Ever since he began his career, Neil Young has never shied away from taking a risk. Even though his discography contains a few oddball tracks that left listeners perplexed, he would have preferred to continue pursuing his artistic vision over creating music that he knew his audience would want to hear. That does not imply that he lacks insight, though. Young acknowledged that “Landing on Water” was not his best work during the 1980s.
Despite being one of the greatest musicians of the 1970s, Neil Young never felt fully at ease with the MTV generation. This man was well-known for depending on the song’s power. How was he supposed to adjust to a world where it was all about style and appearance on every video you created?
Granted, before MTV came along, the 1980s weren’t exactly off to the best start. Although “Rust Never Sleeps” and other albums helped Young wrap up the previous decade quite effectively, many fans were confused. “Reactor” and other albums confused them with the electronic directions he took.
The songs weren’t there when he finally got around to releasing videos. Using “Everybody’s Rockin‘” as a perfect way to retaliate against his label, Young made a bold statement. However, none of the 1950s rock pastiches are particularly enjoyable to listen to. Given the lack of sales of the records, Young surprised many by adapting to the circumstances in a way no one had ever believed he would.
In contrast to the wildly experimental genre work, Young truly took the time to consider the criticism he received. He then moved toward sonically more in-tune sounds. The only issue was that Young purposefully catered to the trends, making Landing on Water appear even worse. The album features some of the worst production of all of his albums and ideas of songs rather than fully developed songs.
Young was done with the record before it even had a chance to shine, telling Dave Fanning, “It’s a piece of crap.” Let’s speak the truth about it. It’s the same record as last year, so I’m at a loss for words. Every one of them is unique. I’m really happy with a few of the songs, but I was under a lot of pressure when I was recording. Although that record has some good tracks, I don’t think I would give that particular record to someone. If I were giving them one of my records, I’d choose something else.
Young’s dark streak wouldn’t exactly end after that. His work on the American Dream featured the most toothless songs he would ever write. Either they didn’t flesh them out enough or they kneecapped them with overly chipper production. He had made a promise to make a Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young record if David Crosby got clean.
An album like this would destroy any classic rocker. After the release of “Freedom,” Neil Young abruptly reverted to being the voice of the people. Once grunge took hold, he almost became the rock elder. Even though Young made a lot of mistakes throughout his career, Landing on Water is still one of his worst albums. Still, if he could pull off such an album, chances are good that nothing could have stopped him.
