[.ca] Hawks & Doves

Peaceful Young:
1980's Hawks & Doves is one of Neil Young's most underrated albums. The follow-up release to Rust Never Sleeps, the album moves away from the power chords to an acoustic base. The album clocks in at less than a half an hour with most of the nine songs at under three minutes. The original album was broken up into two sides, the first side acoustic and the second side with a full country band. "The Old Homestead" is a rambling track with some of the most mysterious lyrics of Mr. Young's career. It's tough to get a sense of where he's going with the song, but it is intriguing none-the-less. "Lost In Space" is the a truly bizarre track complete with vocals from the marine munchkins. "Captain Kennedy" is a the stand-out track on the album. A dark and foreboding song about a young soldier heading to war. While he's on the water approaching shore he remembers his father who was shamed in battle by having the wooden schooner he captained blown up by the Germans. As he's done remembering his father he hopes his fates are different when reaches the shore and he hopes he can kill good. The song is one of Mr. Young's all-time best. The songs with the country band are filled with fiddles and hooting and hollering like a real hoe-down. "Union Man" is funny and the best of the bunch. Hawks & Doves was generally spurned by critics and the public, but it is a fine example of how Neil Young marches to the beat of his own drummer and isn't afraid to follow wherever his muse takes him.

Unpredictable, but that's why we love him:
At a half-hour, this is hardly a bargain purchase, but think of it more like an EP of stray--but still connected--thoughts following the brutal "Rust Never Sleeps" era. The first side of the original album is, as most agree here, the superior one, consisisting of several quiet, mystical hippie-folk numbers that were actually written and recorded in the mid-70s. The melodicism here is Young at his absolute best, and he could've filled the second side with even more great 70s outtakes from the lost "Homegrown" sessions. Instead, he contrasted the spacey, meditative nature of the first side with all those down'n'dirty hoedown country-rock songs, full of empty patriotism and praises for the "simple way of life". He was criticized (as usual) at the time for veering so far from his last work into what seemed like Republican babble, but I see this as Young being *very* ironic and singing from a certain character perspective, rather than his actual thoughts at the time--remember that he is contrasting thoughts and images here, especially with those beautiful, wistful sentiments from side one. His actual "Republican" phase, from '83-'85, was vastly misunderstood, did not last long anyway, and he came back to his old self more vengeful than ever on "Freedom" and "Ragged Glory". "Hawks And Doves" seemed to predict the emotional tension that seethed at the core of the country at the start of the 80s, and is perhaps even more relevant today as that gap has grown much, much wider. One indication of this album's quality are the thoughtful reviews given to it here by its supporters; rarely on Amazon or anywhere else do the meanings of the words become such a forum for intense discussion, analysis and debate than on the Neil Young pages.

His First Worst Album:
Let's face it Ol' Neil is somewhat of a split personality. In the case of this album he must have smoked way to much bad pot and mellowed to the point of rotting. If you like this album you will love Silver and Gold, another burned out country western collection. Face it folks, we have Neil the rocker who is by far one of my favorites, then we have Neil the burnout cowboy. If you like Zuma, Freedom, Rust Never Sleeps, and the jammin' stuff stay clear of this collection.

Comes a time for this one, too.:
This is a much-overlooked Neil Young classic. Released two years after his triumphant 'Rust Never Sleeps' trilogy of album, film and 'Live Rust' anthology, 'Hawks and Doves' returned to the pre-'Rust Never Sleeps' sounds of 'Comes a Time'. Although the CD closes with a number titled 'Hawks and Doves', it is clear that the title is also an apt description of the aural content of the complete work. Originally released on vinyl in 1980, side one is the 'Doves' side. It features some lovely acoustic music, especially tracks one and three. 'Little Wing' (not the Jimi Hendrix composition) and 'Lost In Space' occupy a light, airy, stream-of-consciousness perch that few artists ascend to. The longest track on the disc, 'The Old Homestead', is actually a mid-1970's Neil composition. It runs almost eight minutes in length, and contains a great deal of difficult-to-make-sense-of imagery, such as "Just then the sound of hoofbeats was heard, and the sky was darkened by a prehistoric bird, who flew between the unfulfilled moon, and the naked rider to a telephone booth". Like abstract art, you could spend more than a few hours drawing meaning from this one. The closer on side one is 'Captain Kennedy'. I'm not anything near to being an expert in musical structure, but this song sure sounds like a knock-off of The Blind Fiddler, a traditional folk tune used by Stephen Stills on his 1991 'Stills Alone' CD. It's a fine melody and Neil's lyrics are interesting, but I wonder how conscious the similarity is. While side one sticks with the soft acoustics of Neil's voice and guitar, side two is a country-rock patriotic party... the 'Hawks' side. Interestingly, this album accompanied one of the most desperate times in our nation's history in terms of self-confidence and economic prosperity. Neil gives the nation all it needs with optimistic, upbeat songs such as 'Stayin' Power' ("We got stayin' power, you and I, stayin' power through thick and thin"), 'Coastline' ("we don't back down from no trouble"), 'Union Man' ("I'm proud to be a union man"), 'Comin' Apart at Every Nail' ("Oh this country sure looks good to me"), and 'Hawks and Doves' ("Ready to go, willing to stay and pay, U.S.A., U.S.A."). It's one great album side, with Neil churning and turning up the electric guitar another notch with each song, and the fiddle that just says "down home America" will fetch a smile to your face as it explodes in each song. Hillary O'Brien deserves special mention for providing exquisite backing vocals on side two of the vinyl version of this album. She plays the Nicolette Larson role from 'Comes a Time' for this memorable set. Also of note is Levon Helm's drums on 'The Old Homestead'. I'm rating this a four primarily due to the severely limited length of the album. It comes in at under thirty minutes, and eight minutes are devoted to the weakest track on the album. 'Little Wing', 'Stayin' Power', and 'Union Man' barely crack two minutes, so this one is over before you know it. The songs are vintage though, and the liner notes include the lyrics.

An Excellent Album - Bumper stickers should be issued:
Finally it is here! This album went from being my least favorite to my all time favorite, so it may be an acquired taste. After you have tired of Harvest, Gold Rush, Tonights the Night, then listen to this and On the Beach. The second side (songs 5 - 9) is perhaps the greatest conceptual jam ever.

• Little Wing
• Old Homestead
• Lost in Space
• Captain Kennedy
• Stayin' Power
• Coastline
• Union Man
• Comin' Apart at Every Nail
• Hawks & Doves