Neil Young - Tonight's The Night: Alternate Acetate

Initially I'd said I wasn't a big Neil Young fan, but since immersing myself in his work I've found myself rather intrigued. Most interesting to me is his mid to late seventies output and his experimental early eighties stuff. Trans and Everybody's Rockin' are quite enjoyable, but I'm really taken by American Stars N' Bars and Rust Never Sleeps. Topping that list is Tonight's The Night which is very weird and raw. The inspiration for the album was the deaths of Danny Whitten, original guitarist for Crazy Horse, and Bruce Berry, a roadie for CSNY, both due to heroin addiction. The album sounds like a miserable wake, fueled by sorrow and hard liquor, with Young and the band sounding as rough and unpolished as they ever could. Maybe that was the only way Young and company could deal with their sadness, and as rough as that had to be for them, it makes for a great listening experience.

The album went through a number changes due to track selection, mixing issues and an insane tour a few years prior to the its release but featuring everything written for it. In fact, the album almost didn't see release as another unreleased Young album named Homegrown had been scheduled. Homegrown was a very sad album dealing with the end of a very intense relationship, and while it might have sold more records initially, Tonight's The Night really went to the bone.

One of the main issues surrounding the album is a confirmed alternate cut featuring dialogues between songs with Neil and the band. That cut of the album is looked at as the holy grail, but it has never leaked. Fans are keeping their fingers crossed that it will be in the next Archives set, but who knows when that will come out and only Young has an idea what will be in it. Until then though, like Chrome Dreams, someone found a fascinating acetate featuring an alternate cut of the album. This version doesn't include any of the dialogues but it does contain a number of songs that appeared elsewhere and two that remain unreleased, including the incredible Bad Fog Of Loneliness. Traces is the other unreleased goodie and is believed to be a demo for the unreleased CSNY album, Human Highway, but only Young and his crew could truly confirm this.

I have one more Neil Young recording to post and it will show up sometime in August, but I don't find it nearly as awesome as Chrome Dreams or this, so please don't be heartbroken if it doesn't blow you away. As for this one, give it a good shake because while it doesn't equal the finished album, it's still very good and quite interesting to hear in a different order. It's a different spin on a classic and is worth some time and attention. For a little more info on it, check this page at Sidestreet Records.


Neil Young - Tonight's The Night: Alternate Acetate

01 Tonight's The Night
02 Mellow My Mind
03 Roll Another Number (For The Road)
04 Tired Eyes
05 Speakin' Out
06 Walk On
07 For The Turnstiles
08 Bad Fog Of Loneliness
09 New Mama
10 Winterlong
11 Borrowed Time
12 Traces