Americana (Neil Young & Crazy Horse album)

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Americana
Americana (Neil Young & Crazy Horse album).jpg
Studio album by Neil Young & Crazy Horse
Released June 5, 2012
Genre Rock, hard rock, folk rock, Americana
Length 56:50
Label Reprise
Producer Neil Young, John Hanlon, Mark Humphreys
Neil Young chronology
A Treasure
(2011)A Treasure2011		 Americana
(2012)		 Psychedelic Pill
(2012)Psychedelic Pill2012
Crazy Horse chronology
Live at the Fillmore East
(2006)		 Americana
(2012)		 Psychedelic Pill
(2012)[1]

Americana is the thirty-second studio album by Canadian musician Neil Young, released on June 5, 2012.[2] The album was Young's first collaboration with backing band Crazy Horse since their 2003 album, Greendale, and its associated tour.[3]

Background

American Songwriter quoted Young as having said the following regarding the tone and intent of the album:

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Every one of these songs [on Americana] has verses that have been ignored. And those are the key verses, those are the things that make these songs live. They’re a little heavy for kindergarteners to be singing. The originals are much darker, there’s more protest in them — the other verses in "This Land Is Your Land" are very timely, or in "Clementine," the verses are so dark. Almost every one has to do with people getting killed, with life-or-death struggles. You don’t hear much about that; they’ve been made into something much more light. So I moved them away from that gentler interpretation. With new melodies and arrangements, we could use the folk process to invoke the original meanings for this generation."[4]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic 2/5 stars[5]
Robert Christgau A[6]
Entertainment Weekly A–[7]
The Guardian 3/5 stars[8]
NME 5/10[9]
The Observer 5/5 stars[10]
Pitchfork Media 6.1/10[11]
Rolling Stone 3.5/5 stars[12]
Slant Magazine 2/5 stars[13]
Spin 7/10[14]

Americana received generally positive reviews from music critics. It holds an average score of 68 out of 100 at Metacritic, based on 31 reviews.[15] Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune gave the album three-and-a-half out of four stars, writing that "Americana reveals the hard truth inside songs that have been taken for granted."[16] Dan Forte, in Vintage Guitar, said "this may be his best since Rust [Never Sleeps]."[17]

In a mixed review, Michael Hann of The Guardian found the album "impossibly pointless" and felt that some songs exhibit "sloppiness" and "unnecessary lengths".[8]

Robert Christgau named Americana the best album of 2012 in his year-end list for The Barnes & Noble Review.[18]

Track listing

No. Title Length
1. "Oh Susannah" (Stephen Collins Foster; Arrangement: Tim Rose) 5:03
2. "Clementine" (Traditional; Arrangement: Young) 5:42
3. "Tom Dula" (Traditional; Arrangement: Young) 8:13
4. "Gallows Pole" (Traditional; Arrangement: Odetta Felious Gordon) 4:15
5. "Get a Job" (Richard Lows, Earl Beal, Raymond Edwards, William Horton) 3:01
6. "Travel On" (Traditional; Arrangement: Paul Clayton, Larry Ehrlich, David Lazar, Tom Six) 6:47
7. "High Flyin' Bird" (Billy Edd Wheeler) 5:30
8. "Jesus' Chariot (She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain)" (Traditional; Arrangement: Young) 5:38
9. "This Land Is Your Land" (Woody Guthrie) 5:26
10. "Wayfarin’ Stranger" (Traditional; Arrangement: Burl Ives) 3:07
11. "God Save the Queen" (Thomas Augustine Arne; Medley Arrangement: Young) 4:08

Personnel

Additional personnel

  • Dan Greco – orchestral cymbals, tambourine
  • Americana Choir – vocals
  • Pegi Young – vocals on "This Land is Your Land"
  • Stephen Stills – vocals on "This Land is Your Land"

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2012) Peak
position
Canadian Albums Chart[19] 2
U.S. Billboard 200 4
U.S. Billboard Top Rock Albums 1

Year-end charts

Chart (2012) Position
Canadian Albums Chart 42[20]
US Billboard 200 182[20]
US Rock Albums Chart 52[20]

References

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External links

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