Comes a Time Songs Ranked
Comes a Time is the ninth studio album by Canadian-American singer-songwriter Neil Young, released by Reprise Records in October 1978. Its songs are written as moralizing discourses on love’s failures and recovering from worldly troubles. They are largely performed in a quiet folk and country mode, featuring backing harmonies sung by Nicolette Larson and additional accompaniment on some songs by Crazy Horse. For many years it was rumoured that Young had personally purchased some 200,000 vinyl copies of Comes a Time having been unhappy with the album’s sound, owing to damage that occurred to the master tape during shipment to the mixing facility. The version of the album most widely available today was personally remixed by Young from the safety copy of the original master. In a March 2014 interview with Rolling Stone, Young claimed that he, in fact, used the 200,000 LPs as shingles for a barn roof. Here are all of Comes a Time songs ranked.
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10. Peace of Mind
“Lap steel and strings beautifully undergird “Peace of Mind.” This atmospheric song almost creates a sensation of floating on one’s back in a placid pool”
9. Four Strong Winds
“This album is one of Neils most beautiful albums. There is not a dud track from the brilliant Goin’ Back to Neils cover version of Four Strong Winds. It’s also one of the best produced recordings with some gentle acoustic guitar mixed with Nicolette Larson’s backing vocals blending in so well.”
8. Lotta Love
“Ironically, Larson doesn’t appear on “Lotta Love” which she made a hit (actually both this disk and her disk came out the same day). And it’s not that great of a song in either version.”
See more: Neil Young Albums Ranked
7. Motorcycle Mama
“Then the strange and somewhat incongruous “Motorcycle Mama” gurgles into the serene landscape. Here Young once again becomes unpredictable within an otherwise consistent collection of songs. This one definitely stands out with its defiant stuck in the dirt imagery and churning electric guitar. “
6. Look Out for My Love
“A surprising appearance of distorted electric guitar at one point mimicking windshield wipers, doesn’t alter the mood at all during “Look Out For My Love.” If anything, it intensifies it.”
5. Field of Opportunity
“I can’t say anything bad about a Neil Young Album, so this is no different. However, this one is a personal favorite of mine. In these songs Neil shows a more mellow easy-going contented side. This music just makes you feel good. It has an “americana” feel to it that takes you back to better and less confusing times. “
See more: Neil Young Songs Ranked
4. Comes a Time
“Most of the album preserves this irresistible mood. “Comes A Time” suggests the miraculous inevitability of day to day existence: “This old world keeps turning round / It’s a wonder tall tree ain’t layin’ down” and “that’s how we kept what we gave away.””
3. Already One
“And lyrics such as “In my new life I’m travelin’ light, eyes wide open for the next move, I can’t go wrong till I get right, but I’m not falling back in the same groove” from `Already One’ show that Neil had exorcised many of the demons that had tormented him since the death of friend Danny Whitten, and his divorce from actress Carrie Snodgress earlier in the decade.”
2. Goin’ Back
“The opening track, “Goin’ Back,” sets this mood with delicate guitar, strings and some electric buzzing instrument that, though somewhat bizarre, also works incredibly well for emphasis. The chorus, “I feel like goin’ back, back where there’s no where to stay” sounds both cryptic and familiar. The mellow music and abstract lyrics combine in a surrealistically gorgeous way that stays somewhat ineffable even after numerous listens. Though the words do suggest a melancholy desire to return to life in a pre-industrial state.”
1. Human Highway
“Human Highway” explodes with folk and country of a Lead Belly and Woody Guthrie type. “How can people get so unkind” reverberates endlessly even after the first listen.”
