Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Americana

180-gram double LP set; includes lyric book

Featuring a collection of classic American folk songs, including "Oh Susannah" and "This Land Is Your Land"

"Americana is a perfect vehicle for analog technology. Recorded on Signal Path A-A-A-(Universal Audio tube console, Neve BCM10 junior console and transferred to Studer 2-inch eight-track, then mixed to Ampex ½-inch two-track tape), the overall tonal quality is excellent." — Audiophile Audition, September 2012

"Pick of the week ... a turbulent revival on this gleefully irreverent and shambolic garage rocker," — USA Today 

Neil Young & Crazy Horse release their first album in nearly nine years. Americana on Reprise Records is a collection of classic, American folk songs. In their day, some of these may have been referred to as "protest songs," "murder ballads," or campfire-type songs.

Some of these compositions, like "Tom Dooley" and "Oh Susannah," were written in the 1800s, while others, like "This Land Is Your Land" (utilizing the original, widely misinterpreted "deleted verses") and "Get A Job," are mid-20th-century folk classics. Young, who penned liner notes for each track, recorded the album with Crazy Horse members Billy Talbot, Ralph Molina and Poncho Sampedro. Americana was produced by Neil and John Hanlon along with Mark Humphreys, and engineered by John Hanlon with John Hausmann and Jeff Pinn. It was recorded at Audio Casa Blanca by John Hanlon.

Audiophile Audition says: "Americana (which represents the first of two 2012 releases) re-introduces familiar American songs to a darker context. Tunes that are sung in elementary school choirs, state fairs and political conventions have been arranged for garage band aesthetics. Looser, noisy and bellowing with guitar effects, these traditional ditties emerge altered from their original constructs. ... As with many of the cuts, there is studio chatter at the end that accentuates the 'live' feel. Young's guitar is piercing and his four- decade association with this band may be his best instrumental work."