Neil Young is pleased to announce the release of ‘Return To Greendale’ on November 6th, a live album and concert film of the historic 2003 tour that brought his 25th studio album ‘Greendale’ to life, both music and theatrically. The songs and performance remain as topical as ever, powered by themes of environmentalism, corruption, and the destructive effects of capitalism.
Featuring Young’s trusty partners Crazy Horse, the Toronto recording captures the epic experience of Young’s immersive, small-town rock opera. The multimedia exploit seamlessly blended Young’s powerful lyrics and Crazy Horse’s heavy blues thrash with musical theatre, as actors joined the band onstage to play out the album’s narrative as it unfolded. Like ‘Greendale’ itself, the show eschews elaborate production in favour of a ragged and rough-hewn feel that does right by its source material.
The story of ‘Greendale’ follows multiple generations of the Green family as they go about their lives in a fictional California town. Through the perspectives of multiple characters – Grandma, Grandpa, Edith, Earl, the doomed Jed, and eco-warrior Sun Green, among them – Young tells a poignant story about small-town America and the need for immediate action to save the environment. That need, of course, has only become more urgent. On ‘Return to Greendale’, the ten songs from Young’s powerful original album are performed in sequence, with a cast of actors speaking the sung words, adding to the already blistering intensity of the performance.
‘Return to Greendale’ will be released in several formats and is now available to pre-order here . The limited-edition deluxe box set includes a Blu-ray of the full concert, two LPs, two CDs, and a DVD of ‘Inside Greendale’, a documentary capturing the making of the album. It will also be available separately on double vinyl, a two-CD set, and digitally at Neil Young Archives and all DSPs.
‘Inside Greendale’ features footage of Young and Crazy Horse in the studio, mixed with segments from 2003’s ‘Greendale’ fictional film. Both ‘Inside Greendale’ and the concert film were directed by Bernard Shakey and produced by L.A. Johnson (‘Human Highway’, ‘Rust Never Sleeps’).
