Most UNDER rated Neil Young record?

Never heard Trans, I think I was put off by the cover. Seemed too slick.
I like Neils "old stuff". American Stars & Bars is my favorite album of his.

 

Landing on Water

 

Very true ... but when they played them live I think they came to life. Some of my favourite Neil Young bootlegs are from the 1982 Trans Band tours - also captured on the 'In Berlin' video/DVD.

 

Another vote for Stars and Bars, I love the stuff with Ronstadt. I played that record to death when it came out. But the great one that seems to be completely under the radar is Broken Arrow.

 

Living with War

 

mirror ball

 

Arc.

 

Trans for me.

 

The Stills-Young Band - Long May You Run

 

That Old Ways/Landing on Water period where he was vacillating 'tween heavy guitar Don Henley on crack(Landing) and doing an album that made Comes a Time sound like a rock album in comparison(Old Ways).Even though Ol Neil got slack for Old Ways,there are some gems on it.On Landing,he basically rips apart his old mate, the Cros, on Hippie Dream in a very brutal fashion.Two underrated jewels that are usually left at the bottom of the closet........Broken Arrow was another one that went under the radar,but that was a good one too.

 

"I'm the Ocean" ranks in the top 10 of all Neil songs. Amazing.

I'm with you, many of the albums mentioned here (Comes a Time, Ragged Glory) are not underrated -- critically praised at time of release and got some airplay, at least in my markets at the time.

Re-ac-tor is truly a gem. "Shots" is such a great song.

 

I'll go with Broken Arrow. I picked this one up recently and it's awesome. Everything I love about electric Neil. Great production as well (with nice-sounding HDCD playback) - captures the Crazy Horse vibe much better than Ragged Glory. Also, I dig the cover art. This one did not get much love at all on the album-by-album thread if I recall correctly.

 

Reiterating several others' votes, but mine in order would be:

Time Fades Away
On The Beach
Trans
Re*Ac*Tor
Sleeps With Angels

I like Arc, but wouldn't designate it as underrated so much as unjustly vilified. It's a musique concrete work that seems to get judged by a lot of NY fans on the basis of its failings as a melodic, song-oriented album like all of his other works, which is obviously not its intent. I think it's eminently listenable (if you play it at a lower volume it also functions as ambient music, much like the similarly-maligned Metal Machine Music) and is a pretty ballsy experiment coming from a classic rock artist.

 

No one underrates Time Fades Away and On The Beach, not anymore. All of Neil's seventies albums are highly rated at this point.

 

A strange and beautiful masterpiece!

 

Prairie Wind. It almost makes me forget the lack of musicality on things like Weld or the genuinely awful Tonght's the Night.

 

On The Beach for me... but then I think it is fairly highly regarded...

Time Fades Aawy is by far his best live album, and as it is not on Cd, offically, I think it a crime and very under rated... better than Live Rust even!

of his later stuff, I'd say Sleeps With Angels, perhaps his last classic album...

I much prefer him when he delves into the dark stuff... than the light fluff...
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Very good album in the vein of Harvest, Comes A Time and Harvest Moon. It sits nicely beside those albums.

(No Wonder is one of my favourite songs of Neil's!)

 

If you're in the mood for it, "Greendale" is a great listen. It's got a cool, "jammy" vibe to it (and I love the fact that Neil's the only guitarist on it!)

 

Mirrorball would be my choice also. Just the rawness of that album does it for me. (i.e Neil right before 'Downtown'...."I think I f'd up, let me just play the groove a minute") and then proceeds to rip off a great version.

Also Throw Your Hatred Down is one mean jam, real underrated song to me.

 

If you're a fan of Greendale and have a turntable, you owe it to yourself to get the vinyl boxset. The music just breathes so much better on six vinyl platters. Great sonics, and great packaging from Classic. There are still 140 g. and 200 g. copies out there, but I predict that this set will eventually go for big bucks when they eventually dry up.

 

i'm right there with you on this one.

"on the beach" is strong from top to bottom.

"ttime fades away' would be my number 2. it should be on CD.

 

I consider Tonight's the Night among Neil's very best. Ah well, different strokes for different folks...

 

I have to say Greendale as far as underrated... some have trashed the album, which is sad. Second choice is Mirrorball.

 

Four pages in and I don't think I've seen this one, so it must be underrated:
Year Of The Horse.

No, it doesn't have the relentless power of Weld, or Fillmore East, but this is a great Crazy Horse live album from start to finish, with some of the band's most beautiful moments, particulary "Slip Away" which blows away the version on Broken Arrow.