Americana (Neil Young & Crazy Horse album)


Americana is the 31st studio album by Canadian / American musician Neil Young, released on June 5, 2012. The album was Young's first collaboration with backing band Crazy Horse since their 2003 album, Greendale, and its associated tour.

Background

American Songwriter quoted Young as saying this about the tone and intent of the album:

Critical reception

Americana received strongly polarized reviews from music critics. It holds an average score of 68 out of 100 at Metacritic, based on 31 reviews. Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune gave the album three-and-a-half out of four stars, writing that "Americana reveals the hard truth inside songs that have been taken for granted." Dan Forte, in Vintage Guitar, said "this may be his best since Rust ." Johnny Dee in his review for the magazine Classic Rock remarks how "Young has picked every song apart, reworked melody and lyrics and made them his own", making them better for it.
In a mixed review, Michael Hann of The Guardian found the album "impossibly pointless" and felt that some songs exhibit "sloppiness" and "unnecessary lengths". NME reviewer considers the album "largely sub-standard covers of folk songs."
Robert Christgau named Americana the best album of 2012 in his year-end list for The Barnes & Noble Review, and cited it as one of his top 25 albums of the 2010s decade.

Track listing

Personnel

;Crazy Horse
;Additional personnel
Americana Choir video

Weekly charts

Year-end charts