Neil Young Book Review

"The most attention is given to the Bruce Springsteen saga. Neil Young, whose eccentric recording diversions have made him a marketing nightmare, is a close second, though. Bob Dylan, unfortunately, receives far less coverage than the other two; a regrettable imbalance considering Dylan's superiority as a music figure and the vicious, engaging management tales involving Grossman. Surely the coupling resulted in far more tension than Goodman reveals here. "

"But I'd understand if more casual observers cited Goodman's succinct, damning account of rock's international corporatization. Similarly, I understand why many prefer Neil Young's eccentric career to Bruce Springsteen's. I do myself. But eccentricity is the opposite of a political or social solution, which can only begin with a cogent anlysis of the cultural contradictions well-meaning artists like both Springsteen and Young are living through. Regrettably, this ain't it. "

"''The truth is I fought with him because I wanted him to do better work,'' Mr. Geffen explained afterward. ''I was taking too much of a fatherly role in his life.'' Even in the record business, only David Geffen could describe a $3 million lawsuit against one of his prize musicians as an excess of paternalism. "

"The author while having researched his material very well, brings some biases into his work, typical of his generation. These biases become glaringly obvious when reading the book. One of these is his implication that someone like Springsteen, because he has maintained a consistently high level of commercial success over the years, is a sell-out, and a manufactured creation of his manager. Whereas someone like Neil Young, because he hasn't been ashamed to release some real crap, is an artist of integrity, who won't give in to crass commercialism, by always giving his fans music that they will actually enjoy."

Neil Young Book Reviews

Thrasher's Wheat - Neil Young Archives