Neil Young : Fork In The Road :: Review
Neil Young has become quite vocal in recent years starting with his political commentary on the 9/11 attacks (Let’s Roll), his views on ecology (Greendale) and more recently disparaging the Iraq War and President Bush (Living With War). “Fork In The Road” is Neil Young’s latest attempt at activism and is his showcase for an ode to a 1950’s Lincoln Continental hybrid eco-friendly vehicle, which is surprisingly not as musically misbegotten as you would think.
Urgent, instant, timely are words that could be used to describe a record that many would see as a possible beacon of the impending change of the automobile industry and America. Neil Young does reflect his hippie ideals on this record and it is also feasible to dismiss it as an old codger’s rant against modern technology that doesn’t serve much of a purpose. Neil’s treatment of Ipods (Fork In The Road) comes across as geezerish, considering we had to wait an eternity for a technology that’s suitable enough for his archival materials.
However when Neil writes about the green technology that he adores, the album seems to be embodied by an anxious teenager who can’t wait to tell you a story or sell you something. The songs come across that way too, all chunky guitar riffs and to the point. Only one song on this album is more than four minutes long. This album could be Neil Young’s road album because of its brevity, and more obviously most of the tracks have their parts exposed, “Fuel Line,” “Get Behind The Wheel,” “Off The Road,” “Hit The Road.” While Young’s approach is at times heavy-handed, I assume that’s the tactic you have to take for audiences who aren’t familiar with socially conscious rock.
Rating: 
