Description
Neil Young spent much of the ‘80s wandering in his own unique wilderness. He remained as prolific as ever, but he leaped all over the stylistic map. That leads us to Bluenote Café, an enormously entertaining live collection more than makes up for what This Note’s For You lacked as a studio creation. Young’s band was on fire night after night. Bluenote Café includes recordings from 11 different shows from November ‘87 through August ‘88. The collection was originally compiled for release in 1988, but Young scrapped it following the commercial failure of its parent studio album. Finally, 27 years later, fans get to hear just how great Neil Young could be during his supposedly down period of the 1980s. It’s the second time in recent years that an ‘80s archival release has blown the doors off expectations—Young’s 2011 release A Treasure, comprising live performances from his 1984-1985 “country” period with his backing band International Harvesters, is similarly top-notch.
