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Homegrown Image
Metascore
88

Universal acclaim - based on 21 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
7.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 30 Ratings

  • Summary: The previously unreleased album for the singer-songwriter was originally set to be released in 1975 before it was cancelled. It features contributions from Tim Drummond, Emmylou Harris, Levon Helm, Karl T Himmel, Ben Keith, and Robbie Robertson.
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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20 out of 21
  2. Negative: 0 out of 21
  1. 100
    Seven have never been released before, including heartfelt opener ‘Separate Ways’. Over Levon Helm’s solid but minimal drum line comes a chorus up there with Young’s best, as melodic as it is thoughtful, as pensive as it is powerful. ... The freewheeling ‘Vacancy’ is the last ‘new’ song here, an instant classic (if you can call 46 years trapped in the vaults ‘instant’).
  2. Jun 19, 2020
    92
    Homegrown establishes itself as its own rightful—perhaps even required—chapter in that legacy, yet another bold statement from one of the musical giants of the last half-century.
  3. Jun 18, 2020
    90
    The duration of the record is ultimately out of proportion to its considerable depth of feeling. These dozen tracks all boast impeccable audio, but the clarity of those sonics, the likes of which earmark all recent Neil Young recordings in recent years, is less significant as a commercial selling point than as a direct correlation to the purity of emotion within the music.
  4. Jun 16, 2020
    80
    The album turns out to be missing link in Young’s catalog as much for Shakey’s emotional life as it is for his stylistic choices.
  5. 80
    Homegrown is his most personal. Intended for release in 1975, Homegrown retains Harvest’s country-rock sound, but has more of an intimate feel.
  6. Jun 18, 2020
    80
    There’s a temptation with Young to concentrate on the big statement songs, but the joy of Homegrown is its lightness of touch.
  7. Jun 22, 2020
    60
    Separate Ways and Try are wounded but tender breakup songs, Kansas a gentle reflection on a one-night stand. An unremarkable band blues and an unlistenable finger-on-wineglass affair contribute little to an album that’s well-found but, like much of Young’s recent output, for the committed.

See all 21 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 8
  2. Negative: 0 out of 8
  1. Aug 29, 2020
    9
    Comfort music for the soul. Old-timey and timeless. A masterpiece out of the vault.
  2. Jun 21, 2020
    9
    Incredible album from Neil’s creative peak in the early/mid 70s. Definitely lives up to the hype and is worth the 45 year wait. With theIncredible album from Neil’s creative peak in the early/mid 70s. Definitely lives up to the hype and is worth the 45 year wait. With the exception of “Florida”, a pretty flawless album. Expand
  3. Jun 19, 2020
    9
    A bit underwhelming at times, but the guitar work on several tracks are vintage Young, and the tender and bluesy tracks near the end recallA bit underwhelming at times, but the guitar work on several tracks are vintage Young, and the tender and bluesy tracks near the end recall his best introspective moments on albums like Harvest and On the Beach. Not quite a revelation, but a welcomed resurrection. Expand
  4. Jun 25, 2020
    9
    It's Neil Young at his best. Great songs, easy listening and good vibrations. A great album
  5. Jun 24, 2020
    7
    Young was wise to release Tonight's the Night rather than Homegrown. While not the "lost masterpiece" of lore, Separate Ways and Try are quiteYoung was wise to release Tonight's the Night rather than Homegrown. While not the "lost masterpiece" of lore, Separate Ways and Try are quite good. While uneven, the album reminds listeners that Young wrote some very good songs back in his prime. Star of Bethlehem is a strong closer. Expand
  6. Sep 8, 2020
    7
    Someone did a great job on the album art see it and you can guess what your going to get.
    Its casual, simple and relaxed.
    A nice change to
    Someone did a great job on the album art see it and you can guess what your going to get.
    Its casual, simple and relaxed.
    A nice change to the 2020 standard
    Expand
  7. Aug 24, 2023
    5
    The latest new old Neil Young project (I keep waiting for that album he recorded when he was five) isn't bad, but it's obvious why Young (or,The latest new old Neil Young project (I keep waiting for that album he recorded when he was five) isn't bad, but it's obvious why Young (or, according to legend, his friends) chose "Tonight's The Night" over this one all those years ago. It's more scattered and tentative - in several spots it seems Young puts in extra chords just to try to challenge himself, perhaps trying to keep the proceedings from sounding too much like the songs on "Harvest", and he doesn't always rise to the challenge, as it sounds like the vocals are under-rehearsed and just hoping for the best. Those extra chords also keep it from being a good upfront country album, outlaw or otherwise. Of the familiar tunes, only "Love Is A Rose" sounds classic, while the title track is sprightly enough but pales in comparison to the anthemic overload of the "American Stars 'n Bars" version. The highlights here are "Kansas", where Young and his guitar go it alone, with only his crying harmonica to add (perfectly) to the proceedings, like a slow-motion shooting star in the night sky, and "Vacancy", a "Tonight's"-style barn-burner and the most realized and longest track of the bunch. They are needed after the stoned-poet spoken three minutes of "Florida". Timing is a major problem here - more than once, quick fade-outs suggest that these songs are more demos than anything else. Were the songs that short, really, or were they stoned jams that ran quickly awry and needed truncating to salvage the best parts? By the time Young sings the blues tune "We Don't Smoke It No More", you sure as hell don't believe him. A few of these would have made good extra tracks on a "Tonight's The Night" reissue; the rest were probably unreleased before now for all the right reasons. The set ends with "Star of Bethlehem", a nonsensical repeat from the "American Stars And Bars" album, to pad out what seems half-padded already. Who knew the title "Journey Through The Past" would be an apt subject line for the latest output from a guy who even recently blazed new trails with nearly every release? Expand

See all 8 User Reviews

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