The Monsanto Years

Last updated

"The song started from... I was playing a lot of songs about anti-corporate songs and all these things, and somebody just, I got the message, people want to hear about love, that's what they want to hear. I'm going, 'Well, I don't give a, I don't care. I've sang about love already. "Only Love Can Break Your Heart". I sang about many aspects of love.' Just quite recently I did an album called Storytone that's all about love. That was only a couple albums ago. I'm going, 'Does this mean that I can only do 'that'? And I can't talk about things like the dangers of different things and incongruous things that are happening. Pollution, corruption, corporate government.' Those things, I think they're interesting." [7]

Recording

Recording for the album began January 2015. Young announced that he was recording an album with the band—including non-member Micah—at a converted movie theater Teatro in Oxnard, California, the site where Willie Nelson's Teatro album was recorded. [8] Young sent a CD to his collaborators with demos to allow them to learn some of the new songs before arriving to perform together on the new compositions. [3]

The recording was filmed by Don Hannah alongside live rehearsals in April 2015 for a film also entitled The Monsanto Years. [3]

Young debuted a music video for "Wolf Moon" on June 10, 2015. [9]

Reception

The Monsanto Years
Neil Young The Monsanto Years.jpg
Studio album by
Neil Young and Promise of the Real
ReleasedJune 29, 2015 (2015-06-29)
RecordedJanuary 27 – February 11, 2015
StudioTeatro Theater, Oxnard, California, United States
Genre Rock
Length50:54
Label Reprise
Producer
Neil Young chronology
Storytone
(2014)		The Monsanto Years
(2015)		 Bluenote Café
(2015)
Promise of the Real chronology
Wasted
(2012)		The Monsanto Years
(2015)		Something Real
(2016)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic 60/100 [10]
Review scores
SourceRating
The A.V. Club C [11]
The Guardian Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [12]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [13]
Stuff.co.nz Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [14]
Pitchfork 5.2/10 [15]

Critical

In a highly positive review, The Guardian's Jon Dennis gave the album five stars out of five. Praising the contributions of Promise of the Real, Dennis wrote: [The band] sound not unlike Crazy Horse, and supply all the big riffs, crashing major chords and harmonies that have characterised Young's best records for five decades." [12] Zach Schonfeld of The A.V. Club gave the album a "C" rating, opining that the concept of the album and its execution were "underproduced, underwritten, and not likely to take up more than a few months (if not weeks or days) of Young's promotional energies before he moves to the next thing" but with some highlights among the harder rock songs. [11] Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic.com gave the album 3.5 stars out of 5 claiming that: "Young uses his sturdy footing to lash out at what he perceives as destructive forces – to our dinner tables and social fabric – and if the individual message may wind up fading like yesterday's newspapers, the music will keep The Monsanto Years burning bright". [2] An Associated Press review of the album argued that Young's criticisms of corporate greed descend into preachiness, saying Young's anger is "so real that it could be tasted, but there is something discomfiting about Young positioning himself as an all-knowing seer, putting people down for wanting simpler, cheerier songs." [16]

Billboard solicited the opinions of corporations criticized on the album, including Monsanto, whose representative said: "Many of us at Monsanto have been and are fans of Neil Young. Unfortunately, for some of us, his current album may fail to reflect our strong beliefs in what we do every day to help make agriculture more sustainable. We recognize there is a lot of misinformation about who we are and what we do—and unfortunately several of those myths seem to be captured in these lyrics." [17] Notably all the corporations mentioned in album lyrics except for Chevron provided their responses for the request to comment on the album songs. Reacting to the "Big Box" track Walmart said: "As you might have seen recently, Walmart raised its lowest starting wage to $9 an hour. We’re proud of the opportunity we provide people to build a career and have a chance at a better life." Starbucks commented on "A Rock Star Bucks a Coffee Shop" track: "Starbucks has not taken a position on the issue of GMO [genetically modified organism] labeling. As a company with stores and a product presence in every state, we prefer a national solution." [18]

Commercial

The album debuted at No. 21 on the Billboard 200 albums chart on its first week of release, [19] selling around 18,000 copies in the United States in its first week. It also debuted at No. 4 on Billboard's Rock Albums chart. [20] and No. 2 on the Folk Albums chart. [21] As of June 2016, the album has sold 41,000 copies in the US. [22]

