Neil Young continues to experiment, to try new avenues of creativity, and to put out quality records. The latest shining example of Neil's never-ending creative quest is Le Noise. The title is a pun on producer Daniel Lanois's last name, but it also serves to introduce what is on tap here. Young was planning to do an all-acoustic solo album, but once he and Lanois got into the studio, things began to mutate in an unusual direction. Namely, while there are still a couple of acoustic numbers here, the primary focus of the album is solo Neil on ELECTRIC guitar. The results sound largely like the albums Young has done with Crazy Horse, but without Crazy Horse. It's just Young with his voice and a squalling electric, with occasional vocal loops and sonic tweaks provided by Lanois. While containing only eight songs and 38 minutes of music, this is Young's most satisfying album in over twenty years. It's loud and heavy, but also subtle and immediate. Opener "Walk With Me" features most of the elements found throughout the album, with distorted electric chording chugging along with ringing hooks. The two approaches occasionally join together to emphasize the central power chord. There is also a beautiful middle eight with the guitars consigned to the background and Young singing a gorgeous set of "aahs". At the end, Lanois applies his mastery of blips and bleeps to close things out. It is a powerful love song that cuts straight to the heart. "Sign Of Love" follows, wherein Young plays almost exactly as he would if Crazy Horse were backing him. "Someone's Going To Rescue You" puts Young's specially designed hollow body Gretsch electric through its paces, and drew from Lanois the response that the guitar 'sounded like God". "Love And War" is one of two album centerpieces. It is slower and more acoustic than the previous cuts, and sees Young professing that it is these two topics that dominate his songwriting, and life in general, as the opening lines state, "When I sing about love and war/I don't really know what I'm saying/I've been in love and I've seen a lost of war/Seen a lot of people praying/They pray to Allah and they pray to the Lord/But mostly they pray about love and war." As with a number of songs here, Neil is not shy about putting himself in the middle of his lyrics, musing on how he thinks about things and has acted upon them. The clearest example of this, and the other centerpiece of the album, is "The Hitchiker". First started in the 1970s, this song is an autobiographical look at Young's career and the drugs involved throughout the process. Other autobiographical touches dot the album, particularly in regards to the serenity he feels with his wife, Pegi.

"Peaceful Valley Boulevard" is, musically, the gentlest song on offer here, but its six minutes plus take a hard-edged lyrical look on the history of America's westward expansion, a theme Young has returned to throughout his career. In sum, this album contains a raft of fine songs, with Neil in fine voice and playing with an intensity that recalls his younger days. But in addition, its approach yields a completely new addition to the Young canon, the solo electric record. Given the quality present here, one should not be surprised to see other longtime rock icons take a similar approach (Bruce, are you listening?).