11th CD (with picture anyway)

Everybody Knows This is Nowhere. Five stars.

Back in the early days of Buffalo Springfield, Neil Young met the Rockets, a psychedelic/folk hybrid that weren't really getting anywhere. He must have liked them, because after both bands had disintegrated, he got what was left of the Rockets, re-named them Crazy Horse and put them up as backing band for his second solo record.

So, out went the strings and the thoughtful little fragments that made up record 1, to be replaced with a more standard rock ensemble. Guitar (Danny Whitten), bass (Billy Talbot) and drums (Ralph Molina). The overall sound is still undeniably countryish.

Kicks off with Cinnamon Girl, immensely accessable, as handclaps always signify. Guitars manage to soar and be incredibly muddy at the same time. Straight ahead rock song, with an immediately fabulous riff that revolves through the whole thing and never wears out.

Everybody Knows This is Nowhere is pretty much an ode to the country and is the shortest tune. The two verses and chorus are sung in a rather rough harmony with Neil having entirely ditched his "thin" falsetto for the job. Guitars cover the song again, jangling in tandem.

Round and Round (It Won't Be Long) is a duet with Robin Lane, then on the folk circuit, since remembered on the New Wave circuit. Their voices compliment each other beautifully and the song itself is one of those wistful, melancholy numbers he does so very well. Six minutes of acoustic balladry and emotional metaphor.

Down by the River is, wonder of wonders, a Neil Young murder ballad. Well, not quite, since the lyric is purposefully obscure, only being meant to frame a sprawling, intense, grungy guitar workout. As a mood piece, it is fabulous. As a song, it's somewhat frustrating, as the lyric is so interesting and it never develops, and instead we get a mountain of morose guitar soloing. That being the intended purpose, it's excellent anyway.

The Losing End (When You're On) shouldn't be any good at all. It contains a rather unforgivably pedestrian line about tears falling like rain, along with some incredibly messy harmonies. Somehow it gets away with these technicalities and is quite an endearing country tune, when all is said and done.

Running Dry (Requiem for the Rockets) features Bobby Notkoff, another Rocket, on violin, making this the darkest track on the album. It smolders, like the soundtrack to the best western you'll never see.

Finally, it's the ten minute magnum opus. Cowgirl in the Sand. Starting quietly, it quickly shifts into an epic jam. A lyric is attached, and it makes a strategic moment of melodicism amidst the musical exhibition. It couldn't be more different from Down by the River, and it actually makes for a more enjoyable listen. It never becomes complacent, always shifting, and emotion never lets the guitars go for a second.

That's it. So I'm only two albums into this guy's catalogue, and I think I'm already a fan.