Chrome Dreams (2023)
Neil Young
Neil Young deemed the tracks on Chrome Dreams unfit for release in the mid-’70s when they were recorded for an album of this name, but any Neil Young fan knows them all anyway, as they are available on various other albums, albeit presumably re-recorded to Young’s standards.
Young has an extensive program of archival releases of previously unreleased studio tracks and live shows recorded throughout his career and I suppose it’s manna from heaven for the Young completists who want to hear every recorded track ever, with false starts, outtakes, alternative mixes, whatever.
Bob Dylan has a similar expansive programme of bringing archival material to market.
I suppose there is something to be said for gaining new insight into an artist’s creative thoughts and processes and to hear stuff that just wasn’t deemed fit for release, or wouldn’t fit on a record, way back in the past. Sometimes, an unheard gem pops up and you marvel at the quality of output that would designate this track to the vault because it was deemed surplus to requirements.
This version of “Sedan Delivery,” the weakest tune on Rust Never Sleeps, is more deliberate and in keeping with the mid-‘70s Young sound, and it’s interesting to hear a different take on the song but I could’ve lived without it.
On the other hand, “Powderfinger” is one of my favourites off Rust Never Sleeps (along with “Thrasher”) and this introspective, acoustic, almost demo, version of a central rocker off Rust, is lovely but not as tough as “Thrasher” and not essential other than as an example of a song sketch that came to life with an electric band.
The other acoustic based tracks are also no more than pleasant listening.
My thoughts on Neil Young’s releases over the last couple of decades is that he’s just running on reputation and recording and releasing music because he has a need to write and record and his record company allows him to do so, and not because there is any truly creative spark left in him. He should be putting out music once every three or four years, not annually.
Chrome Dreams is redundant and is superfluous to requirements. The tracks aren’t radically or interestingly different to the hitherto “official” versions and it’s one of those albus one listens to once out of curiosity and then shelves for ever.
If Neil Young is making any money from this kind of releases, it’s just a cash grab. The product has been in vault for years and you don’t need to incur much material expenses, other than the pressing of records or compact discs, to get the product out to the market place.
