![]() Side one of the album recalls the pop-folk sound of "Comes a Time," complete with the resonant, country-tinged background vocals of Nicolette Larson, while side two crackles with intentional feedback and distortion worthy of "American Stars and Bars" or "Zuma." Side two is so electrically charged, in fact, that two of the songs ("Powderfinger" and "Sedan Delivery") were offered to Lynyrd Skynyrd for possible use on the "Street Survivors" album, which turned out to be their last. Young is fascinated with both the mellow and the maniacal strains in rock music. "My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)" in which he declares "It's better to burn out than it is to rust." It then became the inspiration for the album's opening cut. ![]() For example, while the phrase "rust never sleeps" actually came from an advertisement for a rustproofing compound, Young appropriated it as a metaphor for the decline of rock 'n' roll. This ability to move from the sublime to the silly serves Young well: He has a comedian's appreciation of inanity for its own sake, and, on "rust Never Sleeps," he is willing to indulge the lighter side.īehind the foolishness, however, there often lurks a legitimate message. They had given all they had for something new Īnd the water shone like diamonds in the dew.Īnd just when sentimentality threatens to set in, Young shifts the emphasis with a ditty like "Ride My Llama," which is more an idle musing than a serious song. On "Thrasher," the album's best cut, Young brings all his poetic powers to bear on one cryptically rendered scene, which slowly evolves into an autobiographical ballad: ![]() His best songs convert lyrics into notes, and notes into lyrics, to produce a poetry of sorts, which, like the finest verse, stubbornly resists all attempts at dissection. "Rust Never Sleeps" (Warner-Reprise HS 2295) is further testimony to Neil Young's command of the subtle language of rock 'n' roll. ![]() By John Rabb All lyrics Copyright (c) Silver Fiddle (BMI). ![]()
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