Neil Young - The Monsanto Years

Neil Young isn't afraid of controversy. He will probably go to his grave wagging his finger and pointing his screaming Gibson at the destroyers of the planet. Here he rails variously against corporate greed, genetically modified foods and an increasingly globalised and polluting agribusiness. He has form, of course, as one of the founders of Farm Aid and many will support his stance, though few will feel enraged enough to do much about it, as even he concedes on 'People Want To Hear About Love'.
Sloganeering aside, there are more than enough decent tunes here to keep the faithful engaged. 'Wolf Moon' is a lovely, gently-paced country-rock ballad, not a million miles from near namesake, 'Harvest Moon' or 'One of These Days' (from Prairie Wind).
Elsewhere, 'Sacred Seed – Rules of Change' offers a more complex, thought-out arrangement than his "studio jam" approach. A tuneless 'Big Box' is one of those epic dirges that ole' Neil could probably churn out before breakfast and the title-track – a chugging, bar band rocker, with a lovely keening chorus – is a definite highlight.
His backing band on the album, The Promise Of The Real, feature Lukas and Micah Nelson, sons of his old friend Willie. They come over like a blend of Crazy Horse and the more country-oriented Stray Gators – his band on Harvest all those years ago.
The closing cut, 'If I Don't Know', is one of the strongest and echoes the late night, stoned-out sound and texture of his 1975 classic, Tonight's The Night. "If the melodies stay pretty and the songs are not too long, I'll try and find a way to get them back to you," he sings. We won't hold you to it, Neil.