Buy Now
- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
-
Jun 5, 2012There's plenty to like about Neil Young and Crazy Horse's first work together for nine years, a collection of cover versions of essential American tunes.
-
Jun 12, 2012In vivid contrast to the sanctimonious musicianly overkill of Springsteen's Pete Seeger tribute, Young's overkill leads with its middle finger by ignoring the catchiest tune of the 19th century, the traditional melody of "Oh Susannah."
-
Jun 6, 2012Americana is, finally, Neil Young's best and most complete record since 1994's Sleeps With Angels.
-
Jun 5, 2012There's an undeniable WTF factor in hearing these Cub Scout singalong ditties drowned in guitar feedback and off-key yelling. But that's the goofball charm.
-
Jun 7, 2012Even on the 66-year-old's 34th album, Young still has fire in his belly and fun in his fingers.
-
Jun 4, 2012Americana reveals the hard truth inside songs that have been taken for granted.
-
Jun 5, 2012It all winds up as an ungodly mess: Crazy Horse do, as Young asserted they would, make these songs their own, but by doing so, they've made them so nobody else would ever want them.
-
Jun 6, 2012While the sound of this is pretty uniform the quality is all over the place and very dependent on the song being covered.
-
Jun 6, 2012Given Ben Keith's death last year, it's the perfect merge: Young's rough-hewn organics and the raucous Crazy Horse.
-
Jun 5, 2012It is cursory, lumpen and dull.
-
Jun 1, 2012It's the dampest campfire hoedown you ever did hear.
-
Jun 1, 2012Neil Young and Crazy Horse, when they're at the top of their game like they are here, can make music of any origin rock.
-
Jun 7, 2012Going for immediate and real, Young ends up with a disc that resembles a tentative early demo for what could have been a decent (albeit strange) Crazy Horse album.
-
Jun 7, 2012In a world where many acts of a similar age rely on their past, eschewing their original passion and fire for heritage, tradition and tribute, it's comforting to know that Young can both usurp these elements and carry on ploughing his own furrow.
-
Jun 6, 2012While it's briefly thrilling to hear Young's bolshy take on Woody Guthrie's 'This Land Is Your Land', it's nowhere near Johnny Cash/Rick Rubin standards, or even a Bob Dylan Christmas album.
-
Jun 6, 2012Neil Young and Crazy Horse just never disappoint.
-
Jun 5, 2012Young reignites melodies and lyrics sadly frozen through years of rote recitation.
-
Jun 4, 2012In attempting to honor the sounds of the past, Young ends up turning them into toxic sludge.
-
Jun 4, 2012Though drab and overlong, it has a certain rugged, whiskery charm, which doesn't extend to the concluding "God Save the Queen", a stodge too far.
-
Jun 4, 2012It gives us songs more memorable for their grizzly narrations or the occasional doo-wop harmony than the steady performances of mostly standard-format jams.
-
Jun 1, 2012Americana in a nutshell: beloved songs from America's past, be they folk, blues or pop songs, such as the Silhouette's 1958 No 1 Get a Job, put through the mangle of Young's overdriven guitar and stretched to unnecessary lengths.
-
Jun 1, 2012Loose, loud, and fun.
-
Jun 1, 2012Americana doesn't so much amount to a caustic commentary on the modern-day American condition as capture a bunch of old pals trying to rediscover their chemistry by sloppily jamming on some standards.
-
Q MagazineOct 12, 2012The fun doesn't always translate to the listener. [Jul 2012, p.113]
-
The WireJul 24, 2012The album comes over as a political parable as much as an investigation into the spirit of place. [Jun 2012, p.56]
-
MojoJun 26, 2012While the power-soak guitar solos ard gung-ho buck of Crazy Horse are present and correct, it's curious that Americana packs songs that don't fit its brief. [Jul 2012, p.88]
-
Jun 20, 2012Americana brings these songs back to life, and reclaims America's musical history with them.
-
Jun 14, 2012The rest is solid if rarely spectacular, with the Crazy Horse rumble making a welcome return to Young's modern day repertoire.
-
Jun 14, 2012You have never heard these songs like they are presented here, and there's a chance you have never heard them better, either.
-
MagnetJun 13, 2012Young makes these old, old songs vital. [No.88 p. 51]
-
UncutJun 1, 2012It seems pretty much like business as usual. [Jul 2012, p.63]
User score distribution:
-
Positive: 6 out of 10
-
Mixed: 4 out of 10
-
Negative: 0 out of 10
-
Jun 24, 2012
-
Nov 5, 2012The more I listen to Americana, the more I realize how vital these traditional songs sound when Neil and the Horse start to groove off of each other.
-
Jul 12, 2012