Neil Young is recording again with Crazy Horse

By Steven Hyden | January 24, 2012 | 3:49pm

Aux Features Music

If you're a Neil Young fan, this is news you've waited nine years (and seemingly twice as many albums) for: Shakey is making an album with Crazy Horse. The last time Young entered the studio with his long-time backing band was 2003, for the underrated concept record Greendale. Though if you want to get technical about it, since Frank "Poncho" Sampedro didn't play on Greendale, the last true Neil Young and Crazy Horse record was also Young's last out-and-out capital-G great album, 1996's Broken Arrow. (We're sure that every single reader will agree with this assertion, and therefore it doesn't need to be qualified.) Young hasn't even played live with the Horse since 2004, so this is momentous news indeed.

Of course, if you are a Neil Young fan, you also know there's a decent chance that this album won't see the light of the day, maybe ever. Young and Crazy Horse apparently recorded an album, Toast, back in 2000 that remains unreleased, in spite of Young saying recently that "it's great rock & roll, very moody, kind of jazzy." Supposedly, "there's word of a spring release" for this new album, and we've decided to believe this and get excited about it. [via Rolling Stone]