Fork in the Road - Neil Young

Neil Young is not the kind of guy to ponder and mull over an idea. I’m sure he woke up one day thinking, “Hey I should write a bunch of songs about my electric car.” Rather then consider his original thought and realize how silly the idea is, Neil Young brings us Fork In the Road.

If you are looking for deep intellectual songs on the worlds ills with complex and shifting music look elsewhere. If you are looking for spontaneous rock and roll album about the things in Neil’s head this minute, jump on in.

After a few listens it became clear that Fork In the Road is a bash of two forgotten Young albums Re-ac-tor and Everybody’s Rockin’. Remember those instant classics? No? Well that is your loss. Both the short album length and “Behind the Wheel” reference Everybody’s Rockin’ while I’m convinced “Cough up the Bucks” is a 2009 sequel to “T-Bone.”

We get songs about “big rock star whose sales have tanked,” and how “a song can’t change the world.” We get the repetitive titles of “Hit the Road,” “Off the Road,” and “Fork In the Road.” We get great off the cuff lyrics like “Where did all the money go, where did all the cash flow” and we get the first ever ballad about being stuck in traffic “Off the Road.” Outside of “Light A Candle” these are Crazy Horse style rock songs (without Crazy Horse this time), but the riffs are a little more syncopated then usual for Neil, so it all sounds a little funkier then when Neil plays with the Horse.

But the real winner here is “Johnny Magic.” In his best “Surfer Joe and Moe the Sleaze” style Neil tells the story of Johnny Magic the “motor head messiah” who invents a “Heavy Metal Continental.” This is just a dumb predictable rock and roll song with a group chorus of not only “Johnny Magic” but also “Wichita.” When Destiny enters the picture, I almost expected it to be his girl…though it isn’t this time…Neil you missed at least one cliché… If you can’t enjoy this, something is wrong with you.

I think that is what most critics missed about this album, is that it is supposed to be a dumb rock and roll record, not some treaties on electric cars or the environment. It is not Neil preaching, it is Neil having fun. Enjoy it for what it is.