In 2023, Neil Young strolled onto the stages of an array of West Coast venues and delivered acoustic sets replete with songs that, for one reason or another, he’d left behind. He last played the expansive “I’m the Ocean” from Mirror Ball, for instance, in 1997, and sang “Prime of Life,” a linchpin of his stellar Sleeps With Angels album, on just three occasions not long after its release in 1994. The biting “Vampire Blues,” from the classic On the Beach in 1974, was left buried until 2015 and ‘16, when he exhumed it for several Promise of the Real-backed tours. He also included, likely to placate the non-diehards who came to see him, a few of his beloved songs, such as “Comes a Time” and “Heart of Gold.” The former is included here, the latter not. (For a full rundown of the setlists from that tour, see this Sugar Mountain page.)
Before + After, a non-live live album released at the end of 2023, conveyed much of the magic made on those stages, with the differences between it and the Coastal soundtrack being song selection and the seamless segues. Before + After is a 47-minute approximation of a daydream, in a way, with the medley or montage playing out much like a singer-songwriter’s attempt to replicate Side 2 of the Beatles’ Abbey Road. It’s kinda cool.
Coastal, on the other hand, is accented by cheers and applause, with the many stops and starts acting like umlauts that emphasize the distinct qualities of each song. The soundtrack to a Daryl Hannah-directed concert documentary, which hopefully will soon appear on a streaming service and/or the Neil Young Archives, it’s taut, tense and laidback all at once, with Neil’s weathered voice adding to its charm. “When I Hold You in My Arms,” a standout on Are You Passionate? and Toast, positively shimmers. He’s a grizzled miner for a heart of gold, if you think about it. “Throw Your Hatred Down” was, is and will always be an anthem for all times.
A subdued rendition of Buffalo Springfield’s “Expecting to Fly” comes across as a whispered lament. The same’s true of the otherwise gruff “Song X,” which features a sweet electric guitar, and “I Am a Child,” during which he sounds his age when his voice isn’t teetering toward the inaudible. Those may be the issues Neil referenced in a NYA Times-Contrarian post this past Friday, the day of its scheduled release, when he explained the streaming/download options had been yanked at the last minute due to a few overlooked errors. (Thus, my soon-to-arrive LP is now a collector’s item! And my early-Friday downloads…well, I suppose they could be marketed—and I’m kidding here—as NFTs.) We’ll know if my conjecture is correct, or if it was some other mistake, soon enough, as the new-and-improved Coastal should hit the streaming services in the coming days.
With or without the errors, however, the Coastal soundtrack is well worth a listen, especially for lifelong Neil fans. He sounds older, for sure, but still sings his songs in a shaky voice that’s as real as the day is long.
[Update 4/22: As I thought, the unforced errors had to do with “Expecting to Fly,” “Song X” and “I Am a Child.” The vocals have now been silenced altogether, turning “Expecting to Fly” into a elegiac piano piece, “Song X” into a electric mantra, and “I Am a Child” into a delicate dream.]
The tracks:
The Old Grey Cat 
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