Live Review: Real Young & Lazy Horse - 9/19/26 Industry City Brooklyn, NY

Real Young & Lazy Horse

Live 9/19/26 Industry City Brooklyn, NY

On an overcast fall evening, in the courtyard of the refurbished warehouses that makeup Industry City in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, the quartet Real Young & Lazy Horse took the stage to deliver their dynamic, extended spin on Neil Young & Crazy Horse tunes. The resulting three and a half hour show was spiritually uplifting as the band channeled the core of the original group with energetic majesty.

New Single/Video from Neil Young & The Chrome Hearts "Casting Me Away From You"

New single/video from Neil Young & The Chrome Hearts for the song, "Casting Me Away From You".

About the unearthed song and video, Uncle Neil states:

Album Review: Neil Young & The Chrome Hearts - As Time Explodes

Neil Young & The Chrome Hearts

As Time Explodes

*** out of *****

Neil Young, at 79, took to the road yet again in 2025 with his newly formed backing band The Chrome Hearts for a 31 date international Love Earth tour. As Time Explodes (a Record Store Day release) is a document of that tour recorded at various stops, and while far from vital, it is a nice snapshot of Young and this talented band. 

Year In Review 2025 - Favorite Albums Part 1 (Honorable Mentions & Let Downs)

Another year is finishing up and @RockBodElec wouldn't be a proper music site if we didn't end the year with a "Best Of" list, so RtBE presents 2025's Favorite Albums Part 1 (Honorable Mentions and Let Downs):

In the instance that RtBE has reviewed the album, either on this site or elsewhere, we will link to that review and just give a quick summation, click on the name/title and you can read our full opinion. RtBE also worked with the Glide Team to give input on their Top 20, so you can expect some overlap if you already have seen that list.

Again the focus here is on full albums, not singles, but long playing releases you can slap on and listen all the way through. We know these are a dying breed, but it still is the way we consume music, no shuffle, Spotify, AI curated playlists, or streaming for us.

These are the albums that just missed out on being included in our top ten favorite for the year (coming soon). After some excellent albums, we have a few releases from artists we dig, which we were let down by. 

Like all of our lists or 'best of'', these are meant to start conversations, not end them...

Album Review: Various Artists - Heart of Gold The Songs of Neil Young Vol 1.

Various Artists

Heart of Gold The Songs of Neil Young Vol 1.

*** out of *****

A new benefit album from Killphonic Records finds a host of A-List musicians covering Neil Young's classic tracks on Heart of Gold The Songs of Neil Young Vol 1. Proceeds from the album will benefit The Bridge School in Hillsborough, California.

Album Review: Neil Young & The Chrome Hearts - Talkin' to the Trees

Neil Young & The Chrome Hearts

Talkin' to the Trees

*and1/2 out of *****

Neil Young has always followed his muse. Sometimes it leads to magic, sometimes to solid results and sometimes things are better left unsaid. His newest release, titled Talkin' to the Trees, his first with The Chrome Hearts backing him, falls into the last category. While it is great that Neil is still making music, perhaps this one should have stayed on the shelf as the album feels torpid, redundant and misguided at times. 

Happy 35th Anniversary to Neil Young & Crazy Horse's Ragged Glory

Happy 35th Anniversary to Neil Young & Crazy Horse's 1990 noise rock banger, Ragged Glory.

Uncle Neil was back on high in 1990 and Ragged Glory still sounds great today...

Album Review: Neil Young - Oceanside Countryside

Neil Young

Oceanside Countryside

** out of *****

Neil Young has been going back through his archives and releasing 'lost albums', and it can be a mixed bag for long time fans (RtBE Included). Is the music good? Yes. Have we heard it all before? For the most part, yes. Are these new albums needed? Not really. Can the artist do what they want? Sure.

Year In Review 2024 - Favorite Live Shows

The live show is a slippery thing. There are lots of variables at play, most having little to do with the performance itself. Does the venue have enough bathrooms? Is it going to rain? What day of the week is it on? Did I have a shitty day at work before hand? Did tickets cost waaay too much? All of this can alter one's opinion of a live show before the band even tunes up and with reason. However, when the stars align, there is no place RtBE would rather be than in the moment of magic occurring spontaneously from the stage.

Live Music Has No Equal!

Taken By The Fantastic Megan Donohue

While obviously we can't see every show that is out there, we try to get out often to catch live music. Sure there are a few left in the calendar year, but for now, here is a listing of the best concerts we were fortunate enough to have caught in 2024.

There are links to show reviews in the titles, also because who doesn't love arbitrary rankings, one show at the bottom took the top prize as RtBE's 2024 Favorite Live Show. 

