Freedom (Neil Young album)

Freedom
Studio album by Neil Young
Released	October 2, 1989
Recorded	July 25, 1988–July 10, 1989
Studio	The Barn-Redwood Digital, Arrow Ranch, Woodside, California; Jones Beach, New York (track 1); The Hit Factory, New York City (tracks 3 5 8)
Genre	Heartland rock, hard rock
Length	61:11
Label	Reprise
Producer	Neil Young, Niko Bolas
Neil Young chronology

Freedom is the 17th studio album by Canadian musician Neil Young, released on October 2, 1989. Freedom effectively relaunched Young's career after a largely unsuccessful decade. After many arguments (and a lawsuit), Young left Geffen Records in 1988 and returned to his original label, Reprise, with This Note's for You. Freedom, however, brought about a new, critical and commercially successful album. This album was released in the United States as an LP record and a CD in 1989.

Production

The eclectic nature of the album can be accounted for the different recording sessions the music originated from. Three songs on Freedom ("Don't Cry," "Eldorado" and "On Broadway") had previously been released on the Japan and Australia-only EP Eldorado. Two other songs ("Crime in the City" and "Someday") had been recorded in 1988 with the rhythm-and-blues-oriented Bluenotes band from Young's previous album This Note's for You. Neil Young explains the wide array of music in the album thus: "I knew that I wanted to make a real album that expressed how I felt. I just wanted to make a Neil Young record per se. Something that was just me, where there was no persona, no image, no distinctive character like the Bluenotes guy or the guy in Everybody's Rockin'. It's the first time I've felt like doing an album like this in years." Although he originally planned to release a purely electric rock album ("nothing but abrasiveness from beginning to end"), Young says the final product is "almost like listening to the radio - it keeps changing and going from one thing to another."^[1]

Freedom contains one song, "Rockin' in the Free World", that bookends the album in acoustic and electric variants, a stylistic choice previously featured on Rust Never Sleeps. An edited cut of the electric version of the song was used over the final credits of Michael Moore's film Fahrenheit 9/11, and the song was re-released as a single at the time of the film's release.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[2]
Robert Christgau	A^[3]
Rolling Stone	^[4]

Freedom has received mainly positive reviews, especially in comparison to the rest of his '80s work. AllMusic's William Ruhlmann rated the album four-and-a-half out of five stars, explaining that it "was the album Neil Young fans knew he was capable of making, but feared he would never make again." He also stated that "there were tracks that harked back to [his] acoustic-based, country-tinged albums."^[2] Robert Christgau, writing for The Village Voice, rated it an A. He declared that it contains a combination of "the folk ditties and rock galumph that made him famous" and "the Nashvillisms and horn charts that made him infamous." He also stated that "it features a bunch of good stuff about a subject almost no rocker white or black has done much with--crack".^[3] David Fricke of Rolling Stone rated it five out of five stars. He called it "the sound of Neil Young, another decade on, looking back again in anger and dread." He also explained that it is about "the illusion of freedom" and "Young's refusal to accept that as the last word on the subject." He summed up the review by calling it "a harsh reminder that everything still comes with a price."^[4]

AllMusic reviewer Matthew Greenwald offered strong praise for the second track, "Crime in the City", calling it "undoubtedly the centerpiece of the album", "cinematic in scope", and "one of Neil Young's most accomplished works".^[5] The album is ranked number 996 in All-Time Top 1000 Albums (3rd. edition, 2000) ^[6].

Track listing

All tracks written by Neil Young, except where noted.

Freedom^[7]
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Rockin' in the Free World" (Live acoustic)	3:38
2.	"Crime in the City (Sixty to Zero Part I)"	8:45
3.	"Don't Cry"	4:14
4.	"Hangin' on a Limb"	4:18
5.	"Eldorado"	6:03
6.	"The Ways of Love"	4:29
7.	"Someday"	5:40
8.	"On Broadway" (writers: Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller)	4:57
9.	"Wrecking Ball"	5:08
10.	"No More"	6:03
11.	"Too Far Gone"	2:47
12.	"Rockin' in the Free World" (Electric)	4:41

Personnel

Neil Young – vocals; acoustic guitar; electric guitar; harmonica; piano on 9
Chad Cromwell – drums
Rick "The Bass Player" Rosas – bass
Frank "Poncho" Sampedro – guitar on 2, 5 (as "Poncho Villa"), 9, 12; keyboards on 5, 7; mandolin on 11; vocals on 12
Ben Keith – alto saxophone on 2, 7; pedal steel guitar on 2, 6, 11; keyboards on 10, 12; vocals on 11

Additional personnel

Linda Ronstadt – vocals on 4, 6
Tony Marsico – bass on 10
Steve Lawrence – tenor saxophone on 2, 7
Larry Cragg – baritone saxophone on 2, 7
Claude Cailliet – trombone on 2, 7
John Fumo – trumpet on 2, 7
Tom Bray – trumpet on 2, 7

