Freedom (Neil Young album)

The album contains extremely eclectic material. Three songs (“Don't Cry”, “Eldorado” and “On Broadway”) were previously released on the Eldorado mini-album in . Two other songs (Crime in the City and Someday) were recorded in 1988 with The Bluenotes, a rhythm-and-blues- oriented band characteristic of Young's This Note's for You album . The musician himself explained this and explains the wide range of music on the album: “I knew that I wanted to make a real album that would express my feelings. I just wanted to make Neil Young's album as such. Wherever I was, without an image, without a picture, without a distinctive character - like the guy from The Bluenotes or the guy from Everybody's Rockin “. For the first time in many years, I wanted to record such an album. ” Although it was originally planned as a purely electric rock album (“nothing but abrasiveness from beginning to end”), Young subsequently noted that the final product “resembles listening to the radio - it constantly changes and moves from one thing to another” ^[1] .

Freedom contains the song “ Rockin 'in the Free World ”, which complements the album in acoustic and electric versions, a stylistic selection previously demonstrated on the Rust Never Sleeps longplay. An edited version of the electric version of the song was used in the final credits of Michael Moore ’s film " Fahrenheit 9/11 ", the song was reissued as a single during the film's rental.

Freedom was warmly received by music critics, especially against the backdrop of musician albums released in the 1980s. So, William Ralmann of AllMusic put the record four and a half stars out of five, noting that "This is an album that Young fans expected from the musician, but were afraid that he would never be able to record it." The reviewer also noted that “there were tracks that returned to Young's country -style acoustic albums” ^[2] . In turn, Robert Cristgau of The Village Voice newspaper gave the longplay its highest rating - “A”, stating that it contains both the combination of “ folk songs and rock repertoire that made the musician famous”, as well as the infamous Yangish “ Nashville and wind inserts. " The reviewer also noted that in the “album there are a bunch of good things dedicated to its central theme”, emphasizing that almost “not a single rocker, black or white, did more” ^[3] . Rolling Stone 's David Fricke rated the album five out of five stars. He called it "Young's sound for the next decade, looking back in anger and terrifying," noting that the disc is dedicated to the "illusion of freedom" and "the musician’s refusal to take it for granted." He summarized the review, calling the album “a stern reminder that everything has a price” ^[4] .

AllMusic reviewer Matthew Greenwald praised the album’s second track, “Crime in the City,” calling it “undoubtedly the central element of the record,” “cinematic in scale,” and “one of Neil Young’s most accomplished works.” ^[5] The album took the 996th place in Colin Larkin ’s almanac “All Time Top 1000 Albums” ^[6] .

Words and music of all songs all songs are written by Neil Young.