A decade’s worth of writing whittled down to what Neil Young, at the time, thought were the best. Freedom certainly lives up to its title, with Young having broken from Geffen Records just a year before this release. Experimental but ultimately poor work from the veteran performer during that period is at times understandable, and at times an example of how rare consistency is in music. Everyone has their rough patch. But what Young manages to do with Freedom is return to the sound his audience wanted. This is not a failure in the context of what he had released before, but a satisfaction with having experimented. Trans gave Young a chance to fool around with vocoders while Everybody’s Rockin’ had the Harvest songwriter hit out at his label through influences from the past. Everything for Young in the 1980s felt like a gimmick. Music was not enough of a reason to work. It had to have some extra detail.
This would sink most of Young’s work that decade, but he decides to compile some of his best, unreleased efforts on Freedom. It is where Rockin’ in the Free World is housed. One of the very best songs from Young. A rebellious hit which will have grounds to be played no matter the political strife. An acoustic version opens Freedom and sets the scene brilliantly. For those who have heard only the rocked-out masterclass, the acoustic version somehow keeps the same urgency and tempo, but with just Young and a guitar. It’s a mesmerising moment so early into the album, and yet Freedom gets better from there. Freedom is a surprise return to form for Young, not just because of his Geffen days, but also because of the Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young album, American Dream, which Young was working on at the time of Freedom. That reunion of the four music legends is a grim listen.
Yet Freedom offers a whole different story for the year, some confident and stripped-back moments from Young, which can still be considered a career high. Crime in the City (Sixty to Zero Part I) gives listeners a touch of the soft playing, loud message style that Young is still brilliant at using. Young would utilise here what he did on Saturday Night Live and performances over the rest of his career. Rockin’ in the Free World needs time. It needs the build of other songs, hence why it is last on Freedom. It is the grand blowout Young’s work had lacked for a decade. A satisfying masterclass which inevitably overshadows the songs preceding it. But listen to those Freedom album tracks, and you can find Young, suddenly, in a very best spot which had previously offered the likes of Zuma and American Stars ‘n’ Bars. The brash brilliance of Don’t Cry makes it a hidden gem of a song, while the follow-up Hangin’ on a Limb brings a gentler, just as beautiful tone to Freedom.
That power to act as he wishes, which Young regained when leaving Geffen, is not just an excuse to be loud. Freedom has some of the most touching, tender songs from Young. Eldorado features some of Young’s most challenging work to date, with the slow build eventually, briefly, bursting into a blitz of guitar feedback, rage-ready lyrics, and bloody murder. It is slow-moving momentum which follows on The Ways of Love, but Young has set a precedent with Eldorado. There could be an explosive instrumental piece in even the quietest moments. Having the audience on guard and keeping them there makes for a tense and inspired listen. Freedom lives up to its title, but even with the fresh sound Young was offering, there is a care featured here which cannot come from experimenting with new machinery or recording styles. This is familiar territory for Young, but also a deeper exploration of those tones which made his career.
