Neil Young and Promise of the Real
The Monsanto Years (Reprise)
“It’s a bad day to do nothing,” sings Neil Young on “A New Day For Love”, the first track off his 36th studio album, The Monsanto Years. The album is chock-full of ecologically and environmentally charged songs focused around the Monsanto Company, the much-maligned GMO agricultural giant. It also features backing band Promise of the Real, lead by two of Willie Nelson’s sons.
Too often on The Monsanto Years, Young’s politically charged lyricism lacks his celebrated poetic finesse, and take on a bluntness that ironically softens the blow of his message. Take “A Rock Star Bucks a Coffee Shop”. The song rollicks along like an upbeat bar band standard, complete with a playful, whistled hook, as Young sings “I wanna cup of coffee but I don’t want a GMO”, met by the chorus “Monsanto, let our farmers grow”. When he gets to the second verse, “Chemical giants walking arm in arm”, it sounds plain awkward. “Big Box” offers a same, oddly literal delivery on, what else, big box stores and inequality.
“Wolf Moon” is a love song to Mother Earth (or perhaps his partner/activist/actress Daryl Hannah), filled with natural imagery and his classic warbling delivery. “People Want To Hear About Love” takes on a similar more reflective approach.
While a great deal of the words on Monsanto can sound like point form politics 101, his most successful moments are his more thoughtful, contemplative ones.
Rating: ★★★ (out of five)
