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Greendale

EMAILPRINTby Neil Young

Neil Young reviews
64
8.9 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 17 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 54 votes
Read user comments
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Album Info

Label: Warner Brothers

Release Date: 19 August 2003

Discs: 1 disc

Genre(s): Rock

Summary

Credited to Neil Young & Crazy Horse (expect electric rather than acoustic), this latest offering by the 57-year-old rocker is a 10-song concept album about the lives of the fictitious Green family.

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

90

PopMatters

Not only does Young accomplish his goal of creating a musical storyline that transcends the tedium and self-indulgence of your average concept album, but he's also crafted his finest set of songs since at least Freedom and Ragged Glory.

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80

Rolling Stone

Greendale has a tattered, buzzing, demolike sound, rude as any Young has put out.

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80

Q Magazine

Greendale is a bonkers, utterly headstrong conceit. Let's hope that Neil Young never stops having them. [Sep 2003, p.111]

80

All Music Guide

It all adds up to a very good record -- one that is interesting, and one that satisfies musically.

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70

Playlouder

A soothing, gentle rock'n'roll opus.

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70

Blender

Quirks and all, it's a consistently absorbing tale from a songwriter who's still pushing himself. [Sep 2003, p.132]

70

Uncut

The good news is Young has found himself a different kind of voice and some fresh inspiration. [Sep 2003, p.116]

70

The Onion (A.V. Club)

Songcraft occasionally gets sacrificed for the sake of narrative, and some tracks are easier to admire than enjoy, but by and large, Greendale still works as a Neil Young record.

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70

Village Voice

The problem with Greendale-the-CD is that too many songs rely on simple blues vamps that neither Young nor Crazy Horse manages to rave up into their trademark protogrunge.... But you keep listening because he's created real setting, plot, and character.

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67

E! Online

While some of it is bitterly brilliant, too many songs veer toward being overdone or naively optimistic.

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60

The Guardian

Instances of clarity and grace alternate with wodges of unfathomable nonsense that a good editor would have blue-pencilled from the first draft.

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50

Dot Music

We should laud Young for taking such risks at this stage of his career but 'Greendale' sounds like the sort of small town you spend your whole life running from. Or the place you go to retire.

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48

ShakingThrough.net

Young's nomadic narrative requires its own Cliffs Notes, and the lack of cohesion or focus (which Young pretty much cops to in the liner notes) give the record less heft than the irate rambling of your neighborhood curmudgeon.

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42

Entertainment Weekly

About the time an FBI agent shoots the heroine's cat, prior to a Hair-style love-in finale, you'll know you and Young have weathered his career low point together. [19 Sep 2003, p.86]

30

Mojo

The story feels thrown together in two seconds, and much of it is irredeemably hokey.... In the end, despite its kooky charms, Greendale is just one more lazy Neil Young album. [Sep 2003, p.96]

30

Launch.com

This is classic underachieving at its peak.

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20

Austin Chronicle

Unlistenable, grade-A manure.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this album is 8.9 (out of 10) based on 54 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Stephen S gave it a10:
A gut-wrenching emotional disc that grows on one as they listen to the story. The music is typical Neil garage rock (which is not a bad thing), but combined with the simple, dramatic narrative - the whole is much greater than the sum of it's parts. Outstanding!

Seamus S gave it a10:
So I'm a sucker for rock-operas....whatever. And this may not have been the best Neil Young album for me to start out on....again...whatever This album kicked my ass Brillaint

Jay G gave it an8:
His best since "Sleeps With Angels," not top-tier Young but definitely a good album nonetheless. Don't be fooled by the low '20' rating metacritic has for the Austin Chronicle, if you READ that brief review, you'll find that the reviewer hates the CD but LOVES the bonus DVD and actually likes the songs. From that same review: "The bonus DVD, on the other horseshoe...brings to life a sly satire for these Imperialist times, Young's tight-lipped rambling fleshing out the already charmed storybook CD booklet...If his offhand allusion in concert is given any credence, the Greendale DVD may be Young's best-realized song cycle since 1975's masterful Tonight's the Night."

John K gave it a10:
Hey, Mark T: It's SUPPOSED to be amateurish. If you went to a Neil Young concert expecting super-glossy corporate rock, you don't get Neil Young. You must have thought you were going to a Phil Collins concert. This album is magnificent, and live it's even better. However it's bound to have mixed reviews because it's so ambitious, and so many music reviewers are foaming at the mouth to rip into Neil for something. They can't be trusted. Listen to it a few times without thinking too hard and make up your own mind. By the way, Mark T, for a professional writer you sure don't avoid repetition or cliche.

Mark H gave it a 10:
An amazing album.. I sat in stunned silence as thing unwound like a weird, musical snake. Tales of doping and cop killing and a call to revolution....reaches deep down inside ....and grabs you

Tom E gave it a 10:
Both releases are worth the time to listen to and watch. Neil continues to do what he does best....play. But, unfortunately, most people don't understand that Neil wants you to feel his music, not just hear it. Greendale can be felt as much as it can be heard.

Mark T gave it a 2:
I just got back from the performance in LA. All those who gave the album such a high score must have been smoking the ganja that was wafting up to The Shrine rafters. As a professional writer, I can honestly say I have never witnessed a more amateurish production in my many years on this earth. Completely laughable and amateurish. I was with a large group of people and we were all stunned/mystified at how truly bad Greendale Live turned out to be. Maybe we needed the ganja.

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