Digital Soul Control

by John Tobler

As a Neil Young admirer of more than ten years standing, the release of a new LP by the man ought to be the signal for unrestrained joy, but perhaps the series of gigs at Wembley last autumn should have prepared all Young fans for something a little out Of the ordinary. But this?

Neil, as his Wembley shows indicated, has discovered, and come to know and love, a vocoder which, for the uninitiated, mutates the human voice to a large extent in a manner which either pleases or annoys the listener. It's not easy to sit on the (electronic) fence about it, and as a great admirer of the guitar in general, and Neil Young's gritty playing in particular, the predominant vocoder taking the focus away from his guitar is a source of irritation. Maybe it wouldn't matter so much if the songs were better, as Neil Young has been responsible for numerous classics since the great days of the Buffalo Springfield in the '60s, and in fact one of those Springfield epics, Mr Soul, makes a reappearance here, but is vocoded almost out of existence.

Of the nine songs on the record, six are subjected to the gadgetry, which makes it difficult, if not impossible, to assess their worth as plain songs, while of the unsullied remaining three, only Like An Inca, the last track on the LP, seems to make a lasting impression, and even then it seems inferior (so far) to the majestic Like A Hurricane. It's easy to see why one of the other 'normal' tracks, Little Thing Called Love, has been chosen as the concurrent single, because it seems much more like the old-style Neil...

The half dozen vocoded pieces vary from those with interesting lyrical ideas (the Lone Ranger imagery of Computer Cowbdy and the 'Star Trek meets Frankenstein' of Sample and Hold) to the Devoesque We Are In Control, which goes for the obvious world takeover by computers, but ultimately, devices like vocoders, while providing a novel sound, are little more than gimmicks, and ought to be recognised as such by a talent like Neil Young. The album will already be in the collection of the many diehard fans, but it's unfortunately unlikely to convert any new collectors to the cause. If you don't own anything by Neil, pass this by and go back to Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere or Zuma.