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Barn
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  • Record Label:
  • Release Date:
Barn Image
Metascore
75

Generally favorable reviews - based on 17 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
8.3

Universal acclaim- based on 6 Ratings

  • Artist(s): Neil Young
  • Summary: The latest full-length release for Neil Young & Crazy Horse was recorded in a replica of the barn (the original had collapsed) they recorded 2019's Colorado.
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Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 17
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 17
  3. Negative: 0 out of 17
  1. Classic Rock Magazine
    Dec 8, 2021
    90
    This is a very good album. There might be darkness outside, but the barn is lit up by the old men playing country and rock inside. [Jan 2022, p.82]
  2. Clash Music
    Dec 9, 2021
    80
    Overall ‘Barn’ is a solid Young and Crazy Horse album. The songs a layered with all that good stuff you want a Crazy Horse album to have. Crunching guitars. Laconic acoustic numbers. Mournful harmonicas. Catchy choruses and a sense of urgency. While this isn’t a classic Neil Young and Crazy Horse album it’s pretty close.
  3. AllMusic
    Dec 10, 2021
    80
    Happily, the loose performances more than suit these ragged compositions, turning Barn into a snapshot of this moment in time: a bunch of old friends in isolation, finding solace and comfort in the noise they can still make.
  4. Uncut
    Dec 7, 2021
    70
    Barn is a stronger effort than its predecessor [2019's Colorado], with this particular lineup finding its footing. [Jan 2022, p.20]
  5. PopMatters
    Dec 10, 2021
    70
    While not necessarily breaking new ground, Young’s latest set resonates as fervently composed and heartfeltly topical, and the band are as committed as ever to authentic and vigorous performance.
  6. Pitchfork
    Jan 3, 2022
    68
    On Barn, as on many recent predecessors, the tunes meander along the most obvious routes of the chords that underpin them, rarely going anywhere in particular, and almost never taking the sorts of audacious twists that might lodge them in your heart and mind. This doesn’t appear to be a case of Young losing his touch, but the result of a deliberate decision to prioritize immediacy over craft.
  7. musicOMH.com
    Dec 7, 2021
    60
    These are earthy songs to be played on the road, to be enjoyed around a roaring fire. These are new songs that sound well-worn and well-loved – much like Crazy Horse themselves. If not that surprising a listen, it’s nearly always an enjoyable one.

See all 17 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 4
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 4
  3. Negative: 0 out of 4
  1. asudoforga
    Dec 13, 2021
    10
    It seems that finally, Neil Young is back on his creative feet once more. You kinda got to hand it to him that this is his FOURTY-FIRST studioIt seems that finally, Neil Young is back on his creative feet once more. You kinda got to hand it to him that this is his FOURTY-FIRST studio album. The fact that he's still this good this late in the game is impressive as it is. The addition of Crazy Horse is also a very, very nice touch. Do not underestimate this man's music.… Expand
  2. Rej72380
    Dec 10, 2021
    10
    This new collaboration between Neil Young and Crazy Horse is perhaps the best I've
    heard all year along. The production quality is    This new collaboration between Neil Young and Crazy Horse is perhaps the best I've
    heard all year along. The production quality is impeccable, the instrumentals
    are on point and the vocals have full tonal color and vigor While not
    part of the equation of the review score, Barn does have a couple songs
    that have social commentaries of today's world.

    Barn is beyond a reasonable doubt one of the best albums of the year. I do
    recommend it to rock, country and western fans.    … Expand
  4. Florenzo
    Dec 12, 2021
    8
    Very enjoyable new music from the great chief of garage rock. Yes some of the lyrics could have done with some polishing, but NY doesn't doVery enjoyable new music from the great chief of garage rock. Yes some of the lyrics could have done with some polishing, but NY doesn't do things like that, feeling is the name of the game. 'Canerican' and 'Welcome Back' are standout tracks so far. And do yourself a favour get it on vinyl, listen to those Barn acoustics. Overall a worthy addition to an already peerless career.… Expand
  5. StevenX
    Dec 11, 2021
    4
    At the beginning of the 1997 soundtrack to the Jim Jarmusch-directed doc of Neil Young and Crazy Horse's tour in the previous year, YoungAt the beginning of the 1997 soundtrack to the Jim Jarmusch-directed doc of Neil Young and Crazy Horse's tour in the previous year, Young shouts, "It's the same song!" For the most part, BARN proves that. Young's voice is trembly as ever, his guitar playing is more verve than technique, the Horse is ragged as ever. What's missing is the energy, the power that usually accompanied the Young/Horse pairing. They are the same songs, slightly rearranged (in some cases, barely), and despite the much-ballyhooed arrival of Nils Lofgren in the rhythm-guitar slot, underwhelming. The only real surprise here is "Welcome Back", which sounds like a nice CSNY song with backing vocals stripped. Elsewhere, the occasional line, like when Neil refers to "the TV man", reminds you just how old the guy is, and reminds me of my great-grandfather talking back to "Sanford and Son" in the Seventies like he thought they could actually hear him. I know he wrote the famous line "it's better to burn out than to fade away", but everything since Young's "Le Noise" album has been a little of both. And for God's sake, learn a new harmonica line every few years, buddy. I know the faithful will give it a 10 every time the man passes gas, but this is one barn door that should have been kept closed.… Expand

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