Monsanto

Criticism of the company led Monsanto to investigate Young and write an internal memo on his social media activity and music. [23]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."A New Day for Love"5:52
2."Wolf Moon"3:52
3."People Want to Hear About Love"6:19
4."Big Box"8:17
5."A Rock Star Bucks A Coffee Shop"5:00
6."Workin' Man"4:43
7."Rules of Change"4:39
8."Monsanto Years"7:46
9."If I Don't Know"4:26

Personnel

Technical personnel

Artwork

Charts

Chart (2015)Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA) [24] 23
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [25] 24
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [26] 32
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [27] 14
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) [28] 23
French Albums (SNEP) [29] 24
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [30] 13
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ) [31] 15
Italian Albums (FIMI) [32] 27
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) [33] 38
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE) [34] 40
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [35] 47
UK Albums (OCC) [36] 24
US Billboard 200 [37] 21
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard) [38] 4
US Folk Albums (Billboard) [39] 2
US Top Tastemaker Albums (Billboard) [40] 2

Related Research Articles

<i>Ragged Glory</i> 1990 studio album by Neil Young & Crazy Horse

Ragged Glory is the 20th studio album by Canadian-American singer-songwriter Neil Young, and his sixth album with the band Crazy Horse. It was released by Reprise Records on September 10, 1990. Ragged Glory was voted the 36th best grunge album of all time by Rolling Stone in 2019. A live recording of the album from November 2023 was released as Fuckin' Up in April 2024.

<i>Are You Passionate?</i> 2002 studio album by Neil Young and Booker T. & the M.G.s

Are You Passionate? is the 26th studio album by Canadian / American musician Neil Young, his only album to feature Booker T. & the M.G.'s, and his 9th with Crazy Horse, released on April 9, 2002 as a double LP and as a single CD. The album represents Young's foray into soul music, one of many explorations into different genres during his career. 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.

<i>Life</i> (Neil Young & Crazy Horse album) 1987 studio album with live recordings by Neil Young & Crazy Horse

Life is the 17th studio album by Canadian-American 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 June 30, 1987.

<i>The Cosmos Rocks</i> 2008 studio album by Queen Paul Rodgers

The Cosmos Rocks is the only studio album by Queen + Paul Rodgers, released on 15 September 2008. It contains 14 new tracks written by Brian May, Roger Taylor, and Paul Rodgers. This is the first studio album of new material from the two remaining members of Queen since 1995's Made in Heaven.

<i>Fork in the Road</i> 2009 studio album by Neil Young

Fork in the Road is the 31st studio album by Canadian / American musician Neil Young, released April 7, 2009, on Reprise Records. The album was released on vinyl on July 26, 2009.

<i>A Treasure</i> 2011 live album by Neil Young

A Treasure is a live album by Canadian / American musician Neil Young, released on June 14, 2011, featuring performances from his 1984–1985 U.S. tour with the International Harvesters. The album is volume nine in Young's Archives Performance Series and the sixth to be released.

Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, sometimes referred to as POTR, is an American country rock band formed in Los Angeles in 2008 by Lukas Nelson. The band consists of Lukas Nelson , Anthony LoGerfo, Corey McCormick, Logan Metz, and Tato Melgar (percussion). They have released eight studio albums. two live albums, numerous singles and extended plays (EP).

<i>Heroes</i> (Willie Nelson album) 2012 studio album by Willie Nelson

Heroes is the 60th studio album by American country music singer Willie Nelson, released by Legacy Recordings on May 15, 2012. Produced by Buddy Cannon, the album contains classic country songs, new songs written by Nelson and his son Lukas, and the classic song from Nelson's repertoire, "A Horse Called Music". Guest appearances include Lukas Nelson, Ray Price, Merle Haggard, Snoop Dogg, Kris Kristofferson, Jamey Johnson, Billy Joe Shaver, and Sheryl Crow.

<i>Storytone</i> 2014 studio album by Neil Young

Storytone is the 36th studio album by Canadian-American musician Neil Young, released on November 4, 2014 on Reprise Records. The album was released in two formats: a single disc, which features orchestral and big band arrangements of the songs, and a deluxe edition which includes stripped-back recordings of the songs. Young subsequently released a third version of the album, Mixed Pages of Storytone, merging elements of both, later in the year.

