Are You Passionate?

Last updated
Are You Passionate?
Neil Young - Are You Passionate.jpg
Studio album by
Neil Young and Booker T. & the M.G.'s
ReleasedApril 9, 2002
RecordedFebruary 8, 2001 - December 5, 2001
Genre Rock, soul
Length65:46
Label Reprise
Producer
Neil Young and Booker T. & the M.G.'s chronology
Road Rock Vol. 1
(2000)		Are You Passionate?
(2002)		 Greendale
(2003)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic 54/100 [1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [2]
The Austin Chronicle Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [3]
E! Online B+ [4]
Neumu 3/10 [5]
Pitchfork 7.5/10 [6]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [7]

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 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. [8] 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.

Contents

Background and recording

Young had previously toured North America and Europe with Booker T. & the M.G.'s in 1993, after appearing with the group at Bob Dylan's The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration earlier that year. Young recorded Are You Passionate? with the group at The Site Recording Environment in Marin County during sessions in May 2001 and again in November and December 2001. Young had previously recorded several of the album's songs with longtime collaborators Crazy Horse between November 2000 and February 2001 at Toast studios in San Francisco. "Goin' Home" dates from these sessions. Young would later compile and release an album from these sessions in 2022, entitled Toast . Young explains the decision to change direction during the production of the album:

"Everything just kept evolving, and the songs came back and they were where they need to be to really happen. So it all just fell together as easily as you could imagine: I just let it go, I just let it happen. I knew what was making me feel good, and I knew that I wanted to play my guitar more like a saxophone this time. And I felt more like a horn player while I was playing my guitar." [9]

Songs

The album was written and recorded during a time of "serious problems" in Young's marriage; [10] the lyrics of "Mr. Disappointment", "Differently" and "Quit (Don't Say You Love Me)" in particular reflect a sense of relationship regret.

"Let's Roll" was written in response to the downing of United Airlines Flight 93 during the September 11 attacks. Young would tell Pulse: "It's just so poignant, and there's no more of a legendary, heroic act than what those people did – with no promise of martyrdom, no promise of any reward anywhere for this, other than just knowing that you did the right thing. And not even having a chance to think about it or plan it or do anything — just a gut reaction that was heroic and ultimately cost them all their lives. What more can you say? It was just so obvious that somebody had to write something or do something." [11] Young felt motivated to recognize the valor of the passengers despite the risk that the song would be perceived as trite:

"I said to myself, 'There's gonna be ten people that come out with songs called "Let’s Roll" next week — there'll be two country "Let's Rolls" and a rock and roll "Let's roll" and an R&B "Let's Roll." They'll be everywhere.' So I sat back and waited for six weeks or so, and nothing happened. And then Bush goes on TV and says, 'Let's roll,' and for me that was the last straw. I said, 'I just gotta do this. I don't care if it's the most obvious thing that ever happened." [12]

Critical reception

Are You Passionate? was met with "mixed or average" reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release received an average score of 54 based on 17 reviews. [1]

In a review for AllMusic, critic reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote: "Instead of sounding like a refreshing change of pace, it's a muddled, aimless affair from an artist who's had too many middling efforts over the last decade." [2] At The Austin Chronicle , Raoul Hernandez admitted the "songs are too long, too slow, and they all sound the same." [3] Billboard called it the "great next step in Young's career but also the best album he could have issued right now." [13]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Neil Young

Are You Passionate track listing
No.TitleLength
1."You're My Girl"4:43
2."Mr. Disappointment"5:24
3."Differently"6:03
4."Quit (Don't Say You Love Me)"6:03
5."Let's Roll"5:53
6."Are You Passionate?"5:11
7."Goin' Home"8:47
8."When I Hold You in My Arms"4:43
9."Be With You"3:34
10."Two Old Friends"6:15
11."She's a Healer"9:10

The track "Gateway of Love" is listed on the back cover, but not included on the album. The song wasn't released until 2022 on the Toast album, but was played in concert with Crazy Horse during 28 of 29 dates of their European tour in 2001. [14] An 8:36 minute performance of the song at Rotterdam Ahoy Sportpaleis, Rotterdam (July 24, 2001) is officially available to stream from the Neil Young Archives website.

Personnel

Except "Goin' Home" (Neil Young & Crazy Horse):

Charts

Chart performance for Are You Passionate?
Chart (2002)Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA) [15] 41
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [16] 14
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [17] 13
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [18] 46
Danish Albums (Hitlisten) [19] 18
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [20] 21
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) [21] 8
French Albums (SNEP) [22] 41
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [23] 11
Italian Albums (FIMI) [24] 20
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [25] 25
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) [26] 4
Scottish Albums (OCC) [27] 18
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [28] 4
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [29] 27
UK Albums (OCC) [30] 24
US Billboard 200 [31] 10

Related Research Articles

<i>Greendale</i> (album) 2003 studio album by Neil Young and Crazy Horse

Greendale is the 25th studio album by Neil Young. Young and Crazy Horse's Greendale is a 10-song musical novel set in a fictional California seaside town of the same name. Based on the saga of the Green family, Greendale combines numerous themes on corruption, observation of the passing of time, environmentalism and mass media consolidation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crazy Horse (band)</span> American rock band

Crazy Horse is an American rock band best known for their association with Neil Young. Beginning in 1969 and continuing to the present day, they have been co-credited on a number of Young's albums, with 15 studio albums and numerous live albums being billed as by Neil Young and Crazy Horse. They have also released six studio albums of their own, issued between 1971 and 2009.

<i>Weld</i> (album) 1991 live album by Neil Young and Crazy Horse

Weld is a live album by Neil Young and Crazy Horse released in 1991, comprising performances recorded on the tour to promote the Ragged Glory album. It was initially released as a limited edition three-disc set entitled Arc-Weld, with the Arc portion being a single disc consisting in its entirety of a sound collage of guitar noise and feedback. Arc has since been released separately.

