Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Rust Never Sleeps - The Concert Film [DVD]

In 1978 Neil Young firmly put his foot down on the ongoing disco inferno and declared that "Rock and roll is here to stay". He added a trio of exclamation points in the form of three releases, the 'Rust Never Sleeps' LP, the 'Rust Never Sleeps' film, and the soundtrack LP to the film, "Live Rust".The 'Rust Never Sleeps' film was recorded at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, and stands as the high water mark in Young's storied career. By 1978, everything was in place to define Young as a rock and roll legend. It is a remarkable fact to consider that, despite the stunning songlist offered here, Young included no material from his collaborations with Crosby, Stills and Nash, nor any music from the 1976 Stills-Young Band LP. Only one song, 'I Am A Child', recorded with Buffalo Springfield, was chosen from outside Young's 'solo' works. That means no 'Helpless', 'Country Girl', 'Mr. Soul', or 'Long May You Run'. And Young could only skim the surface of his solo catalog in limiting himself to 18 songs (at 116 minutes this film consumes the entire video cassette), skipping such gems as 'Southern Man', 'Down By the River', and 'Cowgirl In the Sand', and hits such as 'Old Man' and 'Heart of Gold'. How many other artists could afford to leave so much classic material out of a two-hour concert?One should also consider the place 'Rust Never Sleeps' claims in the history of rock films. By 1978 there had really only been 4 great rock concert films: 'Monterey Pop', 'Woodstock', 'The Concert for Bangladesh' and 'The Last Waltz'. Ironically, Young missed opportunities to appear in the first two films, as David Crosby took his vacated role with Buffalo Springfield at the Monterey Pop Festival, and succumbed to camerafright on Yasgur's farm. Young has tried to remedy his self-imposed airbrush in New York, singing "I'm not going back to Woodstock for awhile" in his 'Roll Another Number' composition. But the real remedy lies in 'Rust Never Sleeps'. Unlike the 4 aforementioned films, 'RNS' never takes its eyes off Young and Crazy Horse to beef up the production with other celebrated performers. It's all Young, and such a film was never produced and released in theatres prior to it.The concert begins with a 6 song acoustic set, drawing a dramatic analogy between acoustic sound and childhood, and powered sound and maturity. The 6 songs chosen not only symbolize childhood, but revel in it. 'Sugar Mountain' and 'I Am A Child' are effecting exposes of what it is to be in the dawn of life, while 'Comes a Time', 'After the Goldrush', 'Thrasher', and 'My My Hey Hey' all explore life transitions. And Young's affinity for realism conveyed through imperfection is saluted when he flubs the lyrics for 'Thrasher'. Any other artist would have refused to sign off on the faux pas, but Young embraces it. Two other acoustic numbers, 'The Needle and the Damage Done', and 'Lotta Love' give some breathing room in an extended electric set.The remainder of the concert is an eclectic mix of hard rock chosen from Young's decade old catalog. The new ('Sedan Delivery', 'Powderfinger', 'Hey Hey My My' and 'Welfare Mothers') mixes seamlessly with the old ('The Loner' and 'Cinnamon Girl') and everything that came in between, such as 'Like a Hurricane', 'When You Dance I Can Really Love', 'Cortez the Killer' [featuring a contemporary seque into a reggae chorus], and the encore 'Tonight's the Night'. It's a treasure to behold, with bassist Billy Talbot constantly writhing to the incessant rhythm generated by himself and guitarist Frank Sampedro and drummer Ralph Molina, and Young ripping off one jagged lead solo after another. The often maligned Road Eyes add a fun diversion to the driving din, especially the joyous choreography inspired by 'Cinnamon Girl'.While legends such as Eric Clapton and John Lennon were droning along to 'Wonderful Tonight' or hanging up the guitar altogether, Young was just beginning to crank up the rock merriment. 'RNS' made the statement that rock music had not found it's demise, but had only established it's roots, and with subsequent releases such as 'Re-Ac-Tor' and 'Ragged Glory', Young would fulfill his prediction that "rock and roll can never die".

