Neil Young: "Prairie wind"

The creation of Neil Young's latest album, Prairie Wind, was punctuated by a life-changing "medical event" for the singer-songwriter. As he was preparing to record the song "The Painter" in Nashville, Young was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm. He recorded eight of the songs before surgery for the aneurysm, and two afterward as he recovered. The songs "Old Man," "Heart of Gold" and "Keep on Rockin' in the Free World" are well-known examples of Young's folk- and country-laced rock. Scott Simon - Npr

An artist for all musical seasons, Neil Young returns to autumnal harvest mode on Prairie Wind, with homespun material and sing-song melodies that renew the spirit of some of his most popular releases. Yet the mood here is darker in its maturity than on Harvest and Harvest Moon--the previous releases in what now sounds like a trilogy--and the arrangements have greater range and aural depth, with Wayne Jackson of the soulful Memphis Horns, the Fisk University Jubilee Singers gospel choir, and a string section employed to striking effect. . Don McLeese - Amazon.com

For Prairie Wind, Young returns to familiar ground, the country-rock sound of Seventies discs such as Harvest and Comes a Time. It's his simplest music in a while, but it's effective. He spends the album saying goodbye to his friends, his family, the Canadian landscape and Elvis, in a reflective mood that suits the old-timey acoustic groove. Young cut Prairie Wind in Nashville, while commuting to New York to get treatment for a near-fatal brain aneurysm. His brush with mortality colors the new songs, as does the recent death of his father. Young sings about the comforts of family life -- his kids in "Here for You," his parents in "Far From Home. Rob Sheffield - Rolling Stone

Young was in Nashville writing and recording the country-influenced "Prairie Wind" earlier this year when he was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm, a serious medical condition that could have had fatal consequences. He was successfully treated, but the health scare has left its mark on nearly every song here. Young is taking stock of his life and taking time to recount what has lasting importance and meaning for him. Rarely has an artist so honestly and intimately conveyed his biggest hopes and fears to the listener -- every emotion hits you like a breath of spring air punctuated by a lightning bolt. With its pungent horns and harmonica, the title track is a heart-on-sleeve tribute to Neil's father, the journalist Scott Young, who suffered from dementia before his death this past June. But the most indelible moments are "Falling Off the Face of the Earth" and "It's a Dream," both achingly beautiful expressions of affection that are undercut by Young's melancholy acknowledgment that life is all too short.. Martin Bandyke - Detroit Free Press

Old age isn't making Neil Young any easier to second guess, but the personal traumas of the last couple of years (death of his father and a brain aneurysm) certainly seem to have focussed the wayward canuck again. Whereas 2003's Greendale gave us woolly polemic wrapped in dreary arrangements, Prairie Wind gives us sweet pedal steel-driven songs and the plush sheen of Nashville's finest (Spooner Oldham, Ben Keith etc.) effectively completing his acoustic Harvest trilogy. Chris Jones - BBC

Parola di Bielle
Non devo certo stare a spiegarvi Niel Young! Sarebbe come stare a spiegare il vento della prateria (per l'appunto). La vicenda che sta alle spalle è quella di un disco registrato poco dopo la morte dell'amato padre (famoso giornalista sportivo che, dice Neil, gli ha insegnato a scrivere) e a cavallo di un'operazione per aneurisma cerebrale. Mica noccioline! Anziché rifugiarsi nel terrore e nella depressione o nell'isolamento, il bravo Neil ha impugnato penna e chitarra ed ha scritto un bellissimo disco, denso e intenso, in cui saluta tutte le cose che gli sono rimaste nel cuore: dal cielo del Canada, ai suoi affetti, a Elvis Presley. Ne esce una sorta di "Harverst", morbido, carezzevole, tutto velluto, chitarre acustiche, slide e armonica. Un piacere assoluto! E se qualcuno vi dicesse "il solito Young", invitatelo per favore a sentire quante volte, anche solo negli ultimi anni ha cambiato pelle. Un disco che è un vero piacere. Tra l'altro ascoltabile tutto "legalmente" su internet all'indirizzo http://www.neilyoung.com/prairiewind.html