| Chrome Dreams | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | August 11, 2023 | |||
| Recorded | December 13, 1974 – February 6, 1977 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 50:28 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Neil Young chronology | ||||
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Chrome Dreams is the 44th album by Neil Young. It was first compiled as an acetate for consideration as an album for release in 1977. A copy of the acetate widely circulated as a bootleg in the decades prior to its release. The album was officially released on August 11, 2023 to universal acclaim from critics.
First compiled in spring 1977, Chrome Dreams is a showcase of songs that Young had recorded over the previous two years. It compiles songs from several different sessions with various collaborators and backing musicians. The earliest recording, "Star of Bethlehem", was recorded at the end of 1974 and intended to be the closing track of Homegrown , an abandoned album eventually released in 2020. "Sedan Delivery", recorded during the Zuma sessions, has a slower pace than the Rust Never Sleeps take and contains an additional verse. "Too Far Gone", "Homegrown", "Like a Hurricane", "Look Out for My Love" were all recorded at various sessions at Young's Broken Arrow Ranch with Crazy Horse during the fall and winter after the release of Zuma and before the supporting tour of Europe and Japan in the Spring of 1976. "Too Far Gone" was not released until 1989's Freedom . It is presented on Chrome Dreams with Crazy Horse's Frank "Poncho" Sampedro accompanying Young on a 1917 mandolin. "Stringman", a piano ballad, was (according to Shakey) written for Jack Nitzsche and is presented as a performance from Young's 1976 European tour with slight studio overdubs. Eighteen years later Young revived it for his Unplugged performance. "Powderfinger", "Pocahontas", and "Captain Kennedy" all date from the August 1976 session featured on the 2017 album Hitchhiker . "Pocahontas" is the same version heard on Rust Never Sleeps without overdubs. "Will to Love" has Young performing before a fireplace at his ranch. He later overdubbed additional instrumentation. The acoustic solo performance of "Hold Back the Tears" has additional lyrics not found on the band recording on American Stars 'n Bars . [1]
According to Jimmy McDonough's Shakey: Neil Young's Biography, Chrome Dreams was first compiled onto an acetate in 1977. [2] A copy of the acetate was subsequently copied and widely circulated by bootleggers in the 1990s. [3] The album takes its name from a sketch David Briggs made on a studio tape reel. Young said, "What Chrome Dreams really was, was a sketch that [David] Briggs drew of a grille and front of a '55 Chrysler, and if you turned it on its end, it was this beautiful chick...I called it Chrome Dreams." [2]
The 2023 official release of Chrome Dreams has artwork almost identical to the above description, but is credited to musician Ronnie Wood.
Writing in The Guardian , Alexis Petridis opined that the album "could have been Young's strongest album of the 70s". [4]
On October 23, 2007, Neil Young released a new album titled Chrome Dreams II . [5]
On June 30, 2023, Young announced that he would finally release Chrome Dreams on August 11. [6]
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 93/100 [7] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [8] |
| Clash | 8/10 [9] |
| Mojo |  [10] |
| Pitchfork | 8.5/10 [11] |
| Uncut | [12] |
Chrome Dreams received a score of 94 out of 100 on review aggregator Metacritic based on five critics' reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". [7] Glide Magazine's Doug Collette wrote that "listening to this single collection of so many tracks familiar from the Canadian rock icon's albums in the mid-to-late Seventies, it's hard not to agree with what might otherwise sound like hyperbole: this is one of, if not the finest effort of the great iconoclast's career". [13]
Pitchfork named the album "Best New Reissue", with Stephen Thomas Erlewine stating that "as familiar as the material may be, its ragged, magical charm is greater than the sum of its parts" and it "offers a distinctly different experience than any other Young album from the late 1970s". [11] Fred Thomas of AllMusic felt that "Young devotees are probably already aware of the legacy and niche cultural importance of Chrome Dreams and will appreciate the specifics of the listening experience, even if the songs have become less obscured since they were first put to tape". [8]
Rob Mitchum of Uncut described it as "a dozen of Young's best songs, powerful no matter how many times they've been reshuffled since. But in reality, it risks getting lost in the shotgun spray of Young's self-curation". [12]
| Chart (2023) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [14] | 14 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [15] | 26 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [16] | 25 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [17] | 33 |
| Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) [18] | 42 |
| French Albums (SNEP) [19] | 57 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [20] | 4 |
| Hungarian Physical Albums (MAHASZ) [21] | 14 |
| Italian Albums (FIMI) [22] | 96 |
| Portuguese Albums (AFP) [23] | 32 |
| Scottish Albums (OCC) [24] | 7 |
| Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE) [25] | 57 |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [26] | 60 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [27] | 4 |
| UK Albums (OCC) [28] | 56 |
| US Billboard 200 [29] | 186 |
Decade is a compilation album by Canadian–American musician Neil Young, originally released in 1977 as a triple album and later issued on two compact discs. It contains 35 of Young's songs recorded between 1966 and 1976, among them five tracks that had been unreleased up to that point. It peaked at No. 43 on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart, and was certified platinum by the RIAA in 1986.
Freedom is the 17th studio album by Canadian-American musician Neil Young, released on October 2, 1989. Freedom relaunched Young's career after a largely unsuccessful decade. After many arguments and a lawsuit, Young left Geffen Records in 1988 and returned to his original label, Reprise, with This Note's for You. Freedom brought about a new, critical and commercially successful album. It was released as an LP record, cassette tape, and CD.
American Stars 'n Bars is the eighth studio album by Canadian folk rock songwriter Neil Young, released on Reprise Records in 1977. Compiled from recording sessions scattered over a 29-month period, it includes "Like a Hurricane", one of Young's best-known songs. It peaked at #21 on the Billboard 200 and received a RIAA gold certification.
