NEIL YOUNG Are You Passionate? VAPOR RECORDS Double LP set 180g ALL ANALOG AAA

$

77

NEIL YOUNG ARE YOU PASSIONATE? VAPOR RECORDS 9 48111-1 Double LP 180g AUDIOPHILE (All Analog)

Tracklist

A1 You're My Girl 4:43 A2 Mr. Disappointment 5:24 A3 Differently 6:03

B1 Quit (Don't Say You Love Me) 6:03 B2 Let's Roll 5:53 B3 Are You Passionate? 5:11

C1 Goin' Home Featuring – Crazy Horse 8:47 C2 When I Hold You In My Arms 4:43 C3 Be With You 3:34

D1 Two Old Friends 6:15 D2 She's A Healer 9:10

Notes

Catalog Number 9 48111-1 on jacket spine and labels. 

Includes color poster with lyrics on the other side, folded in half 

Deluxe Gatefold Jacket

*(all photos are of the actual item)

• Mastered by Chris Bellman. Pressed on 180 gram virgin vinyl
• Co-producer – Booker T. Jones (tracks: 1 to 6, 8 to 11), Donald "Duck" Dunn (tracks: 1 to 6, 8 to 11),Poncho Sampedro* (tracks: 1 to 6, 8 to 11)
• Mixed By – Tim Mulligan

Well, he's done it again. Throughout the last 30+ years, Neil's made a career out of zigging when people expect him to zag, and "Are You Passionate?" is no exception. Following a live album from the 2000 "Friends & Relatives" tour, an acoustic-folk album in "Silver & Gold," and spring 2001 studio sessions with Crazy Horse (for a project tentatively titled "Toast"), this one seems to have come out of nowhere. Some have said this album sounds like something out of his eccentric '80s catalog, where the bouncing around from genre to genre was the most pronounced. However, granted that some of those albums have their merits, this one is much stronger on all fronts. Backed by Stax house band Booker T. & The MG's for most of this album, Neil dives head-first into '60s soul, and you can hear echoes of the old Stax sound in several of the tracks here. The opener, "You're My Girl," is a classic example, referencing a handful of '60s classics but written from the perspective of a man who's grown up and now faces an increasingly empty nest at home. Neil has explained this during his 2002 concert tour with CSNY as a song he wrote for his daughter, Amber Jean (who also had a song written for her during the '84 International Harvester period), whom he used to drive to school every day and has always loved the motown sound. My favorite cuts on the album come next, in "Mr. Disappointment" and "Differently." You can see Neil gently swaying back and forth on a stool with "Old Black" in his hands as he weaves through both of these tunes, the lyrics of which continue the theme of the reflections of an older man on his storied past. "Don't Say You Love Me" is another slow-rolling smoothie, and the first of three tracks on this album that were debuted on the 2001 European tour with Crazy Horse. The second is "Goin' Home," which comes to us from the same portion of Neil's mind as the classics "Like a Hurricane" and "Cortez the Killer." This one was an instant classic when performed live, and it's unfortunate that the studio version (even with the Crazy Horse lineup) lacks a lot of the punch the live version had. This one feels like it was recorded at 8 am while the Horse was still waking up, but even then it's a great song. "When I Hold You In My Arms" sounds much more like the drifting ballad it was originally (anyone who saw Farm Aid last year on CMT got a preview of this). Lyrically it's representative of the new direct approach Neil's taken with his songwriting - you won't find anything as deep as some of the older albums, but that's not necessarily a bad thing: this new style fits the music well (can you see the lyrics to Ambulance Blues going along with an r&b/soul type of sound?). "Two Old Friends" has been another staple in the CSNY setlists of this year, stuck right in between "Long Time Gone" and "Woodstock" - that oughta tell you how confident Neil is about it, and I agree - it's another of my favorites from the album. "Let's Roll" works really well in a live concert setting, however I wonder what that will sound like several years down the road. "Ohio" has had a long life and still applies - let's all hope that "Let's Roll" won't. This song has caught a lot of flack from a lot of people - it seems you either love it or you hate it. While I'm not a fan of some of the George W. Bush style lyrics, I still think it's a decent song, just a little out of place on this album. Overall I think this album will go over well for fans of the Booker T. sound, as well as anyone who wants to hear Neil doing something different yet again. Far from the days of "Landing On Water" and "Everybody's Rockin'," Neil turns in a beauty here. (Fan review 2002)