Harvest Moon

Rolling Stone (11/26/92, p.71) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...sounds like the calm after the storm, with a hushed musical landscape at times populated only by a ghostly harmonica, a few spooky bass lines and Young's cracked tenor...within these spare settings, Young's search for shelter from the storm resonates like a heartbeat..." Spin (12/92, p.89) - Highly Recommended - "...HARVEST MOON is all strummed acoustic chords, scenic choral overdubs, melodies cruising smooth as an air-conditioned limo on a two-lane blacktop. Underneath the tranquility and cosmic platitudes, there's a human highway..." Entertainment Weekly (11/13/92, p.78) - "...In both music and tone, HARVEST MOON is wistful and elegiac....it's the classic-rock equivalent of a late-period Sinatra saloon-song album....comfortable, reassuring, and proudly old wave..." - Rating: B+ Q (12/99, p.74) - Included in Q Magazine's "90 Best Albums Of The 1990s." Q (1/93, p.69) - Included in Q's list of the 50 Best Albums Of 1992. Q (12/92, p.141) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...he has surrounded his meditations in some of his simplest, most gorgeous melodies in years..." Musician (12/92, p.93) - "...this unadorned folk music exudes real weight....Young at his best..." Village Voice (3/2/93, p.5) - Ranked #17 in the Village Voice's list of the 40 Best Albums Of 1992. Audio Magazine (2/93, p.92) - Sound: B / Performance: A- - "...simple and subtle..." Vox (12/92, p.62) - 10 - Classic - "...Though essentially a warm, emotional album, it doesn't flinch from a realization that innocent idealism is no longer a viable commodity on mankind's futures market...HARVEST MOON may be the best work he's ever done..." (3/93, p.52) - "...HARVEST MOON has the same haunted sound as its predecessor....vintage Neil Young..." Mojo (Publisher) (11/01, p.151) - "...It's a more mature, contented record, with a good deal of gentle nostalgia..."

After 20 years, Neil Young finally decided to release the sequel to Harvest, his most commercially successful album. Harvest Moon is in some ways a better album, without the orchestral bombast that stifled some of the songs on the first album and boasting a more diverse overall selection of songs. Harvest Moon manages to be sentimental without being sappy, wistful without being nostalgic. The lovely "Unknown Legend," "From Hank to Hendrix," and the beautiful "Harvest Moon" are among Young's best songs. Only the overlong (11 minutes) and oversimplified "Natural Beauty" hurts a beautiful album that proudly displays scars, heartaches, and love. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine