Nothing can quite prepare you for how beautiful Sleeps with Angels is. From the first moments of My Heart to the final chords of A Dream That Can Last, a sincerity and hope spread through the album. Neil Young tapped into that suggestive and optimistic spirit after Harvest Moon, and it makes a tremendous difference. Honesty and openness guide Sleeps with Angels, and it seems Young is content with never sharing the specifics behind these songs. It’s a mood board of stunning moments, saddening encounters and the spirit of life. Sleeps with Angels is bolstered, perhaps, by the strong work preceding it, but there is a new flicker of intensity found on this Crazy Horse-featuring album. Young had come out the other end of a nasty period in the 1980s, a rite of passage for all his contemporaries too, and began working on career-changing noise. He would reinvent himself successfully, but he wouldn’t forget his origins.
Prime of Life, the title track, and Western Hero are staggering examples of this. Smooth and cool guitar work with a few flickers of the grunge and heavy rock, which would feature throughout the 1990s. This feels like the spark which lit the Pearl Jam-featuring Mirror Ball. A bonfire of rock and roll excess, a lived-in experience, but without the nasty jabs or shoulder-barging thud of a message with no meaning. Sleeps with Angels takes it low, and takes it slow. There are spots of heaviness throughout, but it’s countered by a welcoming and often touching vocal tone. Young takes on the role of a candid man responding to the world around him, with heavier instrumental work on Western Hero the perfect example of this back-and-forth between the two feelings. Staggering material throughout is what keeps Sleeps with Angels ticking over. Change Your Mind is a standout masterpiece, that soft vocal tone from Young paired brilliantly with a somewhat breezy, laid-back rock tone.
Contrast is everything for Young. At this point in his career, it was never quite clear what tone his newest album would take. Guitar work on Change Your Mind is decades ahead of the genre, that light and flourishing tone which is still used by up-and-comers today. Young is one of the great influences on modern rock music, that much is obvious. But Sleeps with Angels may just be one of his most important albums. Moody blues follow-up Blue Eden is, again that contrast. Sleeps with Angels has its beautiful moments bludgeoned by menacing instrumental works in the tracks following them. It’s a wonderful balance which gives the album, and the band by extension, an edge Young had not quite captured up until Sleeps with Angels.
But it’s not just the mystery and contrast which make Sleeps with Angels a fine piece of work. Fundamentals of Young’s sound are revisited and re-evaluated throughout. Get comfortable with his sound elsewhere and then hear him break it down, build it back up. Satisfaction is a huge part of Sleeps with Angels, and pride flows through the project. The Godfather of Grunge has not gone soft on the hardcore rock and roll fan, as Piece of Crap highlights. That’s the sort of material Young writes frequently in modern times, though reduced to the expected guitar-led thrills. Even the occasional howl cannot save it from being the weakest song on the album. But a weak song on an otherwise incredible experience is a small price to pay for getting in touch with the genres of the past. Young dissects his popularity, his commentaries, and does so with brilliance.
