Neil Young - Living With War

  by Anthony Strutt

published: 18 / 5 / 2006

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Less than six months since his last album, Neil Young returns with an album of anti Bush, anti war numbers. While it didn't blow me away on first listening, it is an album of depth that improves with more listening especially when you turn up the volume. The opening track 'After the Garden' finds Neil on familiar territory, with guitars roaring from the amps, drums being hit hard, while his vocal is crystal clear and very loud. This is an anthem and the message is very anti war. 'Living With War' begins sounding like a gospel tune, before the loud guitars and drums kick in and become dominant. 'The Restless Consumer' has an old school Crazy Horse feel. Neil's vocal is backed by a choir and is matched with a hard rock based track. 'Shock and Awe'is another hard rock number. It runs at 1,000 miles an hour and is heads down rock, with its guitars at full blast. Neil's guitar sounds very sweet while it is assisted by trumpets that sound almost Mexican in taste. 'Families' is a grunge number, which again finds Neil backed by a choir and is a song about wanting to be back home instead of fighting for your country in a foreign land. 'Flags of Freedom' is a work song, a heads down rocker and a family based number. It again features the choir and has some cool harmonica. 'Let's Impeach the President' again has the choir and features Bush samples set against a hard beat. 'Looking for a Leader', is a crazy style rocker, with feedbacking-sounding dirty guitars feedbacking, while 'Roger and Out' is a massive-sounding number that is slow in its pace and with a soft harmony to it. It ends with 'America the Beautiful', which is another choir based number and sounds like Christmas. It is totally heartfelt, just like Neil and the rest of this fantastic album.

Track Listing:-

1 After The Garden
2 Living With War
3 The Restless Consumer
4 Shock And Awe
5 Families
6 Flags Of Freedom
7 Let's Impeach The President
8 Lookin' For A Leader
9 Roger And Out
10 America The Beautiful
11 Digital Booklet: Living with War

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