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Broken Arrow

 
Album Review: Broken Arrow
 

  • Artist: Neil Young with Crazy Horse
  • Rating: StarStarStar
  • Release Date: July 02, 1996
  • Total Time: 38:52
  • Type: Lyrics are included with the album
  • Genre: Rock

Review

In many ways, Broken Arrow follows the same path as Neil Young's other '90s albums with Crazy Horse. Broken Arrow floats on waves of lumbering guitars and cascading feedback, ebbing and flowing with winding solos and drifting melodies. In a typical display of artistic perversion, Young has front-loaded the album with three epics with a combined running time of just over 25 minutes. Following the three epic-length songs come four concise tunes that range from the country-rock stomp of "Changing Highways" to the reflective "Music Arcade." Like the three songs that preceded them, these songs are uneven, with hazy melodies and underdeveloped lyrics. Finally, a long, live workout of Jimmy Reed's "Baby, What You Want Me to Do" -- which sounds like it was taken from an audience recording -- is tacked onto the end of the album. Although the song is a standout, it raises the question: what is the purpose of Broken Arrow? The album floats from song to song, with the guitars drowning out the sound of Young's voice. There are some fine songs buried amid the long jams, but the album is directionless, and that lack of direction never manages to develop a consistent emotional tone. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track TitleComposersPerformersTime
Big Time Neil Young Neil Young & Crazy Horse (7:24)
Loose Change Neil Young Neil Young & Crazy Horse (9:10)
Slip Away Neil Young (8:36)
Changing Highways Neil Young Neil Young & Crazy Horse (2:20)
Scattered (Let's Think About Livin') Neil Young Neil Young & Crazy Horse (4:13)
This Town Neil Young Neil Young & Crazy Horse (2:59)
Music Arcade Neil Young Neil Young & Crazy Horse (3:59)
Baby, What You Want Me to Do Jimmy Reed Neil Young & Crazy Horse (8:08)

Credits

George Carlin (Cover Art), Crazy Horse (Performer), Neil Young (Guitar (Acoustic)), Neil Young (Harmonica), Neil Young (Piano), Neil Young (Guitar (Electric)), Neil Young (Vocals), Neil Young (Producer), Neil Young (Main Performer), Neil Young (Mixing), Greg Archilla (Engineer), Greg Archilla (Mixing), Gary Burden (Art Direction), Gary Burden (Design), Larry Cragg (Photography), Ralph Molina (Percussion), Ralph Molina (Drums), Ralph Molina (Vocals), Tim Mulligan (Engineer), Tim Mulligan (Digital Editing), Tim Mulligan (Mastering), Tim Mulligan (Live Sound Engineer), John Nowland (Digital Transfers), Elliot Roberts (Direction), Frank "Poncho" Sampedro (Guitar (Electric)), Frank "Poncho" Sampedro (Vocals), Billy Talbot (Bass), Billy Talbot (Trombone), Billy Talbot (Tambourine), Billy Talbot (Vocals), Neil Young & Crazy Horse (Main Performer), Jenice Heo (Computer Design), Dann Davis (Design)
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Wikipedia: Broken Arrow (album)
Top
Broken Arrow
Broken Arrow cover
Studio album by Neil Young & Crazy Horse
Released July 2, 1996
Recorded March 21, 1996 - April 17, 1996 at Plywood Digital, Woodside, CA (except "Baby What You Want Me To Do": Old Princeton Landing, Princeton-By-The-Sea, CA)
Genre Rock
Length 47:02
Label Reprise
Producer Neil Young
Professional reviews
Neil Young & Crazy Horse chronology
Dead Man
(1996)
Broken Arrow
(1996)
Silver & Gold
(2000)

Broken Arrow is a 1996 album by Neil Young and Crazy Horse. The first three songs are in the form of long, structured jams, evoking the style of previous Crazy Horse collaborations Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, Zuma and Ragged Glory. The final track is a live take of a Jimmy Reed song that was recorded on a small audience microphone at a small "secret" gig in California, giving it a bootleg feel. A bonus track, "Interstate," was included on the vinyl record release of the album and the CD single of "Big Time", and is an outtake from the 1990 Ragged Glory sessions. This record would be the last studio album by Neil Young for four years, and the last in a long string of rock albums broken only by Harvest Moon.

Note that the song titled "Broken Arrow" by Buffalo Springfield of whom Neil Young was a member is not on this album.

Track listing

  1. "Big Time" – 7:24
  2. "Loose Change" – 9:10
  3. "Slip Away" – 8:36
  4. "Changing Highways" – 2:28
  5. "Scattered (Let's Think About Livin')" – 4:13
  6. "This Town" – 2:59
  7. "Music Arcade" – 3:59
  8. "Baby What You Want Me To Do" – 8:08
  9. "Interstate" (released on LP and "Big Time" CD single only, recorded May 17, 1990)

All songs written by Neil Young except "Baby What You Want Me To Do" written by Jimmy Reed

Personnel


 
 

 

Copyrights:

Album Review. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Broken Arrow (album)" Read more

 

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