Originally recorded in 1977, just before the seminal Comes a Time, and left dutifully untampered for nearly four decades, Neil Young’s Friday release, Oceanside Countryside, provides an unfiltered glimpse into an era of music both long in the tooth and standing the test of time.
The album is the latest installment in a series once lost in the heart of the country, folk and rock scene of the 1970s. Although many of the songs were repackaged, altered and added on to future projects, this is the first time the album is being listened to as originally intended.
Young’s dual country and hippie personality comes through not only in a troubled musical schism, but rather through a group of songs varying in genre — folk, country and soft rock and roll — yet remaining cohesive as a larger work.
[Lady Gaga’s ‘Mayhem’ balances chaos in a thrilling return]
“Sail Away” is an authentic time capsule reminiscent of Harvest Moon. Undeniably nostalgic and stripped back in the acoustic, lonesome style of Young, the opening track makes clear what the album seeks to do. In contrast, “Captain Kennedy” is entirely folk, with an ancient, lamentful melody that’s instantly familiar and yet impossible to place.
The ballad amplifies Young’s storytelling ability through raw, high-pitched and unaltered vocals. It sounds almost desolate, as if Young himself performed and recorded it all alone.
He returns to the folk ballad style with “The Old Homestead,” albeit with a much darker tone than on “Captain Kennedy.” Ominous whistling in the background and Young’s low vocals matched by low chords drive a haunting melody.
The penultimate song, “It Might Have Been” is opened by an unapologetically country fiddle riff the melds together with a southern, Jimmy Buffet-esque slide guitar singing behind the instrumentals.
Some stylistic features could be attributed to the two different locations in which Young recorded the group of songs. Young recorded at studios in Nashville and Florida, and listeners can clearly hear distinct bits of each music scene. The music ranges from the twangy fiddle riffs of Tennessee to the smooth slide guitars of the Gulf.
On the closing track “Pocahontas,” Young sings sentimentally across centuries — “Marlon Brando, Pocahontas and me.” It’s this roving style of first-person storytelling over warbling acoustics that sets Young apart as such a distinct force.
The album is a cacophony of different styles while still remaining a mostly cohesive project with some duds, including the back to back “Field of Opportunity” and “Dance Dance Dance,” which grows derivative.
[Quen Blackwell brings decades of the internet to life at SEE’s spring lecture]
The album provides a worthwhile glimpse back into the 1970s at a time when Young’s lyrics feel more nostalgic and sorrowful than ever. His signature lyricism coupled with distinct, pleasant acoustic guitar, is a landmark in the music world and an authentic time capsule to bring listeners back.
