Record Review: Mirror Ball

 Neil Young – Mirror Ball - 1995 

Already rooted his footprint as a multilayered musician on both the 70’s and 80’s rock scene, Neil Young releases Mirror Ball in late June 1995, and this is unlike all of the 21 records before it. In those days, Rolling Stone yelled out adjectives to describe it like “big, wholly, live and booming”. Certainly suitable words, but here is another approach. 

First of all, it’s not new for Mister Young to come out angry or irritated in his work, but Mirror Ball shows him aggressive as never before. It got that 1990’s sound including multiple guitars on top of each other and lots of fuzz. His lyrics are more political and his voice shadowed, sometimes blurry, sometimes clear as Willy Wonka’s glass elevator.






  This record is nothing but a clear manifestation that
 
“The Godfather of Grunge” is worthy of the title.


Mirror Ball serves a stronger and next to an opposite sound than 1994’s Sleep With Angels with its dirty guitar riffs, angry and determined lyrics. Not to mention his strong and confident signature voice. 


What message Mirror Ball offers is mainly the survival of rock and roll in a time where nobody knew if rock would vanish together with the old millennium or rise like a phoenix into the new one. Mirror Ball was a great attempt to prove the latter.

Now, in retro perspective the record marks what seems like the first of an angry and impatient trilogy, with 2003’s Living with War and 2011’s Le Noise contains Mister Young’s most apathetic, desperate and pissed off works.

The song “I’m The Ocean” is a great combination of muddy guitar riffs and a potent folk rhythm that just sticks out as Mister Young’s successful attempt to prove his musical footprint is not just still visible, but constantly changing and mutating into yet undiscovered and unheard territory.

“Act of Love” with its catchy baseline and classical Led Zeppelin drumming features members of Pearl Jam and is a testimony that we know so well; magic isn’t afraid to play a part whenever Mister Young collaborates with whoever he chooses.

Other than the fast and pissed off opening track, “Song X” the record has good songs, but not timeless as so many other Young songs. Mirror ball gives the feeling of something that long had been deep in his gut or throat, like an irritating hairball, which he has no choice but to cough up. Hard and fast.

It’s a long line of bands that wouldn’t even come close if they tried the same, but Mister Young is ever steady and as solid as the Giza Pyramids.
With this release in 1995, Neil Young offers a new sound, a new army of harmonies and distance from every single record he has done before. Mostly it is successful, brilliant and well played and mastered. Underrated and often forgotten this record could easily vanish into the vast past if next to everyone else besides Mister Young made it. Luckily for us, he did.

And yes on purpose I did not mention Pearl Jam's contributions. 
 As for the score, it ticks in @

10.0/10.0