<i>Sleeps with Angels</i> 1994 studio album by Neil Young & Crazy Horse

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. The album is Young's seventh with Crazy Horse. Co-produced by David Briggs, the album is Young's last with his long-time producer, who died the following year. The title track was written and recorded as a tribute to Kurt Cobain in wake of his suicide. Although the rest of the album was recorded before that event, the album takes on a somber, subdued tone throughout. Musician and author Ken Viola described the album as one of Young's "top five records. It examines the nature of dreams — both the light and dark side — and how they fuel reality in the nineties. Dreams are the only thing that we've got left to hang on to."

<i>Live Rust</i> 1979 live album by Neil Young and Crazy Horse

Live Rust is a live album by Neil Young and Crazy Horse, recorded during their fall 1978 Rust Never Sleeps tour.

<i>Silver & Gold</i> (Neil Young album) 2000 studio album by Neil Young

Silver & Gold is the 23rd studio album by Canadian/American musician Neil Young, released on April 25, 2000. Like the previous albums Comes a Time and Harvest Moon and the subsequent Prairie Wind, it largely features acoustic performances with a backing band of Nashville musicians with a long history of collaboration with Young.

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

Ragged Glory is the 18th studio album by Canadian 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 Magazine in 2019.

<i>Broken Arrow</i> (album) 1996 studio album by Neil Young with Crazy Horse

Broken Arrow is the 22nd studio album by Canadian-American musician Neil Young, and his 8th with Crazy Horse, released in 1996.

<i>This Notes for You</i> 1988 studio album by Neil Young & The Bluenotes

This Note's for You is the 16th studio album by Canadian musician Neil Young, released April 11, 1988 on Reprise. The album marked Young's return to the recently reactivated Reprise Records after a rocky tenure with Geffen Records.

<i>Homegrown</i> (Neil Young album) 2020 studio album by Neil Young

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 45 years. 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.

<i>Living with War</i> 2006 studio album by Neil Young

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 described 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.

<i>Americana</i> (Neil Young & Crazy Horse album) 2012 studio album by Neil Young and Crazy Horse

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.

<i>Psychedelic Pill</i> 2012 studio album by Neil Young and Crazy Horse

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.

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

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.

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

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.

<i>Way Down in the Rust Bucket</i> 2021 live album by Neil Young and Crazy Horse

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.

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

Barn is the 41st 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>Toast</i> (Neil Young & Crazy Horse album) Album by Neil Young & Crazy Horse

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.

<i>World Record</i> (Neil Young & Crazy Horse album) 2022 studio album by Neil Young and Crazy Horse

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".

<i>Year of the Horse</i> (album) 1997 live album by Neil Young & Crazy Horse

Year of the Horse is a live album by Neil Young and Crazy Horse, following the band on their 1996 tour. It accompanies the film of the same name, but has a different track listing from the film.

References

  1. 1 2 "Metacritic Review". Metacritic . Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  2. 1 2 Stephen Thomas Erlewine. "Are You Passionate? - Neil Young | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  3. 1 2 Hernandez, Raoul (July 5, 2002). "The Austin Chronicle Review". The Austin Chronicle . Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  4. ↑ "E! Online Review". E! Online . Archived from the original on December 27, 2002. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  5. ↑ DeGama, Ryan. "Neume Review". Neumu . Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  6. ↑ Mitchum, Rob (April 9, 2002). "Pitchfork Review". Pitchfork . Archived from the original on June 2, 2002. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  7. ↑ Kot, Greg (March 11, 2002). "Rolling Stone Review". Rolling Stone . Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  8. ↑ Durchholz, Daniel, and Gary Graff. 2012. Neil Young: Long May You Run: The Illustrated History. Minneapolis, Mn: Voyageur Press.
  9. ↑ Rapp, Allison. 2022. How Neil Young Focused on Real Life for "Are You Passionate?". Ultimate Classic Rock. April 9, 2022. https://ultimateclassicrock.com/neil-young-are-you-passionate/.
  10. ↑ Young, Neil. 2015. Special Deluxe. New York, New York: Plume, An Imprint Of Penguin Random House Llc.
  11. ↑ Rapp, Allison. 2022. How Neil Young Focused on Real Life for "Are You Passionate?". Ultimate Classic Rock. April 9, 2022. https://ultimateclassicrock.com/neil-young-are-you-passionate/.
  12. ↑ Durchholz, Daniel, and Gary Graff. 2012. Neil Young: Long May You Run: The Illustrated History. Minneapolis, Mn: Voyageur Press.
  13. ↑ "Billboard Review". Billboard . March 30, 2002. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  14. ↑ All known performances of the song Gateway of love on www.sugarmtn.org. Retrieved 2017-10-15. - the song hasn't been played after 2001.
  15. ↑ "Australiancharts.com – Neil Young – Are You Passionate?". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  16. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Neil Young – Are You Passionate?" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  17. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Neil Young – Are You Passionate?" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  18. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Neil Young – Are You Passionate?" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  19. ↑ "Danishcharts.dk – Neil Young – Are You Passionate?". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  20. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Neil Young – Are You Passionate?" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  21. ↑ "Neil Young: Are You Passionate?" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  22. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Neil Young – Are You Passionate?". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  23. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Neil Young – Are You Passionate?" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  24. ↑ "Italiancharts.com – Neil Young – Are You Passionate?". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  25. ↑ "Charts.nz – Neil Young – Are You Passionate?". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  26. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Neil Young – Are You Passionate?". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  27. ↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  28. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Neil Young – Are You Passionate?". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  29. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Neil Young – Are You Passionate?". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  30. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  31. ↑ "Neil Young Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
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.