Prairie Wind

User Review ：4.5

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Item Details

Genre

Rock & Pop

Catalogue Number

9362.49593

Number of Discs

Label

Reprise

Release Country

Europe

Format

Other

Import

Product Description

An artist for all musical seasons, Neil Young returns to autumnal harvest mode on Prairie Wind, with homespun material and sing-song melodies that renew the spirit of some of his most popular releases. Yet the mood here is darker in it's maturity than on Harvest and Harvest Moon-the previous releases in what now sounds like a trilogy-and the arrangements have greater range and aural depth, with Wayne Jackson of the soulful Memphis Horns, the Fisk University Jubilee Singers gospel choir, and a string section employed to striking effect. This is a song cycle of dreams, memories, family ties, and the passage of time-what is lost and what endures. The elliptical, epic 'No Wonder', with it's evocation of 9/11, ranks with the most ambitious songs of Young's career, while 'Falling Off the Face of the Earth', 'It's a Dream', and the bluesy title cut combine childlike innocence with unsettling experience. Spooner Oldham's church keyboards and co-producer Ben Keith's steel guitar reinforce the sound's sturdy simplicity. Young has released a lot of albums in different musical styles, but Prairie Wind feels like a homecoming, and ranks with his very best. Reprise. 2005.