Neil Young Friends & Relatives: Neil Young (vocals, guitar, piano); Ben Keith (acoustic, electric, lap slide & pedal steel guitars; background vocals); Spooner Oldham (piano, Wurlitzer electric piano, Hammond B3 organ); Donald "Duck" Dunn (bass); Jim Keltner (drums, percussion); Astrid Young, Pegi Young (background vocals).

Additional personnel includes: Chrissie Hynde (vocals, guitar).

This is a DVD-Audio disc. The DVD-Audio content can only be read by a DVD-Audio player. The Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS audio tracks provided on this disc will play on a standard DVD player.

For some reason, Neil Young decided that his 2000 tour was particularly hot, so he decided to record a live album and rush release it by the end of the year. So, that explains the appearance of Road Rock, Vol. 1, an eight-song collection recorded with an ensemble featuring Spooner Oldham on keyboards, Duck Dunn on bass, Jim Keltner on drums, and Astrid and Pegi Young on vocals -- thereby explaining the "Friends & Relatives" subtitle. This band is pretty good, even supple, but this doesn't feel necessary at any time and suffers from indulgence. And it doesn't shy away from this indulgence, either, opening with an 18-minute "Cowgirl in the Sand" that only diehards could sit through. And, in a sense, that summarizes this album, since only diehards will thrill to an 11-minute "Words," a previously unreleased "Fool for Your Love," a ten-minute "Tonight's the Night," or an "All Along the Watchtower" featuring opener Chrissie Hynde on guitar. This isn't bad, but it's not really good, either, and as the third live album in one decade, it's not just anticlimatic, it's unnecessary even for diehards, who probably would find this more exciting as a bootleg than an official album. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Neil Young's 2000 summer tour brought forth Road Rock, Vol. 1, a live album recorded on September 19 and 20 at the Red Rocks concert venue in Denver. The eight-song set features one previously unreleased track "Fool for Your Love"; other highlights include an 18-minute version of "Cowgirl in the Sand" and a duet with the Pretenders' Chrissie Hynde on Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower." (The Pretenders served as opening act for several of the dates on Young's Music in Head tour.) Road Rock, Vol. 1 also includes rarely performed songs resurrected for the tour, including "Walk On," "Words," and "Motorcyle Mama" from his 1978 album Comes a Time. The album is being credited to "Neil Young Friends and Relatives," most likely a reference to the fact that his wife Pegi and sister Astrid perform as backup vocalists in the group, which also includes longtime associate Ben Keith on steel guitar, Booker T. and the MGs and Blues Brothers bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn, soul legend Spooner Oldham on keyboards, and session drummer Jim Keltner. ~ Zac Johnson

For his 2000 Silver & Gold Tour, Neil Young assembled an outfit called Friends & Relatives, whose ranks featured long-time collaborator Ben Keith, MG Duck Dunn, Muscle Shoals session god Spooner Oldham, and peripatetic drummer Jim Keltner, with sister Astrid and wife Pegi on harmonies. Young avoids making the album either a live reprisal of his most recent studio album or a de facto greatest-hits package by tossing in a number of obscure songs from his set list.

Among the chestnuts featured are the jaunty "Walk On" (from the long-unavailable ON THE BEACH), and the introspective "Peace of Mind" (originally released on the often overlooked COMES A TIME). For those entranced by Young's grinding improvisation, there is a nearly 20-minute version of the gloriously swirling "Cowgirl in the Sand" and an epic "Words (Between the Lines of Age)" given a ghostly edge by Keith's ethereal-sounding pedal steel. The jamming slows down just enough for Young to shift into lovelorn gear on the previously unreleased lament "Fool For Your Love." Wrapping things up is an ominously chugging "Tonight's the Night," and an incendiary reading of "All Along the Watchtower," featuring opening act and long-time fan Chrissie Hynde.

DVD Features:

Note: This disc will play on all DVD players; however, the DVD-Audio 96 kHz, 24 bit tracks will play only on players with the DVD-Audio logo.

Audio:

Digital 5.1 - English

MLP 6-Channel - 96 kHz - 24 bit

Additional Release Material:

Music Video - "Fool For Your Love"

Music Video - "Walk On"

Rolling Stone (12/21/00, p.170) - 3.5 stars out of 5 - "...Young kicks the dump in the rump....as Neil Young keeps proving, goofing around helps an old rock & roller stay young at heart."

Melody Maker (12/5/00, p.57) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...Yes, he's still got it. 'It', of course, being the ability to play 18-minute songs that don't lull you into a coma."

NME (Magazine) (11/18/00, p.42) - 7 out of 10 - "...There's a restlessness here, within a sound that initially seems slapdash and reckless, that amounts to a sort of musical scorched-earth policy - dust down old memories and burn them until they crackle..."