| Storytone | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Neil Young |
| Cover: | Neil Young - Storytone.jpg |
| Genre: | |
| Length: | 37:05 (solo) (mixed pages) |
| Label: | Reprise |
| Producer: |
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| Prev Title: | A Letter Home |
| Prev Year: | 2014 |
| Next Title: | The Monsanto Years |
| Next Year: | 2015 |
Storytone is the 36th studio album by Canadian-American musician Neil Young, released on November 4, 2014 on Reprise Records.[2] The album was released in two formats: a single disc, which features orchestral and big band arrangements of the songs, and a deluxe edition which includes stripped-back recordings of the songs. Young subsequently released a third version of the album, Mixed Pages of Storytone, merging elements of both, later in the year.
Storytone is the second studio album Neil Young released in 2014, following the predominantly lo-fi release A Letter Home.[3]
In March 2014, Neil Young expressed interest in recording an album alongside an orchestra, stating: "I'd like to make a record with a full-blown orchestra, live – a mono recording with one mic. I want to do something like that where we really record what happened, with one point of view and the musicians moved closer and farther away, the way it was done in the past. To me that's a challenge and it's a sound that's unbelievable, and you can't get it any other way."[4]
During Neil Young and Crazy Horse's summer tour, the band performed a new track, entitled "Who's Gonna Stand Up?", which subsequently appeared on the album, without Crazy Horse.
Many of the album's tracks were inspired by Young's burgeoning romance with actress Daryl Hannah, and his divorce from his wife of thirty-six years, Pegi Young. Regarding the tracks, Young stated: "These songs were written during a period of profound change in my life. Everything I want to share is there."[5] The songs "Glimmer" and "I'm Glad I Found You" fit this theme. In a 2021 post to his website, Young describes "Glimmer", a song about missing old love, and finding new love, as the "essence of Storytone, telling the tale. In another post from 2020, referring to "I'm Glad I Found You", he states "In life, you can't have too many love songs. "I'm Glad I Found You" is just that, a true love song."
Young's collaborators for the album, conductors Michael Bearden and Chris Walden noted the impact of Young's life changes on the music and his desire to try a new approach to recording. Says Bearden, "He took himself out of his comfort zone. He basically told us to do what we felt." Walden continues, "He went through some changes in his private life, which is always a fruitful time for new songs. So apparently a lot of these recent personal experiences went into these songs." Bearden adds, "It's a big ball of vulnerability, and that's what I love about it."[6]
The lyrics to "Plastic Flowers" imagine an encounter with Mother Nature's daughter. Young revisits the imagery in a 2021 post on his website: "I remember the look she gave me when I showed her some plastic flowers in my rolling log cabin. Shortly after that when I first recognized her and saw who she was, my life was changed forever. Mother Nature's daughter."
"Who's Gonna Stand Up?" is a call to action to protect and preserve the earth. In a 2019 post on the Neil Young Archives website, he states "We have to help Earth, so she can help us. Where Science and truth take on the Devil and money, the song is about us." The song was released as a single.
At a 2014 concert, Young discusses the theme of "When I Watch You Sleeping" and his current state of mind, tying the bliss of his new relationship with his environmental concerns:
Writing on his official website, Young detailed the recording of the two versions of Storytone:
For the first time, Young performed the songs on the orchestral album without playing guitar or piano, allowing him to focus on his vocals. He recorded his vocals holding a microphone standing in front of the ensemble, Frank Sinatra style.[7] Young explains to Charlie Rose:
The album debuted at No. 33 on Billboard 200,[8] No. 2 on Folk Albums,[9] and No. 4 on Top Rock Albums,[10] selling 10,768 copies in its first week.[11] It has sold 40,000 copies in the US as of June 2015.[12]
The album has a 60 out of 100 Metascore from Metacritic, indicating "Mixed or average reviews". Robert Christgau suggested in 2018 that he appreciated the album and may have underrated it at the time of its release, writing it "showed up in my Neither file, which these days is kind of an honor, because I seldom add to it now that I don't feel obliged to nail down every possible Honorable Mention."[13]
All songs written and composed by Neil Young.
Additional roles