This Neil Young concert is a truly classic show. Seems a miniscule few people thinks the whole Road-Eye scheme was sorta' lame. I disagree! Nothing was as lame as the disco explosion in the mid 70's, as represented by the guy dressed in the "Devo" garb during this concert. How can anybody forget how seriously lame KISS looked when they knelt before the corporate gods, kissed their asses, cut their hair and recorded their disco anthem, "I Was Made For Loving You, Baby". Oh Jesus... it made me want to hurl my lunch!Neil makes a good point in this show that good old fashion rock and roll will never die. And I, for one, don't mind a little stage production during a rock show. DIO had his swords and dragons. Alice Cooper has his snakes and monsters. Blue Oyster Cult had their giant Godzilla and Harley-Davidson. And let's not forget about Pink Floyd's giant inflated pigs, the expanding space-globe and life-size airplane that flies over the heads of the audience and crashes into the stage.Stage productions, as well as good light shows actually make the show more interesting, in my opinion. When I try to feature Neil Young and Crazy Horse doing this show totally without the stage production, I think I may as well save my money, stay at home and toss a Neil Young album onto the turntable because the live tunes from Neil Young sound just about like the studio versions in many cases. Visual aids play a huge roll in rock and roll stage productions, generally depicting a particular style of music, interpreting a storyline or in Neil Young's case, making a cultural statement.No... the video quality isn't high definition. Camera technology simply wasn't that advanced in 1978. However, the quality is still highly viewable and enjoyable. The audio quality seemed sufficient to me as well, given the year of production. You'll be hard-pressed to find many other concerts from this era that presented such a successful stage production.

As described

This is Neil at the top of his game. The decade preceding this release saw Young put out all the strongest material that would carry his reputation for the next 25 years. Sure, he would return to form in the late 80's for another strong run, but this is where he and the Horse hit their stride. Crazy Horse is a one trick pony, but that trick is something else when they have it all together, and they have it all together all the way through this DVD.The stage show is a bit silly in retrospect, the kind of grandstanding he must have done, tongue in cheek, but the music is undeniably powerful. In many cases, these are the definitive versions of these songs, and Young clearly revels in their glories. You'll not find a better version of "Cinnamon Girl" or "Powderfinger" anywhere, and the proof is how well these renditions in particular have stood up.Of course, it would all go south almost immediately after this tour. Becoming a father to two severely handicapped sons, dealing with failed relationships and a new marraige and trying to keep his private life out of the public eye and out of the manipulating hands of David Geffen would result in some truly awful, often bewildering, constantly changing directions that would span the 80's. Not until the Bluenotes Cd and then FREEDOM would Neil find his groove and court passionately his muse again, but at least at this point, it is as though he is that kid on the dock in "Powderfinger" who is just about to see his face flash in the sky.This is a landmark concert, well worth watching over and over again. The sound transfer is great.

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Ottimo

I have not seen the alternative video edition of this musical film concert, "Rust Never Sleeps". Whatever the relative merits may be, rest assured that this firm's edition, at least in the in the PAL video option for it (Sanctuary Visual Entertainment SVE-4003) plays just fine. I found that at the usual screen ratio setting, Neil Young looked oddly stocky. When I set the option for 4:3 everything fell into place visually and, I later noticed, on the container verso, indeed it said "Aspect ratio 4:3", resulting Neil Young looking like his 1979 mid-thirties lean-and-lanky self and the other musicians appearing mostly fit and trim, as one would expect for active young men of their respective ages. Neil Young being Canadian "and proud of it", despite his trans-national dual citizenships, he is a real icon here in his native Dominion of Canada. The screen image and colour appear natural, and sound quality seem quite adequate to the musical need.While I enjoy Neil Young's work at any age, it is good to see him earlier in life, like this. His voice, always having that frail quality that is unmistakably his, having a somewhat edgy "high and lonesome" sound to it, never was macho-sounding, so that his videos from later in life can become uncomfortably tenuous sounding. Not so here, for Young's voice, despite its inherent vocal qualities so suggestive of vulnerability, is able to sustain phrases adequately, with welcome volume, and not to seem in any real way on the edge of failing on him. The players of Crazy Horse, Young's group, also provide the harmony vocals and do so very capably and with excellent intonation and musicality.Neil Young always has been a very individual and quirky sort of guy. Some have protested the non-singing, non-playing wraith-like figures bumbling about, dancing to the music, and so on. Some viewers have found their presence intrusive, perhaps too omnipresent. However, their presence fits in with the show's visual and other oddities, so this viewer does not mind their presence at all. For those who hate that sort of thing there is, of course, the alternative of acquiring the CD, with no visuals to distract. As for me, I like this just as it is on DVD!

Neil YOUNG & Crazy Horse Rust never sleeps Live at the Cow palace San Francisco California le 22 octobre 1978Un des plus grands concerts des 20 dernières années !18 titres live set acoustique et set électrique

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