Neil Young’s latest and 34th solo album, Le Noise, reminds us all that you really need is a mic and a guitar. Well, and having Daniel Lanois as your producer doesn’t hurt either. The album, comprising only Young and an electric guitar, is simply captivating Le Noise touches on a lifetime of bad mistakes, regrets, thoughts on war, and other remnants of a long, but ultimately gratifying life. Who else could write a heartfelt, simple ballad called “Love and War” that doesn’t sound at all cloy or self-important. Lanois takes Young’s music and adds in sonic washes of echoes, reverb and other effects to fill out the body of the song. Aptly described by Young as “folk-metal,” Le Noise is a folk album at its core that has gone electric without losing any of its rough edges. – Written by DBosket
SIMILAR | Nick Cave, Damien Jurado, Pearl Jam, Royal City, Tom Waits