mp3 320 kbps | 175 MB | UL | XR |

Storytone was recorded with a 92-piece orchestra and choir, fulfilling Neil’s life-long dream to record with an orchestra that performed in the same room with him as he sang. The album is very personal for Young in terms of its lyrical content, as well as the mood and setting of the songs and the way they were recorded with particularly pristine sound quality.

On his songs for Buffalo Springfield, Neil Young had demonstrated an eclecticism that ranged from the rock of “Mr. Soul” to the complicated, multi-part arrangement of “Broken Arrow.” On his debut solo album, he continued to work with composer/arranger Jack Nitzsche, with whom he had made “Expecting to Fly” on the Buffalo Springfield Again album, and together the two recorded a restrained effort on which the folk-rock instrumentation, most of which was by Young, overdubbing himself, was augmented by discreet string parts. The country & western elements that had tinged the Springfield’s sound were also present, notably on the leadoff track, “The Emperor of Wyoming,” an instrumental that recalled the Springfield song “A Child’s Claim to Fame.” Still unsure of his voice, Young sang in a becalmed high tenor that could be haunting as often as it was listless and whining. He was at his least appealing on the nine-and-a-half-minute closing track, “The Last Trip to Tulsa,” on which he accompanied himself with acoustic guitar, singing an impressionistic set of lyrics seemingly derived from Bob Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited. But double-tracking and the addition of a female backup chorus improved the singing elsewhere, and on “The Loner,” the album’s most memorable track, Young displayed some of the noisy electric guitar work that would characterize his recordings with Crazy Horse and reminded listeners of his ability to turn a phrase.

mp3 320 kbps | 82 MB | UL | CL

This particular album, recorded 1971 at Toronto’s Massey Hall, showcases Young and his songwriting at an early career peak. Played on acoustic guitar and sometimes piano, Young definitely had that audience in full control. Many of the songs, new at the time, went on to become part of his classic Harvest LP.

mp3 VBR~221 kbps | 112 MB | UL