Life (1987 album)
Encyclopedia
Life is the sixteenth studio album
by Canadian musician Neil Young
, his fourth with Crazy Horse
, Young's first with his erstwhile backing band since 1981's Re-ac-tor
, and Young's last release on the Geffen
label.
The first three tracks all handle the topic of world politics, and ponder the role of the United States in the world. "Long Walk Home," for example, empathizes with troops under deployment overseas. Though in response to the foreign policy issues of the time (Beirut
, Qaddafi
), Young found new meaning in these songs in the context of the war on terror and the occupation of Iraq. During his "Freedom of Speech" tour in support of Living with War
, Young posted videos of these three songs on his website, http://www.neilyoung.com/lwwtoday/index.html. The "Mideast Vacation" and "Long Walk Home" videos were later released on the DVD
included with the album Living with War: In the Beginning
. The performances are from his 1986 tour with Crazy Horse and are labeled as being "From Neil Young Archives
Volume 3," a highly anticipated but perennially unreleased series of box sets chronicling Young's career.
Most of the album was recorded live in concert at the Universal Amphitheatre in Universal City, CA on November 18 and 19, 1986. "Mideast Vacation", "Around The World" and "When Your Lonely Heart Breaks" were recorded on the 18th, "Inca Queen", "Too Lonely" and "Prisoners Of Rock 'N' Roll" were recorded on the 19th. "Long Walk Home" is a mix of recordings from both these dates.
The song "We Never Danced" had made its first appearance on the soundtrack to the 1987 film Made in Heaven
, in a version by Martha Davis of the Motels
.
.
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...
by Canadian musician Neil Young
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...
, his fourth with Crazy Horse
Crazy Horse (band)
Crazy Horse is an American rock band best known for its association with Neil Young. It has been co-credited on a number of albums throughout Young's career and has released five albums of its own.-Early years:...
, Young's first with his erstwhile backing band since 1981's Re-ac-tor
Re-ac-tor
Re-ac-tor is the eleventh studio album by Canadian musician Neil Young, and his third with Crazy Horse, released in 1981. The album married the electric guitar crunch of the late '70s Crazy Horse sound with early '80s new wave rhythms...
, and Young's last release on the Geffen
Geffen Records
Geffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operated as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-Beginnings:...
label.
The first three tracks all handle the topic of world politics, and ponder the role of the United States in the world. "Long Walk Home," for example, empathizes with troops under deployment overseas. Though in response to the foreign policy issues of the time (Beirut
1983 Beirut barracks bombing
The Beirut Barracks Bombing occurred during the Lebanese Civil War, when two truck bombs struck separate buildings housing United States and French military forces—members of the Multinational Force in Lebanon—killing 299 American and French servicemen...
, Qaddafi
Operation El Dorado Canyon
The 1986 United States bombing of Libya, code-named Operation El Dorado Canyon, comprised the joint United States Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps air-strikes against Libya on April 15, 1986. The attack was carried out in response to the 1986 Berlin discotheque bombing.-Origins:Shortly after his...
), Young found new meaning in these songs in the context of the war on terror and the occupation of Iraq. During his "Freedom of Speech" tour in support of Living with War
Living With War
Living with War is the twenty-ninth Grammy and Juno Award-nominated studio album by Canadian musician Neil Young, released in 2006. The album's lyrics, titles, and conceptual style are highly critical of the policies of the George W. Bush administration; the CTV website defined it as "a musical...
, Young posted videos of these three songs on his website, http://www.neilyoung.com/lwwtoday/index.html. The "Mideast Vacation" and "Long Walk Home" videos were later released on the DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
included with the album Living with War: In the Beginning
Living with War: In the Beginning
Living with War: "In the Beginning" is the thirtieth studio album by Neil Young, released in 2006. It is stripped-down version of Young's 2006 album Living with War. The original title of this particular CD/DVD release, according to a press release, was called Living with War - Raw...
. The performances are from his 1986 tour with Crazy Horse and are labeled as being "From Neil Young Archives
Neil Young Archives
The Neil Young Archives is a series of archival releases by singer-songwriter Neil Young which feature previously released as well as unreleased studio and live recordings. The project has been long in the making – work began in the late 1980s...
Volume 3," a highly anticipated but perennially unreleased series of box sets chronicling Young's career.
Most of the album was recorded live in concert at the Universal Amphitheatre in Universal City, CA on November 18 and 19, 1986. "Mideast Vacation", "Around The World" and "When Your Lonely Heart Breaks" were recorded on the 18th, "Inca Queen", "Too Lonely" and "Prisoners Of Rock 'N' Roll" were recorded on the 19th. "Long Walk Home" is a mix of recordings from both these dates.
The song "We Never Danced" had made its first appearance on the soundtrack to the 1987 film Made in Heaven
Made in Heaven
Made in Heaven is the fifteenth studio album by British rock group Queen and the final one to feature lead singer Freddie Mercury and bassist John Deacon, released on 6 November 1995...
, in a version by Martha Davis of the Motels
The Motels
The Motels are a New Wave music band from the Los Angeles area best known for "Only the Lonely" and "Suddenly Last Summer", each of which peaked at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1982 and 1983, respectively. Their song "Total Control" reached #4 on the Australian charts in 1980...
.
Track listing
All songs written by Neil YoungNeil 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...
.
- "Mideast Vacation" – 4:21
- "Long Walk Home" – 4:56
- "Around the World" – 5:26
- "Inca Queen" – 7:56
- "Too Lonely" – 2:48
- "Prisoners of Rock 'N' Roll" – 3:12
- "Cryin' Eyes" – 2:52
- "When Your Lonely Heart Breaks" – 5:16
- "We Never Danced" – 3:37
Personnel
- Neil Young - guitar, harmonica, keyboards
- Crazy HorseCrazy Horse (band)Crazy Horse is an American rock band best known for its association with Neil Young. It has been co-credited on a number of albums throughout Young's career and has released five albums of its own.-Early years:...
- Poncho Sampedro - guitar, keyboards
- Ralph MolinaRalph MolinaRalph Molina is an American musician, best known as the drummer for Neil Young's backing band Crazy Horse.Born in Puerto Rico, Molina has been a member of Crazy Horse since they were formed in 1962 as Danny & the Memories. He has remained throughout the band's many personnel changes, and has...
- Ludwig drums - Billy TalbotBilly TalbotBilly Talbot is an American singer-songwriter and musician, best known as the bassist of Crazy Horse.-Music career:Born in New York City, Talbot started his musical career singing on street corners at the age of 14. He moved to New Jersey with his family the next year, and by 17 he had moved to...
- bass