The Five Best Neil Young Albums

Neil Young is one of the most eclectic and inventive musical souls ever to play a song in English, and over his expansive career he's had many huge albums both in sales and in artistic indulgence. He's also had a lot of crap.

For the beginning Neil Young listener (and the casual fan), here are five of Young's best efforts that no music collection should be without.

Rust Never Sleeps

For this album, Young recorded some concerts and stripped out as much of the crowd reaction as possible. It was all new material, and showed both sides of Neil Young; the first half is pensive, mellow, and acoustic, and the second half has some of Young's most ferocious rock songs, like the explosive Welfare Mothers. The album's two halves are juxtaposed well by the first and last tracks, which are drastically different versions of "Hey Hey, My My" (or "My My, Hey Hey", if you prefer). There's not a single bad song on this album, and in fact each track has enough power to completely change the way you think about songwriting and music. First time Neil Young listeners should put this album on repeat and prepare for a major life change.

Zuma

Opening with the raucous country tune Don't Cry No Tears, this Neily Young and Crazy Horse album was one of young's most kickass forays into Americana music and stands the test of time really well. It's got the stripped down feel of most of his albums, but the harmonies get really rich and the songs sound more planned out than on many of his other works. It's a great album that ends with one of Young's most harrowing tracks, the eight minute long Cortez the Killer.

Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere

From the stomping title track to the distortion-driven "Cinnamon Girl" to the harmony-led "Losing End", this is Neil Young's most consistent guitar album. Young's talent with an axe is accurately represented in this collection of 8 songs, and though it may be a bit brief, it's strong enough to warrant many, many repeat listenings.

Harvest