Favorite Neil Young albums

[Seijuro]

So I've started to learn guitar a few weeks back, and in the online course on JustinGuitar the Neil Young song Cortez the Killer from the Zuma album got suggested for song practice.
I listened to the song and damn, that's good stuff. Really great, and makes me wonder how I am seemingly completely unfamiliar with Neil Young's work.

So what are your recommendations for Neil Young albums? Is Zuma a good starting point?

 

[Sasliquid]

After The Gold Rush

 

[je ne sais quoi]

Zuma is a really good album, but it's a bit of a mishmash in styles, not congealing quite as well as earlier crazy horse records. Really the guy did very little that wasn't excellent from the beginning with buffalo springfield (imo he had all the best songs) through rust never sleeps. so that's a decade-plus of bangers. reactor isn't great, hawks and doves is corny, american stars and bars is uneven but has like a hurricane on it... other than those it's all total gold, really. just start with everybody knows this is nowhere, maybe check outthe oddball psych folk first/self-titled record. and then go chronologically.

edit- actually, the decade comp is still the best intro for any neilophyte

 

[Mona]

After The Gold Rush

Click to shrink...

yep

 

[yogurt]

Seconding After the Gold Rush

 

[Davey Cakes]

I really like On the Beach. Also, if you're into something a bit different, Trans is a really cool album where he uses a vocoder.

 

[Silvergun-Blue]

Posting this, just 'cos I really like it.

NEIL YOUNG - OLD MAN

Sing-A-LongOld man look at my life,I'm a lot like you were.Old man look at my life,I'm a lot like you were.Old man look at my life,Twenty fourand there's so ...

www.youtube.com

 

[treble]

I've always been partial to Harvest. Love the sound of the recording on vinyl. The live Crazy Horse stuff is great too, you can see what an influence he had on grunge.

Highly recommend live at Massey Hall as well, just him and an acoustic before Harvest was released.

 

[Mariachi507]

Zuma is towards the end of his classic run began with Everybody Knows This is Nowhere. Honestly, start there and go through to Rust Never Sleeps. You can't count Neil out of any decade though, that man is a legend through and through.

My favorite stretch of his work is The Ditch Trilogy which encompasses Time Fades Away, Tonight's the Night, and On the Beach. That's also the order they were recorded and how I recommend listening to them (release order is different because he got dicked around by the record company. There's even unreleased albums from around that time that are worth listening to.

He's one of the greatest ever, from his folky side to his blistering distortion side.

 

[Jokerman]

Definitely like On The Beach the most of all of his records. I love the way him and his band were doped up on honey slides for the whole recording process.

Honey Slides

Honey Slides

thrasherswheat.org

 

[deadbass]

After the Gold Rush
On the Beach
Tonight's the Night
Time Fades Away
Zuma
Harvest
Comes a Time
Harvest Moon
Silver & Gold
Hitchhiker
Homegrown

(this isn't in any order really, just what comes to mind in terms of top tier solo Neil Young albums)

 

[Bedlam]

Zuma and On The Beach for me.

 

[JohnsonUT]

Harvest
Harvest Moon

Came out 30 years apart and are both great.

 

[Kyuuji]

After The Gold Rush

Click to shrink...

☝️

Harvest is brilliant though.

 

[Vert boil]

Psychedelic Pill is my personal favourite.

 

[Yossarian]

Just leaving this here:




But I'm - perhaps controversially? - all about Arc:

Arc (Live)

Provided to YouTube by RepriseArc (Live) · Neil YoungArc℗ 1991 Reprise RecordsBass Guitar: Billy TalbotBackground Vocals: Billy TalbotGuitar: Frank "Poncho...

m.youtube.com

 

[hiredhand]

After The Gold Rush

Click to shrink...

Highly recommend live at Massey Hall as well, just him and an acoustic before Harvest was released.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, these.

Of the more recent albums, Le Noise and Psychedelic Pill are the best.

 

[Random Painted Highway]

Is there a better driving at night by yourself song than everyone knows this is nowhere? Makes me feel like a trucker.

 

[Like the hat?]

After The Gold Rush

Click to shrink...

Album perfection

i also really love Silver and Gold. Fun fact about that album is the cover picture was taken on a gameboy camera.

 

[Stencil]

On the Beach is my personal fav.

American Stars n' Bars is really good, too. Good southern rock.

Hard to beat Harvest or After the Gold Rush overall tho.

 

[Astro Cat]

Glad to see so much love for On the Beach. Amazing album.

 

[AdmiralAdmiral]

Gonna have to say Harvest.

 

[Fnnrqwin]

Neil's probably the most important artist for me. Don't sleep on his later stuff.

Are You Passionate is incredible.

But anybody just getting into his work should either check out Harvest or Decade (a compilation but it's really well currated).