As anxiously awaited as any album since Dylan's, Neil Young's poetic genius pours forth on this authentic pop masterpiece of acoustic metaphors and total musicianship. On hand are Crazy Horse, Steve Stills, Greg Reeves, and Nils Lofgren on piano, but Neil Young possesses these grooves with subtle complete control. Fans will memorize "Tell Me Why," "After the Goldrush," "Oh Lonesome Me," and all the others.

- Billboard, 1970.

Bonus Reviews!

While David Crosby yowls about assasinations, Young divulges darker agonies without even bothering to make them explicit. Here the gaunt pain of Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere fills out a little -- the voice softer, the jangling guitar muted behind a piano. Young's melodies -- every one of them -- are impossible to dismiss. He can write "poetic" lyrics without falling flat on his metaphor even when the subject is ecology or crumbling empire. And despite his acoustic tenor, he rocks plenty. A real rarity: pleasant and hard at the same time. A+

- Robert Christgau, Christgau's Record Guide, 1981.

The years have only been kind to what sounded like Young's best album when it was released. It's a mixture of his folkie ("Tell Me Why"), country ("Oh, Lonesome Me"), and hard-rocking ("Southern Man") selves, and there's also that mystical title track, which remains Neil Young's definitive statement of purpose. * * * * *

- William Ruhlmann, The All-Music Guide to Rock, 1995.

After the Gold Rush is a great mix of Neil Young's two selves, with rockers such as "Southern Man" alongside ballads like "Tell Me Why," not to mention the glorious title track. * * * * *

- Alan Paul, Musichound Rock: The Essential Album Guide, 1996.

The sleeve is bleak: a solarized photograph of a rangy Neil Young passing an old woman in the street, but After The Goldrush was Young's first truly great album. The spellbinding title track mixes everything from social commentary to science fiction, yet somhow Young's plaintive vocals tie it all together. The Canadian's penchant for heartbreak is well served on the album. "Oh Lonesome Me," a cover performed as a slow, sad waltz, features a wailing harmonica and an emotional vocal. Against a slow, swaying beat, "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" contrasts childhood happiness with the pain of adult love. "Birds," with its dry-eyed lyrics and poignant vocal, is heart-wrenching, while "Don't Let It Bring You Down" is dark and majestic, a stark vignette of a harsh world. Those tracks showcase Neil Young the troubadour. With "Southern Man" we get Young the axe maniac, here is a real glimpse of the checked-shirt wearing, Crazy Horse-fronting Young of the future. The lyrics are a tirade against Southern racism. Young shrieks them out while his guitar solos are fractured, unpredictable snatches of fire. "When You Dance I Can Really Love" is a euphoric explosion of abrasive guitars, clattering drums and a pounding piano. It's a magnificent, style-setting album which saw the Canadian's elevation to rock hero. For those who like their emotion raw.

- Collins Gem Classic Albums, 1999.

The former Buffalo Springfield singer-guitarist was not fully mature, like Athena from Zeus' head, when he released his third solo effort, a folk-rock masterpiece of biting ennui that still has a sound of hope and sets the tone for greatness to come. With each song a tight well-written gem, from the introspective "I Believe in You" to the incendiary "Southern Man," neither time nor repeated listenings have dulled its impact. * * * * *

- Zagat Survey Music Guide - 1,000 Top Albums of All Time, 2003.

For his third allbum, Young fired Crazy Horse (the first of many times he would do that), picked up an acoustic guitar and headed to his basement. He installed recording equipment in the cellar of his Topanga Canyon home in Los Angeles, leaving room for only three or four people. There, Young made an album of heartbreaking ballads such as "Tell Me Why" and "Don't Let It Bring You Down." The music is gentle, which didn't mean Young wanted it smooth. Nils Lofgren, then a seventeen-year-old hotshot guitarist, squeezed into the sessions -- only to have Young assign him to the piano, an instrument he had never played in his life.

After the Gold Rush was chosen as the 71st greatest album of all time by the editors of Rolling Stone magazine in Dec. 2003.

- Rolling Stone, 12/11/03.

 Main Page | The Classic 300 | Readers' Favorites | Other Seventies Discs | Search The RockSite/The Web