Neil Young has released his latest musical offering, "Living with War" to an online audience who can listen in for free. Kind of like a test drive before you purchase your own personal copy of what is shaping up to be a controversial little project.
The CD which will be officially released to the stores and download sites next week, has been creating a buzz over track seven on the recording, a tune called "Lets Impeach the President". It's a powerful indictment of the Bush presidency, with a driving guitar and powerful back beat, it's in the same vein as Country Joe and the Fish's "Fixin' to die rag" of the sixties.
It's a decidedly against the war song, that pulls no punches on what side of the debate Young finds himself on. When the lyrics of the song were first leaked out to the public, Fox News went positively apoplectic over the tone and timbre, going so far as to suggest that Mr. Young might be happier to relocate back north of the border from whence he came.
The first impression of a listening session is a straight ahead rocking Young back in fine form, in a genre he's mastered over the years, carrying the torch against injustice and hypocrisy. Restless Consumer with its refrain; "We don't need no more lies" gives you an idea at the sense of frustration that has enveloped him on this project.
His approach to this recording is a full fledged media assault, in addition to the free listening post provided, Young has a blog called "Living with War", which updates fans and the curious as to the latest happenings regarding the recording.
He has a MySpace site dedicated to the project giving another window into his thinking and what the project means to him.
Part of his Neil Young home site called Neil's Garage, has a lyrics page as well , it features clips from recent appearances ans stories on CNN and Fox News.
On the Reprise records site (Young's home label) there is an interview about what brought him into the studio to put together his record of unification as he calls it.
In the end though, all the blogs, websites and lyric sheets mean nothing without the music, and the music holds more than its own. It's a powerful record, timely in release and one that will give many pause to think, should they take the time to listen and absorb.
In a country that has tried to slow down the concept of free speech and right to protest of late, Young tackles the controversy head on, using what he knows best, a fascinating ability to voice the concerns of many over the erosion of civil rights in the USA, the growing gap between the rich and the poor, not to mention the fear of speaking out against the direction that the Bush Administration is taking the States.
If you're a fan of President Bush, this will no doubt make you rail with rage. If your think that George Bush is the most dangerous man in the world, the recording will probably become a holy grail for you.
However, if you just worry about our friends to the south and the current path they seem to be on in all of their endeavors, the recording will give you much to think about and hope for a return to a less suspicious and worrisome time for America and the world.
Living with War won't soothe you to sleep in troubled times, but it gives you pause to think about where we have come from, where were at and maybe where we are going.
You can listen to the recording in its entirety here.
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