Neil Young – Broken Arrow Review

Broken Arrow may not be the best-known Neil Young album, but it’s one of his most comfortable. The veteran songwriter has an iron grip on his archives and the constant stream of live albums, bootlegged from one source and passed on to Young, is remarkable. To hear that embedded at the back of Broken Arrow is a sincere treat, one of many to come from the reunion of Young and Crazy Horse. Feeling rudderless after the death of producer David Briggs, Young and the band return to what they do best, and the results are inspired blues rock efforts. Beautifully grounded moments from an album that should have been a bigger deal on first release. It never cracked through despite the acclaim Young received for his Dead Man soundtrack work. Broken Arrow deserved much more on its initial release, but there is always the burnout of this sound to contend with. Young had done well with this blues rock style just a few years before, meaning this album is surplus to requirement. 

But when it’s surplus to a career-best period for Young, especially after the rough decade he had with Geffen Records, it’s a joy to listen to. Opener Big Time is phenomenal. A moody classic which has all those usual charms from Young in full motion. That’s all listeners could want from Young at the time of this release, the Geffen storm now weathered and the Old Man hitmaker returning to his bluesy charms. But there is more depth to Broken Arrow than just continuing the expected, likeable sound. Contemplative moments which touch on Briggs’ death are found in the mentions of “eternity” on Big Time. What lies beyond, what we should do before death, it’s all there on a bed of floaty instrumentals and roaringly brilliant guitar solos. There’s a respectable gloominess to Broken Arrow which neither overwhelms the listener with grief nor understates the loss of Briggs.  

Young and Crazy Horse get the balance right by heading back to their roots. You can hear as much in the instrumental close to Loose Change, a repetitive but wonderful, guitar-led piece of work. Tremendous instrumental spirit is what guides much of Broken Arrow. Slip Away is a titan of a song, floaty songs of endearing and entertaining quality. Even the lightest moments of Broken Arrow, Changing Highways in particular, have an essential essence to them. Changing route, a switch on the road, is sometimes necessary. Young calls on us to change lanes before we cause a crash with some light and loose blues rock. Essential listening for those who need to hear stories from a seasoned veteran of travel, of hard nosing the highway as one of Young’s peers called it.  

Briggs’ passing is not the only influence on Broken Arrow, of course. Some tear-jerking moments ask a listener to take care of themselves despite the hardships, like Music Arcade. It’s a career-best moment from Young, that and Big Time. It’s the setting, the honesty, and delivery which brings out the best in Broken Arrow. A sorely overlooked part of Young’s discography which, for those who are wanting more of the blues rock brilliance, is an absolute must listen. Songs for the lost and for those who were found. Young writes immaculately here, and the instrumentals paired with them are perfect. It pulls out the very best of Young and Crazy Horse. The fact they were able to bring about the tenderness featured so heavily here after so many years apart is nothing short of miraculous work. Closing song Baby What You Want Me to Do, a cover of the Jimmy Reed classic, is a beautiful way to end. An album with real heart, and hope at its core.