#296 Neil Young, 'Rust Never Sleeps' (1979)

Previously #351

We seem to have hit a very concentrated patch of Neil Young. I don’t mind at all. I especially don’t mind listening to this record. It’s quite possibly my favourite record of his. This album for me is quintessentially Neil Young. It brings together the two sides of the Neil Young coin; starting off as an acoustic record, it progresses into a distorted, riff-heavy rock album. Bookending the album are two versions of the same song, ‘My My, Hey Hey (Out Of The Blue)’ and ‘Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black).’ The former features the infamous lyrics “It's better to burn out than fade away,” the lyrics Kurt Cobain chose to quote in his suicide note.

This album is essentially a live album. While all the songs were new, they were all recorded live in front of an audience, capturing Neil Young’s famous live energy (‘Sail Away’ and ‘Pocahontas’ weren’t recorded live, though). For me, this record is a 5-star album. Each song brilliant. Side two begins with ‘Powderfinger,’ the song that would lend its title to the Australian band of the same name. ‘Sedan Delivery’ is a rollercoaster. Inspired by punk and Devo, the song chops and changes between a slow jam and fast-paced all out punk song telling the story of a workingman whose job it is to deliver drugs. Culminating in the aforementioned ‘Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black),’ I love his shake up of the famous line from the opening track, changing it to “It's better to burn out, 'cause rust never sleeps,” arguably a more profound statement.

#rs500albums