Happy 45th Anniversary to Neil Young's Live Rust

Released on November 14th, 1979, Neil Young's Live Rust turns 45 today. 

A few days after Young turned 79 the mega live album with dynamite performances from Neil and Crazy Horse turns 45.  Oh and the record also has a killer concert film attached. 

Happy 35th Anniversary to Neil Young's Freedom

Happy 35th Anniversary to Neil Young's Freedom.

Neil Young's mid career masterpiece turns 35 today. 

More thoughts and tunes after the jump.

Happy 50th Anniversary to Neil Young's On The Beach

Happy 50th Anniversary to Neil Young's On The Beach. 

This record from Uncle Neil, the second of his Ditch Trilogy, has always been a a favorite of RtBE's, starting with the best album cover Neil ever created.  

Sazerwrap 2024

In years past we have delivered a Sazerwrap to catalog our personal Jazzfest experience, so we will continue this year. 

We have reviewed some of the shows we caught already and it should be stated: Jazzfest in New Orleans is RtBE's absolute favorite time of the year. 

2024 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival Artists Announced

We already knew The Rolling Stones were going to be there, now we know the rest of the lineup for the best festival in the country, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. 

RtBE predicted who would be playing yesterday, and we got a few right. Check out this great video to get you pumped:

Some highlights for RtBE:

Album Review: Neil Young - Before and After

Neil Young

Before and After

**and1/2 out of *****

After a few years of new music, 2023 was a retrospective year for Neil Young who released three albums and toured, yet, there were no new songs. One album was a live release with Crazy Horse from the mid-70's and two albums were reimagining's or sorts. The first, Chrome Dreams, just made official what longtime fans have already bootlegged/owned for years with no changes, while Before and After is an acoustic reworking of some songs from Young's immense back catalog. 

Played and recorded as an extension of his July solo tour, the album finds Neil playing straight through a few lesser loved numbers with just harmonica, guitar, piano, and pump organ as he ambulates with relaxed energy, singing in that same style. At 78 his voice is a bit distant and a touch shaky, but it was that same way when he was 28. 

The recording is personal and fresh, sounding live as he digs into some Buffalo Springfield songs like "Burned" and "On The Way Home" which work well in this fashion as bright acoustic strums mix with vibrating harmonica. "Homefires" is a quick workout while "Birds" loses a touch of it's majesty in this stripped down piano version. The pump organ gets a work out on the deep "If You Got Love" (which sounds like a sturdier Daniel Johnston tune) before "Mother Earth" groans and wobbles while "A Dream That Can Last" sounds bright with nimble piano work. 

Bob Rice adds vibraphone to both "My Heart" and "When I Hold You In My Arms" mixing up the sound a touch. "Comes A Time" is simple straight ahead folk like the original, while one of the oldest songs here, "Mr. Soul" starts ominously and never gets the garage rocking heights it has hit in the past, and it almost seems like it was recorded live, as those faint cheers in there, or just a creaking pump organ?  

The truth is, fans of Uncle Neil will tell you the originals of these songs are all better, so hopefully these scaled down versions will lead new listeners to those. Opener "I'm The Ocean" is the great underrated rocker in Neil's catalog that needs to be heard more than anything. Jack Irons drums the hell out of the original song and the rest of Pearl Jam give a whole different inspiration to Young than Crazy Horse that is vitally exciting as Young runs with it in this song directly into the unknown; check out the original. 

With the release of Before and After there are parallels that can be drawn to Bob Dylan's Shadow Kingdom, but with Dylan the changes/musicality were the draws, here things are scaled back intentionally. There is nothing inherently wrong with this album, yet nothing that needs to be heard either, it is just a pleasant acoustic stroll through some deeper cuts from one of the best to do it. 

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Support the artist, buy the album, peep some video below:

Album Review: Neil Young - Odeon Budokan

Neil Young 

Odeon Budokan

***and1/2 out of *****

Mid 70's Neil Young was incredibly prolific, following his notoriously finicky muse anywhere it directed him.  After his Ditch Trilogy, Young reunited with a revamped Crazy Horse as Frank "Poncho" Sampedro took over the second guitar slot, and the band released the fantastic Zuma. The tour supporting that album took them across the globe, and this vinyl Record Store Day release captures the opening solo acoustic set at the Hammersmith Odeon on March 31st, 1976 and the second side features the closing full band electric sets at the Nippon Budokan Hall on March 10th and 11th, 1976.

Originally slated to be released in 1976, like many of Neil's albums it was shelved and the first time this show was official heard was in the large Archives Volume II Box Set,. Now, having been pulled out for a special vinyl release, it can be showcased individually. Both Young and the Horse are on top of their game here.

