Neil Young : Le Noise :: Review
When there’s darkness in Neil Young’s life, it seems to refocus him and he unleashes a cathartic tour de force such as “Tonight’s the Night.” With the recent deaths of Young’s filmmaker friend, Larry Johnson and sideman Ben Keith, Neil Young has created another album, his 34th solo effort, “Le Noise” that is reflective of the turbulent times within his lifetime. On “Le Noise,” Young recruited producer Daniel Lanois (U2, Bob Dylan) in an effort to up the ante on the sonic quality that would effectively channel his emotions. Lanois’ gauzy production techniques are sometimes derided as dodgy because his love of reverb and echo effects can become heavy-handed or even pretentious (for examples see Lanois’ solo efforts) but on “Le Noise” he appears almost humbled by the presence of the old folkie who appears on this album with just his guitar and voice sans sidemen.
Young has called “Le Noise” folk-metal and that’s exactly what it sounds like as Lanois textures almost every track on the album with some heavily processed effect. The gnarly “Walk With Me” kicks the album off with a chugging guitar riff and a spectral vocal that seems to call out from the abyss of surrounding guitar feedback. “Sign of Love” deposits Young in deep outer space complete with a flanged vocal that sounds like he’s singing through a rotten cell phone with even lousier service. The jagged and brittle fuzz of “Someone’s Gonna Rescue You” finds Young on familiar territory lyrically but sonically it sounds like his Gibson has found a friend in the pod. The flamenco-inflected “Love and War” divides the album and offers the resolutely political Young an opportunity to reflect upon the current struggles in the Middle East and Afghanistan. That “Love and War” only relies on a slight delay effect and chorus adds to its directness; I’d assume there’s not much sonic meddling necessary when Young wants to get his message out.
“Love and War’s” counterpart, “Angry World” is its juxtaposition as it might be the most affected of the tracks on “Le Noise.” “Angry World” begins with a looped and distorted vocal that provides accompaniment throughout Young’s rant on the state of the ecology of the planet. “Hitchhiker” was rescued from Young’s “Harvest Moon” sessions and its stark, drug enhanced storyline is veiled in a hazy wall of churning distortion and delay that accentuate the continuing semi-biographical highway yarns that Young enjoys. The spare simplicity of “Peaceful Valley Boulevard” offsets “Hitchhiker” and finds Young in his natural element once again discussing the fate of the planet. Album closer, “Rumblin’” hijacks a treated Bo Diddley rhythm as Young disappears into the ether once again.
Rating: 
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Mighty Quinn
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FM
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Chuck
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Paul
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Isorski
