Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Rust Never Sleeps (1979)

This is a terrific film, not so much for the concert, but the actual experience; those who saw Young play at the Cow Palace in San Fransisco, (where Rust Never Sleeps was filmed) would undoubtedly agree--the disclaimer, of course being those who could actually remember the event as something more than a drug-haze. Nevertheless, this film is fantastic because the selection of songs that Young plays are some of his finest, and these selections are both acoustic and electric.This film also shows why it is that Crazy Horse is the band Young selects when he chooses to rock out. The band members accompany his guitar solos with triumph, giving the music a melodic and hypnotizing effect; specifically, songs like "Like a Hurricane" and "Cortez the Killer"--which are good in their own original form--get a new life in this film; the songs linger, sometimes they stray, but never in a negative way. Anyone who likes live performances, particularly live performances that take on a sort of ad-lib aspect, will not be disappointed with Rust Never Sleeps.The acoustic selections are also very fine, highlighting Young's capacity and talent to not only entertain and soothe as an individual, but one who can do it in grand style. "Grand Style" here, of course, does not mean someone coming across as your typical rock star, (because here Young doesn't), but rather, grand style in the sense that the man is a born musician that can strike a chord in any one's soul. Highlights of the acoustic set include "Sugar Mountain" and "After the Gold Rush," as well as such Young classics as "Comes a Time" and "My My, Hey Hey." Of course, the concert would not be complete without a wicked rendition of "Hey Hey, My My" the electric counterpart to the former, and the band here accompanies Young on this track exquisitely.

Rust never sleeps is certainly one of the best live concerts ever and probably the best of it's decade Groundbreaking for it's time and still a classic today I can't tell you how much I LOVE it. The opening with the Hendrix underscore and the Beatles's 'a day in the life' and then Neil stars singing; just him and his guitar at their live acoustic best. It's the perfect mix of electric and acoustic, old and new and set the standard for live shows from then on. And the best part is that it lasts for 2 whole hours nowadays concerts just last 90 mins or so. Before i bought this DVD I already owned a couple of his albums among which the rust never sleeps album but this DVD pursued me to buy even more. I now own almost 20 of his cd's and i bought mu first cd just under a year ago: Harvest. That shows the shear quality of him as an artist.

All rock and roll fans should see "Rust Never Sleeps" . Neil Young is incomparable to any one else in music . Fans should also seek out "Neil and Me" written by his father , Scott Young. Even though it's over 20 years old the concert film has not lost any of its power - get ready to watch it over and over.

As far as song selection goes, this is probably the best Neil Young concert movie out there. "Sugar Mountain", "After the Gold Rush", "My My Hey Hey", "Cinnamon Girl", "Like a Hurricane", and "Tonight's the Night" are all featured here. The only problem? This movie could have been trimmed by at least 15 minutes. Do we really need to see people dressed up like Jawas setting up the stage?