"A Rock Star Bucks a Coffee Shop" is a song recorded by Neil Young and Promise of the Real. It is a protest song aimed at the companies Starbucks and Monsanto. The piece comes from the concept album The Monsanto Years, which primarily criticizes the company Monsanto.

<i>Earth</i> (Neil Young and Promise of the Real album) 2016 live album by Neil Young & Promise of the Real

Earth is a live album by Neil Young and Promise of the Real, released on June 17, 2016 on Reprise Records. Recorded during the band's Rebel Content Tour in 2015, the album was produced by Young and John Hanlon and features live performances augmented by studio overdubs and additional nature and animal sounds.

<i>Peace Trail</i> (album) 2016 studio album by Neil Young

Peace Trail is the 38th studio album by Canadian / American singer-songwriter Neil Young, released on December 9, 2016, on Reprise Records. Co-produced by Young and John Hanlon, the album was recorded at record producer Rick Rubin's Shangri-La Studios.

<i>Hitchhiker</i> (album) 2017 studio album by Neil Young

Hitchhiker is the 39th 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.

<i>The Visitor</i> (Neil Young and Promise of the Real album) 2017 studio album by Neil Young and Promise of the Real

The Visitor is the 40th studio album by Canadian / American singer-songwriter Neil Young and his second studio album with American rock group Promise of the Real. The album was released on December 1, 2017, on Reprise Records. The album was preceded by the singles "Children of Destiny", which was released on July 4, 2017, and "Already Great", which was released on November 3, 2017 and is in response to President Donald Trump's campaign slogan of Make America Great Again.

<i>Paradox</i> (soundtrack) 2018 soundtrack album by Neil Young and Promise of the Real

Paradox is a soundtrack album by Neil Young and Promise of the Real released on March 23, 2018 on Shakey Pictures Inc. The album serves as the soundtrack to Daryl Hannah's 2018 film, Paradox, in which Young also stars. It is the third studio album recorded by Young and Promise of the Real.

<i>High as Hope</i> 2018 studio album by Florence and the Machine

High as Hope is the fourth studio album by English indie rock band Florence and the Machine. It was released on 29 June 2018, by Republic and Virgin EMI Records. It was preceded by the singles "Sky Full of Song" and "Hunger". "Patricia" was released as the third and final single on 10 August 2018.

<i>Tuscaloosa</i> (album) 2019 live album by Neil Young and the Stray Gators

Tuscaloosa is a live album by Canadian-American musician Neil Young, released on June 7, 2019, on American record label Reprise Records. It is Volume 04 in the Performance Series of Neil Young Archives.

<i>Colorado</i> (Neil Young album) 2019 studio album by Neil Young and Crazy Horse

Colorado is the 41st studio album by Canadian-American singer-songwriter Neil Young, released on October 25, 2019, by Reprise Records. The album was preceded by the singles "Milky Way" and "Rainbow of Colors" and is dedicated to Elliot Roberts, Young's manager since 1967, who died aged 76 on June 21, 2019. It was also the first album to feature Nils Lofgren as a member of Crazy Horse since 1971.

<i>Barn</i> (album) 2021 studio album by Neil Young and Crazy Horse

Barn is the 43rd studio album by Canadian-American singer-songwriter Neil Young and his 14th with American rock band Crazy Horse. The album was released on December 10, 2021, by Reprise Records. A stand-alone film of the same name directed by Young's wife Daryl Hannah was also released for streaming and on Blu-ray.

<i>Noise & Flowers</i> 2022 live album by Neil Young and Promise of the Real

Noise & Flowers is a live album by Neil Young and Promise of the Real. It was released through Reprise Records on August 5, 2022, and recorded during the band's 2019 European tour.

