Neil Young / Before And After LP Vinyl

Neil Young 'Comes A Time' LP Vinyl

Leave it to Neil Young to give streaming songs a whole new meaning with a new album, Before and After.

Young delivers reinventions of 13 deep tracks as one continuous piece of mostly acoustic music, with no breaks, over 48 minutes. The tracks appear to have been recorded on Young's solo 2019 live tour but are presented here as a single piece of music with no audience applause.

The technique creates a new, cohesive narrative by weaving together songs from disparate points over a 54-year span. It also puts the songs in a new light, placing the 78-year-old Young's voice with all of its aging, aching beauty front and center. "I'm the Ocean," originally recorded with Pearl Jam on "Mirror Ball" in 1995, is dramatically reworked and sets the mood as the opening track. Three lesser-known Buffalo Springfield songs from the 1960s are the oldest tracks, with the album closer "Don't Forget Love" from 2021's Barn the most recent.

In between, there are songs Young first recorded with his longtime band Crazy Horse and a deep cut from one his most famous albums, 1970's "After the Goldrush." The most obscure song, "If You've Got Love," has never appeared on an album until now.

Tracklisting:

A1        I'm The Ocean    
A2        Homefires    
A3        Burned    
A4        On The Way Home    
A5        If You Got Love    
A6        A Dream That Can Last    
A7        Birds    

B1        My Heart
B2        When I Hold You In My Arms
B3        Mother Earth    
B4        Mr. Soul    
B5        Comes a Time    
B6        Don't Forget Love