Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Weld (2 CD) + Arc

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Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Weld (2 CD) + Arc

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Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Weld (2 CD) + Arc
1991 Reprise | CD#: 9 26671-2 [for Weld] - CD#: 7 599-26769-2 [for Arc]
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Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Weld (2 CD) + Arc

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Weld is a live album and concert video by Neil Young & Crazy Horse released in 1991, comprising performances recorded on the tour to promote the Ragged Glory album. Initially released as a limited edition three-disc set entitled Arc-Weld, with the Arc portion being a single disc consisting in its entirety of a sound collage of guitar noise and feedback, with equally discordant backing by the Horse, undoubtedly influenced by Young's choice of Sonic Youth as his opening act. Arc has since been released as a separate title.

Weld consists of rock and roll songs by Young and Crazy Horse, duplicating seven that had appeared on either Rust Never Sleeps or Live Rust from twelve years earlier. It also echoes those albums as Young, in both cases having spent most of a previous decade pursuing different musical avenues, returned to straightforward rock and roll via the acclaimed Ragged Glory album with Crazy Horse, then celebrating that return with an accompanying multi-disc live document and concert film. An interesting cut on this album is Young's "Gulf War" version of Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind", which had air raid sound effects.

Neil Young claims that, while mixing this album, he permanently damaged his hearing.

There was a brief release of the concert featuring video footage on VHS, but there was no DVD release. The VHS tape is now and out-of-print collector's item.

[Wikipedia]

Weld, Neil Young's two-hour-plus double-CD chronicle of his 1991 Ragged Glory/Smell the Horse Tour with Crazy Horse, was received with only mild enthusiasm from Young's fans and rock critics, perhaps because it seemed redundant. Such warhorses as "Like a Hurricane" and "Cortez the Killer" were making their fourth appearances on a Young album, and the five songs from the Ragged Glory album were basically unchanged from their studio versions. Containing only 16 tracks, the album's songs averaged over seven and a half minutes in length, and that length was given over to extended guitar improvisations, which often were filled with feedback and distortion. Where Young's previous double live album, Live Rust, which bore some similarities to this one, was a career retrospective including some acoustic numbers, Weld was all electric rock with Crazy Horse. The one previously unreleased song was a Gulf War-era cover of Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind," complete with gunshots and exploding bombs. In retrospect, Weld seems like an excellent expression of one part of Young's musical persona, putting some of his best hard rock material onto one album. [Initially, Weld was released in a 25,000 copy limited-edition called Arc Weld (Reprise 26746) containing a third disc made up of guitar feedback and called "Arc."]

[AMG]

The cover says it all right there: Neil Young and his everlasting backup-rock band Crazy Horse between two gigantic stacks of Fender amplifiers ablaze on rock guitars and the shadow of a crowd in the front applauding. Rarely ever will you find a cover so directly showing what a record contains: the ultimate praise of the Fender / Gibson deity of rock’n’roll, waving the old ragged glory of the amplifier feedback, wallowing drunkenly in the big sound of a big stack. It is a mass for and of sound for the true worshippers of rock as big as the mountains ranging from the canadian woods to the deserts in the Southwest.

Neil Young has always been the guitar hero. From the re-enlisting of the most prominent Keith Richards-riff for „Mr. Soul“ when he still was with Hippie-faves Buffalo Springfield to the epitome of guitar solos around „Everybody knows this is nowhere“ (I know, fans would argue, but that is my Young favorite album of that time) down to rock-anthems such as „Rocking in a free world“ two years before „Weld“. The latter song especially becoming emblematic, a deft statement and a rethoric question demanding an answer along the lines of „well, of course. What else?“. Yes, rocking in a free world – and that was what’s to come. The year after „Freedom“ brought „Ragged Glory“ with Crazy Horse and a small glimpse of what was to come live. Distorted sounds of the most typical rockband set up including the instruments and the instrumentation but rather than riffing or rocking out more interested in laying chords over each other in a big wave of sound. And the stage shows were big. Not in effects, not in big as in video walls, choreography or design. There were just four men between middle-aged and old, flannel shirts, longish hair, with bad shaves and the look and feel of too many hangovers and too little sleep. Until they turn on the amplifiers. Then it starts to burn.

The first sound on the record are some scratches on the guitar, probing the echo, seeing if it is really turned on, and these are already big. Like in really really big. Then the opening notes of „Hey hey, my my“ and the fans starting to applaud. A simple riff, drums big in the back, second guitar and bass on and the sound nothing but massive. A good opener, starting with the lines „rock’n’roll will never die“. The guitars sound so distorted you think the recording level on the tape was too high, which is impossible of course. Means it was intended that way. Out of the blue and into the black.