Technical

Neil Young – producer, mixing engineer
Niko Bolas – producer, recording engineer except on tracks 1 4, mixing engineer except on tracks 1 4
Tim Mulligan – digital engineer, recording engineer on 4
Harry Sitam – senior technical engineer
Dave Collins – digital editor
Doug Sax – digital mastering engineer
Dave Hewitt – recording engineer on 1, mixing engineer on 1

Charts

Weekly charts

Year	Chart	Position
1989	The Billboard 200 (U.S.)	35

Singles

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1989	"No More"	Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks	7
1989	"Rockin' in the Free World" (Electric)	Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks	2
1990	"Crime in the City" (Electric version)	Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks	34

Certifications

Organization	Level	Date
BPI – UK	Silver	December 2, 1989
CRIA – Canada	Gold	February 19, 1990
RIAA – U.S.	Gold	February 21, 1990

References

↑ https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/100-best-albums-of-the-eighties-150477/neil-young-freedom-58428/
1 2 Ruhlmann, William. Freedom – Neil Young at AllMusic. Retrieved 2 July 2004.
1 2 Christgau, Robert (October 31, 1989). "Consumer Guide: Neil Young: Freedom". The Village Voice. Retrieved 4 January 2012. Relevant portion also posted at "Neil Young: Freedom > Consumer Guide Album". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 10 March 2006.
1 2 Fricke, David (November 2, 1989). "Neil Young Lets 'Freedom' Ring". Rolling Stone (564): 91. Archived from the original on 2007-11-04. Retrieved 4 September 2007.
↑ Matthew Greenwald. "Crime in the City (Sixty to Zero, Pt. 1) – Neil Young". AllMusic. Retrieved March 5, 2012.
↑ "Rocklist". Retrieved July 22, 2018.
↑ Neil Young. Freedom. Reprise Records, 1989.

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[1] ttps://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/100-best-albums-of-the-eighties-150477/neil-young-freedom-58428/

[allmusic-2] 1 2 Ruhlmann, William. Freedom – Neil Young at AllMusic. Retrieved 2 July 2004.

[ChristgauCG-3] 1 2 Christgau, Robert (October 31, 1989). "Consumer Guide: Neil Young: Freedom". The Village Voice. Retrieved 4 January 2012. Relevant portion also posted at "Neil Young: Freedom > Consumer Guide Album". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 10 March 2006.

[RS-4] 1 2 Fricke, David (November 2, 1989). "Neil Young Lets 'Freedom' Ring". Rolling Stone (564): 91. Archived from the original on 2007-11-04. Retrieved 4 September 2007.

[5] Matthew Greenwald. "Crime in the City (Sixty to Zero, Pt. 1) – Neil Young". AllMusic. Retrieved March 5, 2012.

[6] "Rocklist". Retrieved July 22, 2018.

[Album-7] Neil Young. Freedom. Reprise Records, 1989.

Rolling Stone's Albums of the Year
1978–1979	1978 Rolling Stones – Some Girls 1979 Neil Young – Rust Never Sleeps
1980–1989	1980 The Clash – London Calling 1981 Rolling Stones – Tattoo You 1982 Bruce Springsteen – Nebraska 1983 R.E.M. – Murmur 1984 Bruce Springsteen – Born in the USA 1985 Talking Heads – Little Creatures 1986 Paul Simon – Graceland 1987 Bruce Springsteen – Tunnel of Love 1988 Midnight Oil – Diesel and Dust 1989 Neil Young – Freedom
1990–1999	1990 Sinead O'Connor – I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got 1991 R.E.M. – Out of Time 1992 R.E.M. – Automatic For The People 1993 Nirvana – In Utero 1994 Hole – Live Through This 1995 PJ Harvey – To Bring You My Love 1996 Beck – Odelay 1997 Bob Dylan – Time Out of Mind 1998 Lauryn Hill – The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill 1999 Rage Against The Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles
2000–2009	2000 Eminem – The Marshall Mathers LP 2001 Bob Dylan – Love and Theft 2002 Beck – Sea Change 2003 Outkast – Speakerboxxx/The Love Below 2004 Kanye West – The College Dropout 2005 Kanye West – Late Registration 2006 Bob Dylan – Modern Times 2007 M.I.A. – Kala 2008 TV On The Radio – Dear Science 2009 U2 – No Line On The Horizon
2010–present	2010 Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy 2011 Adele – 21 2012 Bruce Springsteen – Wrecking Ball 2013 Vampire Weekend – Modern Vampires of the City 2014 U2 – Songs of Innocence 2015 Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp a Butterfly 2016 Beyoncé – Lemonade 2017 Kendrick Lamar – DAMN.