Describing Neil Young’s style of music is like describing weather in the Midwest: if you don’t like it, wait five minutes.
One album, Young will be rocking out, balls to the wall; the next could be introspective country… or electronic music… or rockabilly. Whatever the case, you can say this much about Young’s muse: it certainly keeps one busy.
Silver & Gold, Young’s 33rd overall release, could easily have been the follow-up to Harvest Moon eight years prior. It might not be as strong in comparison to it or even its predecessor Harvest, but it’s a surprisingly pretty offering that many people overlooked—myself included. And I’ll take solid song craftsmanship and delivery over power any day.
In some aspects, Young tries to merge Harvest Moon with the country style of Old Ways, delivered with a more gentle vocal. The thing is, it works, and works well. Tracks like “Distant Camera,” “Good To See You” and the title track all capture Young quite possibly at the top of his craft.
Quite possibly the most telling track of where Young was at this stage in his life and career are found on “Buffalo Springfield Again,” a nod to the band that first allowed him to musically cut his teeth. Young acknowledges the quasar-like existence of the group: “Used to play in a rock & roll band / But they broke up / We were young and we were wild / It ate us up / Now, I ain’t sayin’ who was right or wrong.” Young has notoriously been a fierce protector of his music and craft; this the closest he’s come to a confession regarding his time in the ’60s and ’70s (whether it was deserved or not).
The lower timbre to his vocals serves Young and his music extremely well; the album’s closer “Without Rings” showcases just how good of a vocalist Young truly can be. That is not meant as a slam against the style he used on such songs as “Sugar Mountain,” “Heart Of Gold” or “Rockin’ In The Free World”; if anything, this opens new avenues for Young that he could explore.
What is sad is that, unless you’re a diehard fan of Young’s, Silver & Gold might not be part of your collection. And, if we’re 100 percent honest, I didn’t possess this one until just around Christmas 2024… and, brother, I learned what I’d been missing for nearly a quarter of a century. Just because this one didn’t get featured on the radio is no excuse for it being all but ignored. In a discography filled with hidden gems, this album is an absolute treasure.
