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Following the 1973 Time Fades Away tour, Neil Young wrote and recorded an Irish wake of a record called Tonight's the Night and went on the road drunkenly playing its songs to uncomprehending listeners and hostile reviewers. Reprise rejected the record, and Young went right back and made On the Beach, which shares some of the ragged style of its two predecessors. But where Time was embattled and Tonight mournful, On the Beach was savage and, ultimately, triumphant. "I'm a vampire, babe," Young sang, and he proceeded to take bites out of various subjects: threatening the lives of the stars who lived in L.A.'s Laurel Canyon ("Revolution Blues"); answering back to Lynyrd Skynyrd, whose "Sweet Home Alabama" had taken him to task for his criticisms of the South in "Southern Man" and "Alabama" ("Walk On"); and rejecting the critics ("Ambulance Blues"). But the barbs were mixed with humor and even affection, as Young seemed to be emerging from the grief and self-abuse that had plagued him for two years. But the album was so spare and under-produced, its lyrics so harrowing, that it was easy to miss Young's conclusion: he was saying goodbye to despair, not being overwhelmed by it. ~ William Ruhlmann

After working his way through loss and chaos on the brilliant TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT (recorded in 1973, but not released until 1975), Neil Young deftly exorcised any lingering demons with 1974's ON THE BEACH. The album opens with the saunter of the aptly titled "Walk On," followed by the utterly gorgeous, Wurlitzer-tinged "See the Sky about to Rain."

The set also features a trio of scathing songs--"Revolution Blues," "Vampire Blues," and "Ambulance Blues"--that address issues important to Young, both social and personal. It is good to hear Young back with such bite and vitriol, especially after the broken desperation of TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT. But while ON THE BEACH is edgy and deeply felt, it also manages to sound liberating and relaxed, with glimmers of hope and humor peeking through the spare, evocative arrangements. Inexplicably unreleased on CD until 2003, ON THE BEACH is both unflinching and resilient, and easily stands as one of Young's finest albums.

DVD Features:

Region 0

Super Jewel Case Plus

Audio:

24 Bit/179 Khz PCM Stereo - English

24 Bit/48 Khz Dolby Digital 5.1 - English

Text/Photo Galleries:

Stills/Photos

Rolling Stone (07/24/03, p.92) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...Vintage Young....[songs] coalesce with the landmark consistency of 1972's HARVEST..." Entertainment Weekly (9/5/03, p.77) - "...The sound is stripped down and casual, but the vibe is intense..." - Rating: A

Q (01/01/04, p.77) - Included in Q's "Best Re-releases of 2003" - "[S]avagely triumphant....ON THE BEACH stills reverberates with an honest urgency out of step with early '70s rock."

Uncut (8/03, p.118) - 5 stars out of 5 - "...As a document of a despairing personal low, ON THE BEACH would be a kind of masterpiece by any standard....A moving experience..."

Mojo (Publisher) (3/01/04, p.54) - Included in Mojo's The 67 Lost Albums You Must Own! - "He decided the world was going to hell in a handcart. He sang it all with brutal-fragile beauty."

Mojo (Publisher) (7/03, pp.116-118) - 5 stars out of 5 - "...As a document of a moment when rock still meant something, it is peerless..."