- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
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Q MagazineGreendale is a bonkers, utterly headstrong conceit. Let's hope that Neil Young never stops having them. [Sep 2003, p.111]
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Entertainment WeeklyAbout 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]
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It all adds up to a very good record -- one that is interesting, and one that satisfies musically.
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MojoThe 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]
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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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Unlistenable, grade-A manure.
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A soothing, gentle rock'n'roll opus.
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BlenderQuirks and all, it's a consistently absorbing tale from a songwriter who's still pushing himself. [Sep 2003, p.132]
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UncutThe good news is Young has found himself a different kind of voice and some fresh inspiration. [Sep 2003, p.116]
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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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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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Greendale has a tattered, buzzing, demolike sound, rude as any Young has put out.
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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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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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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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This is classic underachieving at its peak.
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While some of it is bitterly brilliant, too many songs veer toward being overdone or naively optimistic.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 49 out of 57
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Mixed: 4 out of 57
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Negative: 4 out of 57
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Jan 2, 2012
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StephenSApr 26, 2006
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SeamusSDec 24, 2005