Review: Chrome Dreams II

After plaguing us for years with half-thought out albums, song sketches and general oddballness, Neil Young is doing more of the same with "Chrome Dreams II," the sequel to an album that never came out. Thing is, there's more good stuff than bad with this one. I particularly enjoyed the sloppy but reassuring "Spirit Road," and the extra long horns-with-one-note-guitar-solo manifesto "Ordinary People." Y'gotta love Neil, but he's so hit and miss these days. I suppose "Chrome Dreams II" is more of the same, but there's a little bit more hit than miss. I guess I'll take it.

I long for a resurgent streak from Neil a la Bob Dylan's last three albums. But maybe we already had it when he put out "Freedom," "Ragged Glory, "Harvest Moon," "Sleeps with Angels" and his Pearl Jam team up, "Mirror Ball." Even so, at least "Chrome Dreams II" isn't "Are You Passionate" or "Broken Arrow."

Duets I'd Like To See

This new album combining Led Zep's Robert Plant with bluegrass/country fiddler Alison Krauss has got me thinking....could we see more of these seemingly oddball pairings (a blues howler and an Appalachian yodeler taking on the Everly Brothers?!? It's one of their new tunes)? You can be certain that NPR hounds and roots-music aficionados would like the idea. It's the same M.O. that no doubt helped fuel the recent collaboration between Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris.

I don't have any SoundScan numbers, but I'm betting that these discs go deep within a profitable and extremely enthusiastic niche of listeners. So maybe some smart record-company executive figures he can hit about 100,000 fans or something and with that in mind, plans the budget accordingly.

With that in mind, here are some pairings I'd like to see in the near future (and for whole albums, not just one shots):

*John Hiatt and Bonnie Raitt (she covered his "Thing Called Love" to great acclaim and he provided backing vocals for another song of his that she covered, "No Business")

*Neil Young and Emmylou Harris (Think "Star of Bethlehem," a wonderful Young selection -made so by her backing vocals)

*Elvis Costello and Diana Krall (it's going to happen sooner or later)

*Steve Earle and Lucinda Williams (it'd be thick with Southern accents, but it's worked before; they've got a great duet on his album, "I Feel Alright" called "You're Still Standing There." Plus. they're great songwriters - who knows what might come out of such a collaboration?)

*Bob Dylan and Joan Osborne (OK, I'm just spitballing here, but she's covered some of his songs and Lord knows he could use some backing vocals now and again)

*Van Morrison and Maria McKee

*Gary Louris and Tift Merritt

Any other suggestions?

In The Pipeline

So, yeah, I broke down and ordered up the new Neil Young disc. Also the new Ryan Adams EP, and some old Springsteen I had never gotten around to buying: "Tunnel of Love," "Human Touch" and "Lucky Town."

I never really got into Springsteen's work post-"Born in the USA." That was the first Bruce album I bought, as a freshman in high school, and I was totally blown away by it. My next steps were "The River" and "Born To Run." When "Tunnel of Love" came out, it was such a sonic difference (I would not get into"Nebraska," which, along with "The Wild, The Innocent and the E Street Shuffle," is his top work, until college) that I simply didn't take to it. My loss. Hearing him do both "Brilliant Disguise" and "Tougher Than The Rest" in concert underscored the need for me to get the album. Plus, it's got "Spare Parts" on it. The other two discs? They have some lows, but also some songs I'd rather have as part of the collection than not.

"Why don't you just download them, idiot?" A reasonable question, but I still like having liner notes and a tangible piece of work at the ready, rather than a couple of downloaded files on a small square metal box. I'm crazy that way.

More on Neil and Ryan later.

Deliberations: Neil Young's New Disc?

So Neil Young has got a new album out, and I'm sort of on the fence about whether I ought to buy it or not. The thing with Neil is that it's either a slam-dunk work of genius or a middling affair with a few highlights. And I can't remember anything after 1994's "Sleeps With Angels" that really deserves the former description.

"Prairie Wind"? Ehhh. "Are You Passionate?" It's fun to hear him teaming up with Booker T and the MGs, but that's about it. "Living With War" and "Greendale"? Intriguing but shoddy. You have to enjoy any outing he has with the lovably sloppy Crazy Horse, but with the exception of a few singles here and there, I haven't heard an entire piece of work from him in years that I thought stood on the shoulders of such second-wind classics as "Freedom," "Ragged Glory" or "Harvest Moon."

The new disc, "Chrome Dreams II," supposedly has this massively long tune called "Ordinary People" that people say is a must-have. But you know what? I've been listening to "Down By The River," "Cowgirl in the Sand" and "Love And Only Love" for years. I've heard the Crazy Horse guitar jams...I bought that freaky live two-disc set, "Year of the Horse." I've helped this guy pay his mortgage and I want one more full-blown album classic before he lays the guitar down!

Who am I kidding? I'll buy the new disc sooner rather than later.