- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
-
Just how bad can an LP produced by "Neil Young & Booker T. Jones with Duck Dunn and Poncho Sampedro" be? Not bad at all.
-
And even though Young laces plenty of signature guitar riffs throughout, Are You Passionate? is for those who appreciate his songwriting as much as if not more than the histrionic fireworks he creates with Crazy Horse.
-
Throughout, Young's guitarwork--in tone and style--is noticeably on the money, playing his fuzzy, single-note melodic lines with the deliberateness of a horn player.
-
What makes this Mr. Young-goes-to-Memphis excursion resonate is the trouble that lurks just outside its boundaries.
-
Sure, it's nowhere near his incredible run of the seventies, but it is probably his best album since 1992's Harvest Moon.
-
A quietly retro mix of guitars and organ-fueled songs, the music simmers rather than boils over.
-
BlenderYoung sounds fresher here than he has in nearly a decade. [Apr/May 2002, p.110]
-
Some of these songs about life, love, family, friends, and the world seem subtly laced with lyrics inspired by the terrorist attacks, which helps make Are You Passionate? seem not only like a great next step in Young's career but also the best album he could have issued right now.
-
Entertainment WeeklyHe hasn't been this off-the-wall in years. [12 Apr 2002, p.74]
User score distribution:
-
Positive: 9 out of 11
-
Mixed: 0 out of 11
-
Negative: 2 out of 11
-
IanB.Jul 17, 2009An album that is a real grower - the soulful side of the legend. This is a lost classic.
-
SteveM.Jul 16, 2002Back to his brilliant best.
-
JohnB.May 25, 2002A passionate new work from Young.