References

  1. ↑ "Neil Young + Promise of the Real - Wolf Moon (Official Video)". June 10, 2015 – via YouTube.
  2. 1 2 "The Monsanto Years – Neil Young, Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Greene, Andy (May 1, 2015). "Behind the Scenes of Neil Young's New Protest Album The Monsanto Years". Rolling Stone . Archived from the original on December 15, 2017. Retrieved September 16, 2017.
  4. ↑ Saccone, Teri (March 21, 2017). "Interview: Promise of the Real". Guitar.com . Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  5. ↑ Greene, Andy (June 16, 2015). "Monsanto Says That Neil Young's New LP Is Based on 'Myths.'". Rolling Stone . Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  6. ↑ Moon, Tom (June 21, 2015). "Review: Neil Young + Promise of the Real, 'The Monsanto Years'". NPR Music. NPR . Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  7. ↑ Maron, Marc (June 20, 2016). "WTF with Marc Maron: Episode 717 – Neil Young" (Podcast) (in Canadian English and American English).
  8. ↑ Greene, Andy (January 8, 2015). "Neil Young Recording New Album With Willie Nelson's Sons". Rolling Stone . Archived from the original on July 24, 2017. Retrieved September 16, 2017.
  9. ↑ Levine, Nick (June 10, 2015). "Neil Young Debuts New Song and Video 'Wolf Moon' – Watch". NME . IPC Media – Inspire (Time Inc.).
  10. ↑ "Reviews for The Monsanto Years by Neil Young". Metacritic. Retrieved July 19, 2015.
  11. 1 2 Schonfeld, Zach (June 16, 2015). "Neil Young Rants About Agriculture on The Monsanto Years". The A.V. Club .
  12. 1 2 Jon Dennis. "Neil Young + Promise of the Real: The Monsanto Years review – on angry, brilliant form | Music". The Guardian. Retrieved July 19, 2015.
  13. ↑ Dolan, Jon (June 16, 2015). "Neil Young and Promise of the Real The Monsanto Years Album Review". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on December 5, 2017. Retrieved July 19, 2015.
  14. ↑ "Neil Young takes no prisoners on new album The Monsanto Years". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved July 19, 2015.
  15. ↑ Berman, Stuart (June 30, 2015). "Neil Young: The Monsanto Years". Pitchfork . Retrieved October 29, 2019.
  16. ↑ Katz, Gregory (June 29, 2015). "Neil Young's 'The Monsanto Years' attacks corporate greed". The Denver Post . Associated Press. ISSN   1930-2193. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  17. ↑ Gensler, Andy (June 16, 2015). "Neil Young's Corporate Targets Respond to Him Calling Them Out on New Album". Billboard . Prometheus Global Media.
  18. ↑ "Neil Young's Corporate Targets Respond to Him Calling Them Out on New Album". Billboard. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
  19. ↑ "Billboard 200". Billboard. July 18, 2015.
  20. ↑ "Rock Albums". Billboard. July 18, 2015.
  21. ↑ "Folk Albums". Billboard. July 18, 2015.
  22. ↑ "Upcoming Releases". Hits Daily Double. HITS Digital Ventures. Archived from the original on June 2, 2016.
  23. ↑ Levin, Sam (August 8, 2019). "Revealed: How Monsanto's 'Intelligence Center' Targeted Journalists and Activists". The Guardian . Retrieved August 13, 2019.
  24. ↑ "Australiancharts.com – Neil Young %2B Promise of the Real – The Monsanto Years". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 3, 2024.
  25. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Neil Young %2B Promise of the Real – The Monsanto Years" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved February 4, 2017.
  26. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Neil Young %2B Promise of the Real – The Monsanto Years" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved February 4, 2017.
  27. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Neil Young %2B Promise of the Real – The Monsanto Years" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved February 4, 2017.
  28. ↑ "Neil Young + Promise of the Real: The Monsanto Years" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved February 4, 2017.
  29. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Neil Young %2B Promise of the Real – The Monsanto Years". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 3, 2024.
  30. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Neil Young + Promise of the Real – The Monsanto Years" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved February 4, 2017.
  31. ↑ "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2015. 27. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
  32. ↑ "Italiancharts.com – Neil Young %2B Promise of the Real – The Monsanto Years". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 4, 2017.
  33. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Neil Young %2B Promise of the Real – The Monsanto Years". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 3, 2024.
  34. ↑ "Spanishcharts.com – Neil Young %2B Promise of the Real – The Monsanto Years". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 3, 2024.
  35. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Neil Young %2B Promise of the Real – The Monsanto Years". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 4, 2017.
  36. ↑ 9, 2015/7502/ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 6, 2015.
  37. ↑ "Neil Young Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
  38. ↑ "Neil Young Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved July 14, 2024.
  39. ↑ "Neil Young Chart History (Top Americana/Folk Albums)". Billboard.
  40. ↑ "Neil Young Chart History (Top Tastemaker Albums)". Billboard.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.