Old Ways
Old Ways was released in August 1985 on the Geffen label. The album was originally planned to be released two years earlier, but the record company was asking for a rock 'n' roll album which instead led to Everybody’s Rockin'. The producers involved with Old Ways were Neil Young, David Briggs, Ben Keith and Elliot Mazer.
Songs
1. The Wayward Wind
2. Get Back to the Country
3. Are There Any More Real Cowboys?
4. Once an Angel
5. Misfits
6. California Sunset
7. Old Ways
8. My Boy
9. Bound for Glory
10. Where Is the Highway Tonight?
After many years of exploration into different sounds and genres, Old Ways, as the name roughly implies, was a step in direction for the “genuine deal” – assuming something like that exist.
Old Ways is Neil Young’s country album par excellence, meaning that the characteristics of the genre are apparent in a way it wasn’t on for example Comes a Time that indeed had country feelings.
In a way the results sometimes become conceptual. However, some songs seem very natural and for example the ballads “My Boy” and “Bound for Glory” reveals terrific melodies.