As a live double album „Weld“ has all the hits of course. There is your „Cinnamon Girl“ and „Cortez the Killer“, there’s your „Like a hurricane“ as well as „Hey hey, my my“ and so on. There are also some cover versions, but neither these nor the hits are the main focus. Record one ends on the rather non descript „F*!#in Up“ and record two on the equally non-legendary „Roll another number“. Because the true star of the album is the killer guitar sound. It is here from the beginning and stays untill the end. It reaches its first climax in the intro of „Blowin’ in the wind“ with solo guitar sounds ranging from fire siren, machine guns to fighter jet. A big monolith of distortion and destruction. And it goes on like that, with the true highlighits in this respect during moments in the non-hits. Shining gold, melted and blinding like the sun.

And in between all that the ragged and dusty voice of Neil Young, who admittedly never was much of a singer. Vocals, lyrics and singing were always rather a necessary addition to the vision of song Young obviously had in mind. Ten years earlier he hid a few lines here and there between quarter hour guitar solos, here now he tried to hide them underneath crashing waves of sound.

What should not be missed is the importance of self restraint and experience you need for rockmusic. If one part of the band starts to freak out and go wild then the whole thing breaks apart. So in trite and superficial bands there is usually a set up with defined places for members to go wild, usually on a solo. Neil Young and Crazy Horse are a different breed altogether. They know each other, they know their songs, what will happen and when. Amidst all the burning chaos and distortion they know their path and the plan, which is amazing, and they stick to it. Like any good fusion powerplant a lot of control is needed. So they can check into that weird little waltz-section during „Crime in the City“.

The whole record is like that: ablaze with the energy and fire of rock’n’roll, burning from the bottom up but delivering the good of rock’n’oll. A true modern epic. And never boring, not for a single minute.

[Monochrom.org]

For those of you who didn't get quite enough feedback, arena reverb, or raw electricity from 1991's live Weld album to suit your tastes, Neil Young thoughtfully compiled this bizarre aural document. Originally included as a bonus disc on early versions of Weld, Arc is 35 minutes of stray guitar explosions, feedback screeches, stage announcements, and drum checks, all edited together to form a continuous (and actually rather compelling) listening experience. Call it Neil's delayed reaction to Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music, or think of it as his personal scrapbook of the Ragged Glory tour. Either way, you probably won't play it very often, but it's still a nice oddity to have in your Neil collection.

[Amazon]

A 35-minute "compilation compositor" by Neil Young, Arc consists of a series of excerpts from 1991 concerts by Young & Crazy Horse strung together. Young has taken the tune-ups and outros, the guitar feedback, and random playing and singing from various songs and shows, and constructed a nearly atonal sound collage. Now and then, he is heard singing a verse or two from "Like a Hurricane" or another song, but for the most part, Arc sounds like a band preparing to play a song that never actually begins or trying to end one that has not been heard. As such, the album ranks with such studies in noise as Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music. [Initially, Arc was released in a 25,000-copy limited edition called Arc Weld (Reprise 26746) containing the two discs making up the live album Weld.]

[AMG]

If you like your Neil Young rough, and tough.

I had misgivings after reading the reviews on ARC about buying this one. I am very happy with this, having listened to it once, before writing this and now again as we go. This album is truely everything the previous reviewers say good and bad. I can sympathize and see where someone is coming from who doesn't like this. If you do not think this is a good album you will probably think it is complete junk. If you prefer Neil's softer music, the stuff, say without Crazy Horse, don't bother with this. If your looking to hear some meaningful lyrics try something else. If you like your Neil, rougher the better, than give this a go. Even then you will not know whether you like it until you hear it, and these reviews, negative or positive, can not give this justice. Neil always trys to take a different approach or comes up with a completely knew one, from things he has done in the past, sometimes that means taking things to the limit and maybe beyond. Neil's tendency to play the opus, love of distortion, his focus here on feedback and ability to take things all the way to the limit and the hell what anyone thinks, are all fused together in ARC, grinding through here, maybe in its ultimate form. We should all know by the name ARC and the albums relation to the Weld album, but seperate release that even Neil new this was a different animal, and not for everyone. The title envisions metal, grime, industry, rawness and extreme energy and that is what you'll get here.

Nobody seems to accuse him of being stuck in a rut with anything he does. Different is not always good or entertaining to me, I am a big Beatles fan but really dislike both the formentioned Wonderwall album and Revolution #9. They just seemed to lack any art or emotion. But I like this, maybe it was Neil's mood at the time, never cared for his politics, but I'm glad he lets it spill (pour) into his music. This will not make it into my regular music rotation, but I think if I ever feel the need to blow off some steam, I'll put it on and crank it. As I listen though this the second time I may yet have to change this to a five star. Hope this helps someone.

[Amazon user review]