Neil Young – Warner Giants Review

For those after a mere sample of glory, they can head straight for Warner Giants, a four-track Neil Young release that pairs Heart of Gold from Harvest and a further three songs from After the Gold Rush. It is not the worst way to experience a few notes of interest from two essential albums. But, why bother? That is the essential question here and the Warner Giants release, which marks a piecing together of three all-time great Young recordings and one spot of filler, never answers it. No need. This is a mere compilation of good songs. A cheaper alternative at the time for those who were torn on which album to receive. Not one to put all the eggs in one basket, Young provides Harvest and After the Gold Rush as his two greatest pieces of the time – four songs he can maintain an ongoing pride in.  

Stripped of their album meaning and mashed together, what comes of these four songs is relatively interesting. Southern Man as a standalone piece feels like a strong choice considering its longevity, but opening this Warner Giants collection is a bold move. Or, at least, it feels that way with Young’s fluid and violent imagery of burning crosses and a denouncement of those in the Bible Belt of the country. Incredible writing steers this one through, a fundamental and rigid dedication to correct moral standings. Juxtaposing the horrors of slavery with the words of Jesus, so rigidly lived by those who Young chastises here, opens up a wave of irony. On its own and in this pairing, it takes a standalone meaning. It is no longer amplified by the rest of After the Gold Rush and here is where the instrumental flurry, the fury of a man reeling from disgust, comes into play. 

After that instrumentally inspired piece, the bar is high. And so, the rush of Southern Man lingers on in the short transition track Till the Morning Comes. It suited being after Southern Man on After the Gold Rush, so why change what already works? Yet the title track is placed after and makes for a whole new listening experience. This is from a time when the markings of a story were made from song to song. It still happens now, the narrative experience through albums and EPs is alive and well – but Young had often considered the place of his music to the preceding and subsequent song. To drop After the Gold Rush and Harvest rip Heart of Gold is a bold move. Interesting, too. It certainly adds another layer of context to After the Gold Rush. 

End it off with the first number one hit of Young’s career, and you get to hear why Warner Giants was put together. A bit of new success in carrying the previous releases of his career. It makes sense to pair it together for the sake of profit and sustainability but what is rather surprising is the additional detail which comes through because of it. After the Gold Rush and Heart of Gold sound made for one another. There is some beauty in its overlap, in the charmed harmonica work right at its core and those inferences of needing to continue this search across the globe. Young still seeks this today, but Warner Giants is a useful tool in realising this.