After a long period of unfocused weirdness, Young spotted grunge around the corner and declared unity with the loud, scruffy sounds coming from Seattle. The countryish ballads, such as the opening "Farmer John," get roaring Crazy Horse treatment, and the headbanging "F*!#in' Up" is the most self-effacing rock anthem since the Who recorded "I'm a Boy." Amid the clatter, though, there is beauty: Crazy Horse's sympathetic backup vocals turn "Mansion on the Hill" into a pretty pop song despite the electric guitars, and even the white noise that closes the 1990 album is soothing in a scream-therapy kind of way. --Steve Knopper |
