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Disco de Neil Young - Living with War - "In the Beginning"
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Fecha de Publicación:2006-11-27
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Tipo:Desconocido
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Género:Folk, Rock, Classic Rock
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Sello Discográfico:Reprise
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Letras Explícitas:No
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UPC:093624327561
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Análisis (en inglés) :
In a move that deliberately echoes the rush release of {&"Ohio"} in the wake of the Kent State shootings, {$Neil Young} bashed out his 2006 protest record {^Living with War} in a matter of days, sometimes recording songs the day they were written, and then seized the opportunities of the digital age by streaming the entire album on his website only weeks after it was recorded, with the official digital and CD releases trailing several days later. It's the best use yet of the instant, widespread distribution that the Web has to offer, and it also hearkens back to the days when {\folk} music was topical, turning the news into song. But if the {\ballads} of the 19th century were passed along gradually, growing along the way, or if the protest tunes of the {\folk revival} of the 1950s and '60s grew in stature being performed regularly, gaining strength as singer after singer sang them, {^Living with War} captures a specific moment in time: early 2006, when {%George W. Bush}'s approval ratings slipped to the low 30s, as discontent sowed by the Iraq War, Hurricane Katrina, rising gas prices, and much more turned into a general malaise in the country (or, in political shorthand, it was the moment when {%George W}. turned into {%Jimmy Carter}). To some, the specificity of {$Young}'s writing on {^Living with War} will forever date it, but that's a risk with any topical {\folk}, {\rock}, or {\pop}, from {&"We Shall Overcome"} to {&"We Are the World"} -- or {&"Ohio,"} for that matter. {$Young} is aware of this and embraces the allegedly short shelf life of his songs for {^Living with War} by directly addressing the political turmoil in the U.S.A. in 2006 and the real human wreckage it has left behind. As such, it will function as a vivid document of its era, as much as any journalism of its time, but {^Living with War} isn't {\rock}-as-{@CNN}: it's a work of art, and it's a canny one at that, with {$Young} drawing on familiar words and music to create both historic and emotional context for his songs. It's not merely clever that {&"Living with War"} quotes {&"The Star Spangled Banner,"} or that {&"Flags of Freedom"} consciously reworks {$Dylan}'s {&"Chimes of Freedom"} -- it helps tie {$Young}'s work to the past and gives his new work greater resonance. And nowhere is that more true than on {&"Let's Impeach the President"} and how its melody recalls {&"The City of New Orleans"} to help underscore what was lost in the government's bungled reaction to Katrina's devastation to the legendary American city. With a grandstanding title like that, along with its {%George W}. soundbites, {&"Let's Impeach the President"} is the flashiest song here, and it crystallizes what's good about the album: sure, it pulls no punches and it's angry, but it's not just ranting; it's artfully written and effective, as is {^Living with War} as a whole. It's not perfect, but it has a vitality lacking in {$Young}'s recorded work of the last 15 years or so, and its blend of {^Greendale}'s loud, meandering {\guitar rock} and the bittersweet mournful, aging hippie vibe of {^Prairie Wind} is not only appealing, it's better executed than either of those good yet flawed records -- and that execution not only applies to the ragged glory of the recording, but to the songs themselves. They manage to be unified in a way that {$Young} wanted {^Greendale} to be but didn't quite pull off, yet they also stand on their own and are, overall, more memorable than those on {^Prairie Wind}. And that's the reason why, politics aside, {^Living with War} stands as a very strong, effective {$Neil Young} album that will continue to have a punch long after the {%George W. Bush} administration has faded into the history books. [In late 2006, Young released a version of the album made up of the songs as they were originally mixed immediately following their recording. No remixing was done and the vocal choir overdubs that were added a week later aren't present; what you get is a look at the project in it's raw state. Also included in the package is a DVD that presents documentary video footage of the sessions.] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
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