Psychedelic Pill
Psychedelic Pill is the 32nd studio album by Canadian / American musician Neil Young, released on October 30, 2012.[1] It is the second collaboration between Young and Crazy Horse released in 2012 (the first being Americana) and their first original work together since the Greendale album and tour in 2003 and 2004.[2] The album was streamed on Young's website on October 24, 2012,[3] and leaked onto the Internet the same day.[4]
Psychedelic Pill
October 30, 2012
2012
Audio Casa Blanca, Broken Arrow Ranch, Redwood City, California
87:41
Neil Young, John Hanlon and Mark Humphreys
Background[edit]
At 87 minutes in length, Psychedelic Pill is Neil Young's longest studio album and, until World Record in 2022, was the only one to span two compact discs.[5] Many of the songs on the album came out of extended jam sessions with Crazy Horse while recording Americana, released earlier in 2012. Three of Psychedelic Pill's nine tracks are more than 15 minutes in length. The album was recorded at Young's ranch near Redwood City, California.
Writing[edit]
The opening track "Driftin' Back", an ode to meditation, makes references to Young's new memoir Waging Heavy Peace and his disdain for MP3s in between segments of extended jamming. Another of the album's extended tracks, "Walk like a Giant", laments the failure of his generation to change the world for the better ("We were ready to save the world / But then the weather changed"). Elsewhere on the album Young recalls listening to Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" and The Grateful Dead on the radio ("Twisted Road"), and his Canadian roots ("Born in Ontario").[6] A review of the album for Rolling Stone noted that the riff and lyrics of the title track share similarities with Young's previous work such as "Cinnamon Girl". The main riff is borrowed from Young's "Sign of Love". That track also features the recording filtered with a phaser effect, giving it a "psychedelic" feel (although the alternate mix removes the effect).
The lyrics to "Ramada Inn" are a portrait of an aging couple who struggle to communicate and resolve their problems. Young discusses the song in a 2019 post to his website: "This song always puts me on I-5 south at the bottom of the Grapevine, heading to LA... It's a Crazy Horse journey, a long road. There's a lot to see... a lot to feel out there on I-5. Don't be scared by this song. It kept me alive. Times were tough. Now times are good. We're rolling again..." Frank "Poncho" Sampedro more directly addresses the song's emotion in Uncut Magazine: "The lyrics are very personal to Neil and Pegi. I told Pegi, 'I don't know if you're gonna like this song or not. It seems like it's revealing a lot of stuff. I don't know if it's good or bad. You should check it out.' She came back two days later and said, 'Poncho, it's just a song about people and relationships. Everybody goes through that stuff.' I saw it more as, 'Wow, the writing on the wall has been announced.' I cried a lot of times in that song, man."[7]
Three of the album's songs, "Born in Ontario", "Twisted Road" and "For the Love of Man" were previously attempted for 2010's Le Noise. "For the Love of Man" dates to the 1980s. Young has released a 1987 recording of the song on his online archival album Summer Songs. "Born in Ontario" was inspired by Young's reunion with his family in Canada for his father's funeral in 2005. He explains in a 2019 post to his website: "I wrote this song after returning to Canada for my Dad’s funeral with my Canadian family. Canada gave me a great start in life and we get back there often to visit the lakes in North Ontario. I am proud to be Canadian."
Release[edit]
A High Fidelity Pure Audio Blu-ray Disc version of the album, with 24-bit/192kHz resolution and two bonus tracks, was released November 19, 2012.[10][11] A vinyl version is also available.
The 3-LP vinyl version contains the same tracks as the 2-CD set, though in a slightly different order, and with "Driftin' Back" split into two parts over sides A and B. The Blu-ray version contains two bonus tracks: the 37-minute "Horse Back", and a second alternate mix of the song "Psychedelic Pill".