THE VISITOR
| Neil Young
THE VISITOR
The Visitor is the 37th studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young and his second studio album with American rock group Promise of the Real. The album was released on December 1, 2017, on Reprise Records. The album was preceded by the singles "Children of Destiny", which was released on July 4, 2017, and "Already Great", which was released on November 3, 2017 and is in response to President Donald Trump's campaign slogan of Make America Great Again. - WIKIPEDIA
Critic Reviews
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Pitchfork
2017 - If Young’s recent work has felt like a series of hard-headed dives into his pet obsessions—more interesting for simply existing than for actually listening to—then The Visitor is more all-encompassing, and as a result, more centered.
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Drowned in Sound
2017 - it is curiously and enjoyably irregular.
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Mojo
2017 - "No Wall. No hate. No fascist USA."
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LOUDER
2017 - Neil Young is reborn, yet again.
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RollingStone
2017 - [The] sense of cranky rage and ageless idealism are all over The Visitor.
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The Observer
2017 - It shouldn’t work, but pleasingly, most of it does, thanks to the conviction of Young’s delivery.
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INDEPENDENT
2017 - Despite similarly sluggish, slouchy manner, young backing band Promise Of The Real fall some way short of the full Crazy Horse, trudging rather than imposing a sense of implacable destiny.
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American Songwriter
2017 - Don’t call it a comeback, but damn if it doesn’t feel like one.
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The Line of Best Fit
2017 - The Visitor excels in the kind of attention to detail and musical imagination that's eluded Young in recent years.
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Boston Globe
2017 - The record alternates between Crazy Horse-style rockers and gentle acoustic folk, though as always Young throws a few curveballs.
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SLANT
2017 - Listeners who've already given up on Young's current output are unlikely to be lured back by anything here, but for those of us still following his uniquely meandering path—in and out of the proverbial ditch--it's a ride well worth taking.
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CoS
2017 - On The Visitor, he falls into one of his most unfortunate ruts doing that sing-songy protest jingle shit that made records like Greendale and Living with War so darn unlistenable. But the good news is there are only two songs like this on here: “Stand Tall” and “Children of Destiny”. Skip both and thank me later.
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ALL MUSIC
Neil is making music for the moment and he doesn't much care if it lasts beyond that day or not, and while living in the moment is a good way to get through life, it doesn't do much for albums.
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AV/MUSIC
2017 - a jam session with some cranky speak-singing on it doesn’t make for a great album, and it’s not going to make any new converts, unfortunately--either to Neil Young’s politics or his music.
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Ultimate Classic Rock
2017 - The Visitor once again finds Young somewhat stuck in a place with good intentions but not the vision to see the project's bigger picture.
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Lincoln Journal Star
2017 - a fine protest album from Neil Young.
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Cryptic Rock
2017 - The Visitor is the best of Neil Young’s past, present, and future.
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glide magazine
2017 - Those comparisons aside, it’s still not reasonable to designate The Visitor as a latter-day Neil Young classic comparable to the artistic resurgence represented by Ragged Glory or Freedom.
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Post To Wire
2018 - The Visitor sets out for wider and more eclectic terrain, making it his best album since Psychedelic Pill.
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The Times
2017 - Does the world need another Neil Young album? Probably not, but for sheer ornery obtuseness and thudding protean energy there is something undeniable about The Visitor.
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Soundblab
2017 - The Visitor is destined to come and go with a shrug.
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The Advocate
2017 - Young is back and crotchety in "The Visitor," a record that finds him lashing out against President Donald Trump, environmental degradation, the fate of mankind and nearly everything in between.
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NO DEPRESSION
2017 - The Visitor proves to be a breakthrough of sorts, at least as far as bringing back the consistent quality to which Young's fans were once accustomed.
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The Daily Free Press
2017 - packs a softer political punch.
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The Inquirer
2017 - what's notable about The Visitor is the variety of perspectives and musical approaches it presents.
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HOT PRESS
2017 - It’s only been a few short months since the release of Hitchhiker, a marvellous acoustic session from 1976, and the strongest thing with Young’s name on it in years, but here he is again with another dispatch. He should have taken more time.
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San Francisco Chronicle
2017 - Neil Young sounds enraged on “The Visitor,” and who can blame him? Everything the 72-year-old rock icon has fought for over his long, politically charged career has crumbled away since Trump took office.
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SALUTE
2017 - Besides the subtle satire and political undertones in the lyrics, The Visitor reminds us that Neil Young is still as sharp as ever and that Promise of the Real continue to show great potential, having evolved such a great deal since they first jammed on stage together at Farm Aid in 2014.
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No More Workhorse
2017 - Pretty ropey stuff in the main. Casual Neil Young fans will want to skip this one. Still, at least he didn’t use autotune this time.
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NORTHERN TRANSMISSIONS
When political music doesn’t work, it can be a bit of a testing listen. Notably late on the anti-Trump music bandwagon, this latest record for Neil Young + Promise of the Real, and Young’s second album this year, does feel a little dry.
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SCENE POINT BLANK
2017 - The Visitor is a good listen for both the Neil Young fan, and for anyone that wants a different perspective on the world at large. Young always has something important to say.
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Diandra Reviews It All
2017 - In The Visitor, Young uses his signature voice, to show that for however much humanity progresses in life, it does not seem to grow from it.
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SPECTRUM CULTURE
2017 - The Visitor offers plenty of unedited Young, which makes it insightful and captivating, but it remains the unpolished work of someone who doesn’t even feel the need to be committed to it anymore.
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AV/MUSIC
Validated opinions, only crotchety. Neil Young at his speak-singiest.
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METRO
2017 - Serving up Young’s full spectrum of guitar styles, from the plaintively strummed to the angrily shredded, The Visitor casts a variously withering and rageful eye over a country that he sees to be going to the dogs.
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STACK
his most musically diverse effort in decades.
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Galway Advertiser
The Visitor centres on Trump's first year in office.
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SonicAbuse
2017 - It’s interesting (and not a little relieving, if we’re honest) to see that Young, who initially adopted a wait-and-see attitude to Trump, is now to be found violently rebuking the President for his divisive rhetoric.
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Reading Eagle
2017 - Young is back and crotchety in "The Visitor," a record that finds him lashing out against President Donald Trump, environmental degradation, the fate of mankind and nearly everything in between.
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The FireNote
2017 - At 72, Neil Young is still making a difference, wearing his politics on his sleeve, and producing anthems for the resistance.
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Brooklyn Vegan
2017 - It’s not a perfect album, but the moments that work make The Visitor worth it for longtime fans.
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Spalding Today
2018 - Neil Young’s new album takes you to a dark and moody place - leaving me thinking ‘cheer up Neil.'
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relix
2017 - It’s not your imagination: Neil Young has been unusually prolific these past few years
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XFDR
2017 - for as boring as THE VISITOR is at times, there was a simple joy in hearing the record through Young’s personal delivery method, somuchso that its worth experiencing some of (if not all of) the album via that delivery.
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the arts desk
2017 - Neil Young plays his Trump card.
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