The opening acoustic outing finds Young in a playful mood, even telling the crowd they need to elect a spokesperson for requests. On the opener, "The Old Laughing Lady", Young sings additional lyrics, titled "Guilty Train" before the pristine solo version of "After The Gold Rush". Mixing hits like that and "Old Man" with lesser known acoustic numbers like "Too Far Gone" and "Stringman" really speak to Neil's range and his ability to show the crowd his individual talents. 

The second side finds the electricity crackling as Crazy Horse amps the wattage. A solid stomping version of "Don't Cry No Tears" kicks off the set that features a strong "Cowgirl In The Sand" a rare "Drive Back" and the album highlight, a meaty delivery of "Cortez The Killer". This first outing of a revamped Horse holds it's own. Even better is Sampedro's retelling of playing this show which is worth posting here:

"Billy and I both dropped acid because that night, after the show, we were flying to Copenhagen. We didn’t want to carry any drugs with us and I had these two tabs of acid. We each took one. It was so funny...everything was starting to get crazy. Psychedelic patterns and shit flying around. I didn’t talk to anybody all night on-stage. I kept my eyes closed most of the time. Only a couple of times I opened them. The first time was horrific. I hit my guitar strings and I saw them bounce off the floor and up to the ceiling in rainbow colors. I was just like, 'Oh, shit.' I kept feeling them on my arm! The vibrations coming off the strings "We did 'Cowgirl in the Sand' and Billy and Ralph went up to sing the backgrounds. I opened my eyes and saw big mandalas comin' out of the back of both their heads, all these colors and shit. I couldn't even look up, I was so high. I'd hit the strings of my guitar: they were like eighty different colors, and they bounced off the floors and hit the ceiling. At the end of the second song Neil came runnin' over, stuck his head between me and Billy and goes, 'Man, we're psychedelic tonight!' I just looked at Billy, thinkin', 'He told him, he told him.' The whole rest of the night I don’t even think we made a mistake. It was unbelievable."

While the record doesn't reach true psychedelia heights that Poncho experienced on stage, it is still a strong capturing of this mid-career Neil Young and Crazy Horse lineup and a solid edition to Young's already impressive official live albums. 

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Support the artist, buy the vinyl and peep some video below:

Neil Young - Chrome Dreams

Neil Young

Chrome Dreams

**** out of *****

Back in the summer of 2019 when RtBE discussed Neil Young's best studio albums we mentioned this in our Freedom blurb: 

We should state here and now that while not official, Chrome Dreams which "Too Far Gone" first appeared on, is one of our all-time favorite things Neil ever did..err didn't do. It would have made our list if it was a real release. 

Well now it is one, and oddly there is zero difference, outside of the album cover, from the bootleg we obtained decades ago. 

Album Review: Neil Young with Crazy Horse - World Record

Neil Young & Crazy Horse

World Record

***and1/2 out of *****

The most impressive aspect of Neil Young's 42nd album (15th with Crazy Horse backing him) is the free flowing nature and rich sound which suite the old folkies perfectly. Recorded live and mixed to analog tape at Rick Rubin's Shangri-La studio in Malibu, California. World Record isn't a great Neil Young and Crazy Horse offering, but it is a enjoyable and excellent sounding reminder of what this outfit does best, plug in and play with freedom and feeling. 

Album Review: Neil Young and Crazy Horse - Toast

Neil Young and Crazy Horse 

Toast

** out of *****

Back in 2000-2001, Neil Young and Crazy Horse were searching for a sound and tried out some different offerings after Young had spent some time in Argentina. One effort evolved into the album Toast which was ready to go and then shelved by Young. Now it receives its official release as Volume 09 of Neil Young Archives' Special Release Series.

Notoriously following his own muses to an almost insane degree, Young moved on from the album to release Are You Passionate?  instead, which contained some songs from Toast, but overall went a new way with Booker T & The MG's replacing Crazy Horse with mixed results. Now Toast has been released as a 'lost album' and while it is interesting, it is far from a must hear as Young and the Horse wander about a bit aimlessly 

New Neil Young and Crazy Horse Album, World Record, Out in November

Neil Young and Crazy Horse are back with a new album World Record, coming in November. 

The group has been pretty prolific in recent years releasing Barn in 2021 and Colorado in 2019, both taken from the same recording sessions, not to mention Toast released this year and recorded in 2001 but never released.

 

While RtBE were not fans of those outings, NY&CH are one of our all-time favorites and we wrote about them extensively in our Masters series. It is always exciting to hear any new music from the band. 

This album comes from a new recording session, captured by Rick Rubin at his Malibu recording studio Shangri-La. The first single has been released and it is called "Love Earth", check it out below: