| The Times | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| EP by | ||||
| Released | September 18, 2020 | |||
| Recorded | June 19–23, 2020 | |||
| Genre | Lo-fi music | |||
| Length | 26:46 | |||
| Language | English | |||
| Producer |
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| Neil Young chronology | ||||
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The Times is a live EP from Canadian-American folk rock musician Neil Young. Released on September 18, 2020, the album is made up of live recordings that Young did in his home for the Fireside Sessions series. [1]
The Fireside Sessions is a series of concerts that Young streamed online for fans to provide some solace during the COVID-19 pandemic. [2] This EP was made available only via Young's site and Amazon Music HD for maximum audio quality. [3]
Review aggregator Album of the Year characterizes critical consensus for The Times as a 73 out of 100 with three reviews. [4] Writing for NME , Leonie Cooper gave the album four out of five stars, citing its relevance to ongoing Black Lives Matter protests and in opposition to the Donald Trump 2020 presidential campaign using Young's music. [5] Vish Khanna of Exclaim! agrees that the music is timeless, which is why he finds it depressing, considering the political climate. His review gives The Times eight out of 10 for being "stark and haunting". [2] The editorial staff of JamBase named it a new album highlight. [6] Writing for AllMusic Guide, Stephen Thomas Erlewine, writing that the album is "designed to stir memories of past activism" and "it feels almost more nostalgic than modern", noting that "Young's voice quivers slightly and by supporting himself with just a guitar, he seems slightly fragile, a quality that gives these simple, straightforward covers a subtle new dimension." The editorial staff of the site gave it three out of five stars. [7] Writing for Pitchfork Media, Jesse Jarnow gave the EP a 6.9 out of 10, praising the "lo-fi but distinctly modern starkness that stands in contrast to Young’s longstanding fixation on sound quality and love of vintage (and expensive) analog gear" and Young's "commitment to righteousness" but noting that the protest songs, "neither hit particularly hard as music". [8] Rolling Stone included this release as one of the 18 picks for the month of September 2020. [9]
All songs written by Neil Young, except where noted.
| Chart (2020-21) | Peak |
|---|---|
| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [10] | 38 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [11] | 144 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [12] | 66 |
| French Albums (SNEP) [13] | 107 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [14] | 57 |
| Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ) [15] | 10 |
| Italian Albums (FIMI) [16] | 89 |
| Scottish Albums (OCC) [17] | 14 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [18] | 31 |
| UK Albums (OCC) [19] | 99 |
Greendale is the 25th studio album by Neil Young. Young and Crazy Horse's Greendale, a 10-song rock opera, is set in a fictional California seaside town. Based on the saga of the Green family, the musical "audio novel" has been compared to the literary classics of Thornton Wilder's Our Town and Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio for its complexity and emotional depth in exploring a small town in America.
Harvest Moon is the 19th studio album by Canadian musician Neil Young, released on November 2, 1992. Many of its backing musicians also appeared on Young's 1972 album Harvest.
Ragged Glory is the 18th 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 9, 1990.
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.
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.
Living With War is the 27th studio album by Canadian / American musician Neil Young, released on May 2, 2006. The album's lyrics, titles, and conceptual style are highly critical of the policies of the George W. Bush administration; the CTV website defined it as "a musical critique of U.S. President George W. Bush and his conduct of the war in Iraq". The record was written and recorded over nine days in March and April 2006.
Fork in the Road is the 29th 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.
Americana is the 31st studio album by Canadian / American musician Neil Young, released on June 5, 2012. The album was Young's first collaboration with backing band Crazy Horse since their 2003 album, Greendale, and its associated tour.
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.
Bloodsports is the sixth studio album by English alternative rock band Suede. It was released on 18 March 2013, via Warner Bros. Records. It is their first studio album since A New Morning in 2002.
Live from KCRW is the fourth live album by the Australian rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. It was released on 29 November 2013 on Bad Seed Ltd. The album features a live radio session recorded for KCRW on 18 April 2013 at Apogee Studio in Los Angeles, California, United States. The session, which featured a stripped-down line-up performing songs from the band's back catalogue and their most recent release, Push the Sky Away (2013), was recorded by Bob Clearmountain.
Storytone is the 34th studio album by Canadian 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.
Tracker is the eighth solo studio album by the British singer-songwriter and guitarist Mark Knopfler, released on 16 March 2015.
Peace Trail is the 36th 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.
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.
Free is the eighteenth studio album by American rock singer Iggy Pop, released by Caroline International and Loma Vista Recordings on September 6, 2019. It features contributions from Noveller and Leron Thomas, and the title track was released along with the album announcement. A music video for the album's second single, "James Bond", was released on August 14, 2019.
Colorado is the 39th 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.
Gaslighter is the eighth studio album by American country band The Chicks. It was released on July 17, 2020, by Columbia Records. Produced by Jack Antonoff and the Chicks, it is the group's first album in fourteen years, and first to be released under their new name The album was preceded by the release of three singles: "Gaslighter", "Julianna Calm Down", and "March March". The album received critical acclaim.
I Made a Place is a 2019 album by Bonnie "Prince" Billy, the stage name of American indie folk musician Will Oldham. It was released to positive critical reception.
World Record is the 43rd studio album by Canadian-American singer-songwriter Neil Young and his 15th with Crazy Horse, released on November 18, 2022, through Reprise Records. The album was produced by Young and Rick Rubin, and preceded by the lead single "Love Earth".
