Neil Young

Neil Young has spent the better part of a half-century as one of rock music's quintessential iconoclasts, a living, breathing, thinking, hard-rocking paradox. On any given night in concert he can be the archetypal folk singer-songwriter, strumming an acoustic guitar while singing artfully poetic lyrics that course through the most delicate recesses of the human heart; on another, he'll happily make eardrums bleed with foot-stomping, rib-cage- and saber-rattling electrified rock.

In the youth-centered world of rock n' roll, new bands tend to focus on the teenage and young-adult markets. But Strangefolk appears just as interested in landing an older audience. When the Burlington, Vt.-based band recently opened a string of dates for Rat Dog--a group piloted by ex-Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir--it was delighted to find that it appealed to the headliner's relatively mature following.

Just as we've gotten used to Neil Young in his role as the Godfather of Grunge, the veteran rocker is apparently looking to return to his hippie roots. Young is negotiating with organizers of the annual H.O.R.D.E. tour about taking the headliner slot in this summer's caravan of jam-rock vibes. It's a potentially key move for both Young and the tour. Young's youth culture, alt-rock icon status of the past several years frankly did little to sell his albums or concert tickets. And H.O.R.D.E.

What a run for L.A. classic-rock fans: The Eagles closed their six-night christening of the new downtown Nokia Theatre on Saturday, Bruce Springsteen reunited with the E Street Band for a two-nighter Monday and Tuesday at the venerable Sports Arena, and Neil Young made it a trifecta Tuesday, opening a pair of shows at the Nokia that wraps up Friday. And what a case study in the varying ways to approach a performance.

Defying the common wisdom that her career was all but over after the suicide of her husband, Kurt Cobain, Courtney Love and her band Hole have taken top honors in The Times' pop contributors' annual balloting for best album. Hole's "Live Through This," recorded before Cobain's death, tops a field that ranges from veterans (R.E.M., Neil Young) to emerging forces (Soundgarden) to rookies (Warren G)--not to mention the oldest artist to appear in the poll's 15-year history: Johnny Cash, 62.

***1/2 NEIL YOUNG "Are You Passionate?" Reprise Neil Young: Soul Man? He opens his new album (due in stores Tuesday) with a variation of the introduction to Booker T. & the MG's "Time Is Tight," raising the question: Is this just another side trip for the mercurial rocker, like his rockabilly or technoid incarnations of the past?

Actor EMILIO ESTEVEZ, son of activist actor Martin Sheen and brother of actor Charlie Sheen, has become a first-time homebuyer with his $2.2-million purchase of a newly built house near his parents' home in Malibu. Estevez, 28, appeared in the western movie "Young Guns" and "Young Guns 2," and he wrote and directed the comedy "Men at Work," in which he also co-starred with his brother.

To anyone who's followed Neil Young's socially crusading, four-decade musical career, it was hardly a surprise to learn earlier this week that he's just recorded a 10-song collection that takes President Bush to task and sharply criticizes the war in Iraq. The real surprise for Young loyalists is that it took him so long.

Last month, this column previewed the 2006 Bridge School Benefit Concert, but for most California rock fans, that sparkling annual all-star show in Mountain View is one they always want to attend but always seem to put off for reasons of ticketing, travel or time.

Jonathan Demme doesn't want you to misunderstand. He loves directing big studio movies like "The Manchurian Candidate" and "The Silence of the Lambs." "When you get a great script, it's unbelievably exciting, and with Hollywood money you get a dream cast." But, oh, the lure of the concert film. "Filming great live music is a whole nother thing," the energetic, articulate director says. "There's something very pure about it, you don't have to do another take to make it realer."

Neil Young has spent the better part of a half-century as one of rock music's quintessential iconoclasts, a living, breathing, thinking, hard-rocking paradox. On any given night in concert he can be the archetypal folk singer-songwriter, strumming an acoustic guitar while singing artfully poetic lyrics that course through the most delicate recesses of the human heart; on another, he'll happily make eardrums bleed with foot-stomping, rib-cage- and saber-rattling electrified rock.

Neil Young "Sugar Mountain -- Live at Canterbury House 1968" Reprise * * * * The blessing and the curse of the Internet for musicians is that every step they take, professionally and personally, becomes available for public consumption instantaneously. That's created unprecedented opportunities for connecting with fans, but it has also stripped away a lot of the mystique that used to be a key facet of stardom.

What a run for L.A. classic-rock fans: The Eagles closed their six-night christening of the new downtown Nokia Theatre on Saturday, Bruce Springsteen reunited with the E Street Band for a two-nighter Monday and Tuesday at the venerable Sports Arena, and Neil Young made it a trifecta Tuesday, opening a pair of shows at the Nokia that wraps up Friday. And what a case study in the varying ways to approach a performance.

Neil Young "Chrome Dreams II" (Reprise) *** 1/2 At one of his L.A. performances several years ago, Neil Young remarked onstage about what a great railroad yard the city has. Fans chuckled at what most figured to be a wisecrack. It wasn't. Two of the veteran rocker's passions -- besides music--are trains and vintage cars, two key products of the Industrial Revolution that are central both to the world's technological growth and to its myriad social and ecological ills.

Last month, this column previewed the 2006 Bridge School Benefit Concert, but for most California rock fans, that sparkling annual all-star show in Mountain View is one they always want to attend but always seem to put off for reasons of ticketing, travel or time.

This week one of California's most beloved rock music institutions will celebrate its 20th anniversary and, as always, the artists need only glance over their shoulders to the rear of the stage to see the true VIPs on hand. The 2006 edition of the Bridge School Benefit Concert will be Saturday and Sunday at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, and don't think for a minute that it's not worth the trip to the Silicon Valley or digging out a scarf.

Freedom isn't free, the slogan goes, and no kidding -- speech alone can set you back $251.50. That was the top ticket price at Sunday's Irvine stop on Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's "Freedom of Speech '06" tour, named, it's safe to assume, because CSNY want you to raise your voice against the Iraq war, George W. Bush and various injustices -- to "speak out against the madness," as they sang this night during "Long Time Gone."

Crotchety old hippie Neil Young might just be a tad craftier, and a tad more subtle, than his brazenly political new album "Living With War" would suggest. Full of no-holds-barred songs including "Let's Impeach the President" and "Looking for a Leader," the staunchly antiwar collection, released last week, has become a lightning rod within the pop music community and beyond, generating reaction from praise for the 60-year-old rocker for his boldness to trashings of his artistic credibility.

Neil Young "Living With War" (Reprise) **** White-hot on the heels of Bruce Springsteen's savvy invocation of vintage folk and gospel music to stir the pot of political protest, Neil Young looks no further into the past than his morning newspaper for source material on his new album (in stores Tuesday), the most powerfully unequivocal condemnation of the war in Iraq to date by a major pop music figure.

To anyone who's followed Neil Young's socially crusading, four-decade musical career, it was hardly a surprise to learn earlier this week that he's just recorded a 10-song collection that takes President Bush to task and sharply criticizes the war in Iraq. The real surprise for Young loyalists is that it took him so long.