Posted on 06/29/2009
While a saddening amount of his generation grew up to be sell-outs, Neil Young is one baby boomer that’s still down to protest. This time around his cause is alternative energy. Following the electric conversion of his own 1959 Lincoln Continental, Neil Young has dedicated this album almost entirely to the clean and green realities that await us.

But this is no mellow ode to mother earth. Instead, Fork in the Road serves up a scathing critique of the greed, indulgence, and ignorance that currently fuels American transportation—and with hooks like these, America in general: “There’s a bailout coming, but it ain’t for me;” and “Cough up the bucks, cough up the bucks.” If anger and frustration drive this album, Young steers it with optimism. The mix of outrage and exuberance gives Fork in the Road an interesting tone. At times, his words sound like a desperate plea from an old man determined to save the future. Yet the brash delivery and gritty guitars have me thinking: maybe Neil Young recorded this album just so he could have some bad ass music to drive by in the big ole electric beauty of his. This ploy allows Young to smuggle in a trunk full of prechiness under the air of excitement. Granted, some folks are bound be bored, if not alienated, by the persistent plugging of green technology. Then again, most of those morons probably gave up after 2006’s Living with War.

Sonically, there are a few more cheesy moments than there used to be, but all the trademarks are still there. The ‘godfather of grunge’ drops feedback, distortion, and falsetto defiance all over his signature guitar riffs. Since his brand of rock has historically wavered between granite and talc, it’s worth clarifying that Fork in the Road is one of his harder albums in recent history. If you’re new to the man, there are certainly better places in his catalog to start. However, this album is a worthy ride for anyone craving some new material from the twice-induced Rock & Roll Hall of Famer.

- M. Steve Hammer