Neil Young
Broken Arrow
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Neil Young
Broken Arrow
Reprise, 1996
RiYL: American Music Club, Buffalo Springfield, Pearl Jam |
Many of the characters populating this album are on journeys, looking for themselves. A broken arrow is a directionless arrow, and even Young himself seems to be wandering on this album. At times, he hits right on the money and, at others, completely misses the mark.
After releasing the majestic Harvest Moon, the brilliant Sleeps With Angels and the energizing Mirror Ball in succession, the question was "what could Young possibly do next?" On Broken Arrow, the artist himself seems to be struggling with the answer. On "Loose Change" he sings, "Too many distractions / Got to get back home / Get into something solid / Get out of the zone."
Like many of the songs' characters, Young is searching. But his search is an optimistic one. On the album's lumbering opener, "Big Time," Young sings, "I'm still living the dream we had / for me it's not over."
This album is by no means a Neil Young masterpiece. While "Big Time" meanders through interesting chord changes and trademark solos, other songs such as "Loose Change" and "Slip Away" drag on without gusto.
Musically, Broken Arrow sounds like a hybrid between Young's 1970 masterpiece After The Gold Rush and the crunchy Mirror Ball. Like Gold Rush, Young immerses the album in traditional folk and western song structures. But like Mirror Ball, the instrumentation is all electric guitars and pulsating rhythms.
"Changing Highways" sounds like garage-band honky-tonk with its guitar crunch and country/western-tinged melody. Likewise, "Scattered" brings to mind images of open plains and pioneers as a distorted guitar delivers an ancient-sounding riff.
Broken Arrow fails only because it doesn't quite live up to its predecessors. Mirror Ball was injected with a tight and powerful sound thanks to Pearl Jam's backing. And Gold Rush just simply featured better songs.
But the album is successful in its subtleties. "Let's think about life / let's think about living," Young suggests to the listener on "Scattered." For such simple ruminations, Broken Arrow's relaxed pace and simple songs work just fine.
PATRICK KASTNER | Affectionately known as Cousin Patty (yes, it's a "Throw Momma From The Train" reference), Patrick Kastner is a designer for the Columbus Post-Dispatch.