beach (1974)
The bleakest and arguably finest of the "Ditch Trilogy" (with Time Fades Away and Tonight's the Night). Walk On, See the Sky About to Rain, Revolution Blues, the title track — out of print for years, now rightly recognised as one of his greatest records.

Rust Never Sleeps (1979)
The Crazy Horse album that closed the 70s. My My, Hey Hey / Hey Hey, My My, Powderfinger, Thrasher — one acoustic side, one electric side. One of the finest Young-and-Crazy-Horse records.

Tonight's the Night (1975)
The "wake" for Danny Whitten and Bruce Berry, recorded in 1973 and held back for two years. Lookout Joe, Tired Eyes, the title track — ragged, loose, emotionally raw and utterly unforgettable. One of the great grief records.

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Browse Neil Young by genre:

Folk, Country & AmericanaRock