Track Listing

1. Old Laughing Lady
2. Mr. Soul
3. World on a String
4. Pocahontas
5. Stringman
6. Like a Hurricane
7. Needle and the Damage Done
8. Helpless
9. Harvest Moon
10. Transformer Man
11. Unknown Legend
12. Look Out for My Love
13. Long May You Run
14. From Hank to Hendrix

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10276 in Music
• Released on: 1993-06-15
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Live

Album Description
Japanese only SHM-CD (Super High Material CD - playable on all CD players) pressing. Warner. 2008.

Amazon.com
Based on past form ol' Neil should have been about ready to kiss off the sizeable audience he recaptured with Harvest Moon with an amp-shredding noisefest. Instead he aims to please here with vintage repertoire, the debut of a 1976 gem ("Stringman"), some tasty departures (the pump-organ "Like A Hurricane") and a heart-tugging "Helpless". The Unplugged backlash does not begin here. Jeff Bateman

Customer Reviews

Acoustic Young
Neil Young was unplugged before the MTV show become a phenomenon, so it was only natural that he make an appearance on the show. As usual, Mr. Young mixes up his set, playing new songs like "From Hank To Hendrix" and the sweet "Harvest Moon" to old chestnuts like the Buffalo Springfield's "Mr. Soul" and "The Old Laughing Lady" from his first solo album. While many of the songs like "The Needle & The Damage Done" & the brilliant "Pocahontas" were acoustic to begin with, there are songs that go under some radical transformations. "Like A Hurricane" was a fuzz guitar heavy, sonic blast, but here it is propelled by only Mr. Young's voice and an eerie pump organ. The results are outstanding. "Transformer Man" is from his electronic album, Trans, and the vocals were distorted by a vocoder. In it's acoustic form, it takes on a weird perspective with its futuristic lyrics. "Helpless" is absolutely gorgeous with lush harmonies led by old Crazy Horse member and current E Streeter, Nils Lofgren. Unplugged is one of the better album taken from the show and shows Neil Young's chameleon like ability to transform songs into different styles.

Wasn't he unplugged already?
Given Neil Young's huge catalog and its inclusion of so much acoustic material, you might think that 'unplugging' him would just amount to his doing a show of his acoustic songs. Well, that certainly would have been the easy way. But if Neil took the easy way, he wouldn't be the Neil we've come to know and love.

In fact, although there is a generous helping of material on this CD that was originally released in 'acoustic' form, there are also a number of surprises. For this show, Neil took several highly non-'acoustic' songs and converted them.

One of my favorites is his bluesy, wailing version of 'Mr. Soul'. Originally a Buffalo Springfield tune, this time it's just Neil with his guitar and harmonica. I also like the stripped-down, countryfolkified performances of 'Old Laughing Lady' and 'World on a String'.

And wait until you hear what he's done with 'Transformer Man'. Even if you didn't like it before, you may like it now.

There's also 'Like a Hurricane', a blistering rocker originally released on _American Stars 'n' Bars_ (which, incidentally, is now available on CD at last!). Here Neil performs it solo, accompanying himself on pump organ.

This show took place not long after the release of the magnificent _Harvest Moon_, so there are a couple of selections from that album. And the rest is what you'd expect -- a set of solid performances of old and new favorites, some well-known and some obscure, from all stages of Neil's long career. 'The Needle and the Damage Done', 'Look Out for My Love', 'Long May You Run' -- this stuff is never going to wear out its welcome.

One last highlight: Neil also does a fine tune called 'Stringman' (which I suspect is about Stephen Stills); I don't believe I'd ever heard it, or even heard _of_ it, before this release.

Brilliant performance
Neil Young has long been famous both as a master of the acoustic set and as a chameleon who has dipped into just about every other musical style you can name. In this set, he includes some tunes that were already pretty non-electric, but he also transforms some of his previous material radically. The electronic "Transformer Man" is nearly unrecognizable here, but--for my money anyway--superior to the studio version. The only problem with this collection is that it wasn't a two-disk set. Nevertheless, Neil puts together an interesting sampling of his long career, including such well-known numbers as "Like a Hurricane," "Pocahontas," and "Helpless," but also lesser-known gems like "Stringman" and the aforementioned "Transformer Man."