Comes a Time is the ninth studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young, released by Reprise Records in October 1978. Its songs are written as moralizing discourses on love's failures and recovering from worldly troubles. They are largely performed in a quiet folk and country mode, featuring backing harmonies sung by Nicolette Larson and additional accompaniment on some songs by Crazy Horse.
Rust Never Sleeps is the eleventh album by Canadian American singer-songwriter Neil Young and American band Crazy Horse. It was released on June 22, 1979, by Reprise Records and features both studio and live tracks. Most of the album was recorded live, then overdubbed in the studio, while others originated in the studio. Young used the phrase "rust never sleeps" as a concept for his tour with Crazy Horse to avoid artistic complacency and try more progressive, theatrical approaches to performing live.
Sleeps with Angels is the 20th studio album by Canadian musician Neil Young, released on August 16, 1994, on Reprise as a double LP and as a single CD. Co-produced by David Briggs, the album is Young's seventh with Crazy Horse.
Hawks & Doves is a studio album by Canadian musician Neil Young. It was released in October 1980.
Zuma, the seventh studio album by Canadian/American musician Neil Young, was released on Reprise Records in November 1975. Co-credited to Crazy Horse, it includes "Cortez the Killer", one of Young's best-known songs.
Are You Passionate? is the 24th studio album by Canadian / American musician Neil Young, his only album to feature Booker T. & the M.G.'s, and his eighth with Crazy Horse, released on April 9, 2002 as a double LP and as a single CD. It represents Young's foray into soul music, not sounding like anything he had previously released. Exceptions are rocker "Goin' Home", recorded with Crazy Horse, and the brooding "Let's Roll", a response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The album ends with "She's a Healer", an extended jam.
Life is an album by Canadian musician Neil Young and his American backing band Crazy Horse, and it is Young's last release on the Geffen label. As with their 1979 album Rust Never Sleeps, most of the songs were recorded live with later studio overdubs. The album was released on July 6, 1987.
Homegrown is the 40th studio album by Canadian-American Neil Young. It was released on June 19, 2020, by Reprise Records. The album consists of material recorded between June 1974 and January 1975. The album was recorded after the release of On the Beach and before the sessions for Zuma. Like those two albums, much of the material was inspired by Young's relationship with actress Carrie Snodgress, which was deteriorating in 1974. The album was compiled and prepared for release in 1975. Instead, Tonight's the Night was released in its place, and Homegrown remained unreleased for decades. It was finally set for release as part of Record Store Day 2020, amid Neil Young's ongoing Archives campaign. Its release was again delayed by Record Store Day's postponement due to the COVID-19 pandemic, before finally seeing release on June 19.
"Like a Hurricane" is a song written by Neil Young in 1975 and first released on the album American Stars 'n Bars in 1977.
Frank "Poncho" Sampedro is an American retired guitarist and member of the rock band Crazy Horse, known mainly for his longtime collaboration with singer-songwriter Neil Young. Sampedro has played and recorded with Young in many other configurations aside from Crazy Horse and earned co-writing credits on several Young songs. Out of all Young's musical collaborators, Sampedro has proven perhaps the most adept at working with the mercurial artist. "Most people turn a corner. Neil ricochets," says Sampedro.
Chrome Dreams II is the 28th studio album by Canadian-American musician Neil Young. The album was released on October 23, 2007 as a double LP and as a single CD. The album name references Chrome Dreams, a legendary Neil Young album from 1977 that had originally been scheduled for release but was shelved in favor of American Stars 'N Bars.
Psychedelic Pill is the 32nd studio album by Canadian / American musician Neil Young, released on October 30, 2012. It is the second collaboration between Young and Crazy Horse released in 2012 and their first original work together since the Greendale album and tour in 2003 and 2004. The album was streamed on Young's website on October 24, 2012, and leaked onto the Internet the same day.
Hitchhiker is the 37th studio album by Canadian / American singer-songwriter Neil Young, issued September 8, 2017 on Reprise Records. It is the ninth release in Young's ongoing archival release series and the first of the Special Release series.
Neil Young Archives Volume II: 1972–1976 is a 10-CD box set from American-Canadian folk rock musician Neil Young that was initially released in a limited deluxe box set on November 20, 2020. The release is the second box set in his Neil Young Archives series, following 2009's The Archives Vol. 1 1963–1972, and covers a three-and-a-half-year period from 1972–1976. The track list was officially announced on the Neil Young Archives site on September 20, 2020, with the first single, "Come Along and Say You Will", being posted to the site as the Song of the Day on October 14. The set then went up for pre-order on October 16, 2020, as an exclusive release to his online store, with only 3,000 copies being initially made available worldwide. After selling out the following day, Young announced several weeks later that a general retail version, as well as a second pressing of the deluxe box set, is expected to be released to market on March 5, 2021. This was followed by the release of a second single, "Homefires", on October 21, and a third, an alternate version of "Powderfinger", on November 3.
Way Down in the Rust Bucket is a live album and concert film from Canadian-American rock musician Neil Young and his band Crazy Horse, released on February 26, 2021. It is Volume 11.5 in the Performance Series of Neil Young Archives.
Toast is the 42nd album by Canadian-American singer-songwriter Neil Young and Crazy Horse. One of Young's several "lost" albums, it was recorded in 2000-2001 but shelved in favor of Are You Passionate?, and was finally released on July 8, 2022. It is Volume 09 of Neil Young Archives' Special Release Series.
Odeon Budokan is a live album by Canadian-American musician Neil Young, released on September 1st, 2023, on American record label Reprise Records.
