Angry World
Encyclopedia
"Angry World" is the fifth track from Neil Young
's 2010 album Le Noise
. The track features Young on guitar and vocals with no additional musicians. It was written by Young and was produced by Daniel Lanois
. It won the 2011
Grammy Award for Best Rock Song
and was nominated for Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance.
high above his guitar. There is a "buzz and crackle" to his "fuzzed-out" electric guitar and a loop
of the word 'angry' as background noise throughout the song. Young delivered the incomplete track to Lanois, who built the arrangement out of what was given to him.
two weeks prior to the September 28 release of the album, Le Noise. It was shot in black-and-white
in the home of producer Daniel Lanois by Adam CK Vollick. It contains a montage of images including Young performing and shots of belly dance
rs.
" by The Black Keys
, "Radioactive
" by Kings of Leon
, "Little Lion Man
" by Mumford & Sons
, and "Resistance
" by Muse
. It was also nominated for Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance but lost to Paul McCartney
's live version of "Helter Skelter" from Good Evening New York City
.
Despite more than 40 years as a recording artist, 31 studio album
s and eleven nominations since 2006, the Grammy was the first awarded to Young as a musician. His previous win, Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package
, was in 2010
for his art direction
for The Archives Vol. 1 1963–1972.
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
's 2010 album Le Noise
Le Noise
Le Noise is the thirty-third studio album by Canadian musician Neil Young, released in 2010. The album was recorded in Los Angeles and produced by Daniel Lanois...
. The track features Young on guitar and vocals with no additional musicians. It was written by Young and was produced by Daniel Lanois
Daniel Lanois
Daniel Lanois born September 19, 1951 in Hull, Quebec) is a Canadian record producer, guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. He has released a number of albums of his own work and has produced albums for a wide variety of artists, including Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Peter Gabriel, Emmylou Harris, Willie...
. It won the 2011
53rd Grammy Awards
The 53rd annual Grammy Awards were held on February 13, 2011, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. They were broadcast on CBS with a rating of 26.6 million viewers. Barbra Streisand was honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year two nights prior to the telecast on February 11. Nominations were...
Grammy Award for Best Rock Song
Grammy Award for Best Rock Song
The Grammy Award for Best Rock Song is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality songs in the rock music genre...
and was nominated for Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance.
Overview
"Angry World" was the first track to be released from Le Noise. The song, like the rest of the album, was recorded in the Los Angeles home of producer Daniel Lanois. Unaccompanied by other musicians Young's vocals, described as "howl[ing] venom", are mixedAudio mixing (recorded music)
In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
high above his guitar. There is a "buzz and crackle" to his "fuzzed-out" electric guitar and a loop
Music loop
In electroacoustic music, a loop is a repeating section of sound material. Short sections of material can be repeated to create ostinato patterns...
of the word 'angry' as background noise throughout the song. Young delivered the incomplete track to Lanois, who built the arrangement out of what was given to him.
Video
The video for "Angry World" was released on September 14, 2010 on stereogum.comStereogum
Stereogum was one of the first MP3 blogs. It was created by Scott Lapatine in January 2002 with a focus on independent and alternative music news, downloads, videos, and gossip. Stereogum has received several awards and citations, including the 2008 Plug Award for best music blog, Blender's...
two weeks prior to the September 28 release of the album, Le Noise. It was shot in black-and-white
Black-and-white
Black-and-white, often abbreviated B/W or B&W, is a term referring to a number of monochrome forms in visual arts.Black-and-white as a description is also something of a misnomer, for in addition to black and white, most of these media included varying shades of gray...
in the home of producer Daniel Lanois by Adam CK Vollick. It contains a montage of images including Young performing and shots of belly dance
Belly dance
Belly dance or Bellydance is a "Western"-coined name for a traditional "Middle Eastern" dance, especially raqs sharqi . It is sometimes also called Middle Eastern dance or Arabic dance in the West, or by the Greco-Turkish term çiftetelli...
rs.
Grammy Award
In February 2011 "Angry World" won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Song. The other nominees were "Tighten UpTighten Up (The Black Keys song)
"Tighten Up" is the first single from The Black Keys album, Brothers, released on May 18, 2010. Dan Auerbach told The Sun how this song came about: "That was the last song we did for the record...
" by The Black Keys
The Black Keys
The Black Keys are an American rock duo consisting of vocalist/guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer/producer Patrick Carney. The band was formed in Akron, Ohio, in 2001. As of October 2011, the band has sold over 2 million albums in the U.S....
, "Radioactive
Radioactive (Kings of Leon song)
"Radioactive" is a song by American rock band Kings of Leon, and is the first single to be released from their 2010 album Come Around Sundown. It is the second track on the album....
" by Kings of Leon
Kings of Leon
Kings of Leon is an American rock band that originated in Albion, Oklahoma but formed in Nashville, Tennessee in 1999. The band is composed of brothers Anthony Caleb Followill , Ivan Nathan Followill and Michael Jared Followill Kings of Leon is an American rock band that originated in Albion,...
, "Little Lion Man
Little Lion Man
"Little Lion Man" is the debut single by London folk quartet Mumford & Sons released from their debut album, Sigh No More. It was released in the UK 11 August 2009....
" by Mumford & Sons
Mumford & Sons
Mumford & Sons are a British folk rock band. The band consists of Marcus Mumford , Ben Lovett , Country Winston Marshall , and Ted Dwane...
, and "Resistance
Resistance (song)
-Chart performance:On 21 February 2010, "Resistance" entered the UK Rock Chart at #2. Following from its success on the Rock Chart, on 28 February 2010, the single entered the UK Singles Chart as a new entry at #38, beating previous single: "Undisclosed Desires", which only peaked at #49....
" by Muse
Muse (band)
Muse are an English alternative rock band from Teignmouth, Devon, formed in 1994. The band consists of school friends Matthew Bellamy , Christopher Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard...
. It was also nominated for Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance but lost to Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
's live version of "Helter Skelter" from Good Evening New York City
Good Evening New York City
Good Evening New York City is a CD/DVD double live album by Paul McCartney consisting of material performed over three nights as the inaugural concert at New York City's Citi Field, 17, 18 and 21 July 2009, part of his Summer Live '09 concert tour. Over 180,000 tickets were sold within hours of the...
.
Despite more than 40 years as a recording artist, 31 studio album
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
s and eleven nominations since 2006, the Grammy was the first awarded to Young as a musician. His previous win, Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package
Grammy Award for Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package
The Grammy Award for Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package has been presented since 1995. The award has had several minor name changes:*From 1995 to 1997 the award was known as Best Recording Package - Boxed...
, was in 2010
52nd Grammy Awards
The 52nd Annual Grammy Awards took place on January 31, 2010, at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Neil Young was honored as the 2010 MusiCares Person of the Year on January 29, two days prior to the Grammy telecast. Only ten of the 109 awards were received during the broadcast...
for his art direction
Art director
The art director is a person who supervise the creative process of a design.The term 'art director' is a blanket title for a variety of similar job functions in advertising, publishing, film and television, the Internet, and video games....
for The Archives Vol. 1 1963–1972.
Personnel
- Neil YoungNeil YoungNeil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
– guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments... - Daniel LanoisDaniel LanoisDaniel Lanois born September 19, 1951 in Hull, Quebec) is a Canadian record producer, guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. He has released a number of albums of his own work and has produced albums for a wide variety of artists, including Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Peter Gabriel, Emmylou Harris, Willie...
– producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...