Fu##In' Up＜Clear Vinyl＞

50年以上一緒に活動してきたニール・ヤングとザ・クレイジー・ホースが彼らのアルバム『RAGGED GLORY』の収録曲を新たな歌詞とともに2023年、新たにレコーディングした作品がレコード・ストア限定のクリア・アナログで登場。

In 1990, Neil Young & Crazy Horse got the jump on the grunge movement with their brilliantly scrappy and distortion-coated release Ragged Glory. That record (along with their 1991 tour and live album counterpart Weld) celebrated feedback and volume, using overdriven guitars to deliver some of Youngs most spirited and straightforwardly melodic songwriting. FU##IN UP revisits the songs from Ragged Glory more than 30 years later, reframing them in a live setting thats somehow even more ragged, and just as glorious. The set was captured at an intimate venue in Toronto on November 4, 2023, during a private birthday party. The order of the songs is rearranged to run exactly as the track listing for Ragged Glory did, presenting each song with a new title taken from parts of the tunes lyrics. For instance, opening track "City Life," played later on in the concert, is a take on Ragged Glorys first song, "Country Home," much as the rocky push of "To Follow Ones Own Dream" breathes new life into "Days That Used to Be." "Farmer John," a cover song, retains its original title, and Ragged Glory finale "Mother Earth (Natural Anthem)" is absent from FU##IN UP. The performances are loose and carefree, with Young and his longtime collaborators (bassist Billy Talbot, drummer Ralph Molina, and both Micah Nelson and Nils Lofgren trading off on guitar and piano duties) sounding comfortable with the songs and each other, and unconcerned with the occasional stretched vocal register or flubbed note. The group stretches out a little more than on record, as well, as Young tries new tricks with his guitar tones and the band injects some exploration into the jammier sections of the tunes. FU##IN UP feels less like a nostalgic journey through the past and more like good friends learning new things by remembering shared times. Its rough-around-the-edges fun, with the warmth of familiarity and kinship that Neil Young & Crazy Horse have built by playing together for more than half a century. ~ TiVo Staff

『Before And After』に続いて早くも届いた新作は、昨年11月4日にトロントのクラブで行なわれたプライヴェート・パーティーに盟友クレイジー・ホースと出演した際のライヴ音源。もはやスタジオでもステージでも、新曲でも再演でも境目なく捉えるべき昨今のニールらしく、『Ragged Glory』(90年)からほぼ全曲を披露した今回も一種のリメイク作と言える。鮮烈な疾走感!
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