Neil Young - Unplugged (Reprise)

In this case, the trend is the MTV-spawned "Unplugged" phenomenon. Hot on the marketing heels of unplugged chums Rod Stewart and Eric Clapton, Young has released a pleasant acoustic reworking of his career, the final impact of which lands somewhere between Stewart's perfunctory effort and Clapton's magical triumph.

The best unplugged performances have been fueled by the unexpected. By reworking their material for the back-to-basics format, groups like Pearl Jam, Aerosmith and Arrested Development have made Unplugged interesting. But because Young is fresh off the mellow, acoustic-driven Harvest Moon album, his Unplugged sounds too much like a Harvest Moon outtake to be truly inspiring.

Surprisingly for Young, even the song selection is fairly predictable, containing many of the most important songs of his career. But what salvages Young's latest is the soothing solo melancholy of his renditions. Unlike Rod Stewart, Young is not afraid to pare down his songs and put the melody up to glaring acoustic scrutiny. In this case, with the possible exception of "Transformer Man" - which was never much good to begin with - and "Like a Hurricane," - which succeeds only as experimentation - all of his songs hold up.

Even if you missed Young's classics the first time around, you'll get swept up in the sentimental rush as the crowd welcomes gems like "The Needle and the Damage Done," "Long May You Run," and that old Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young staple "Helpless." Young's more recent numbers manage to maintain their stature amongst this intimidating historical company - particularly "Unknown Legend" from Harvest Moon, a song that will someday be remembered as one of his finest.

Young's voice is, as always, unavoidable. But with some work by the listener, the range of expression he achieves with his nasal whines can be appreciated. It's hard not to appreciate such a wealthy collection of songs, but after the obligatory praise, some serious questions remain. Besides the predictability factor, the gravest concern raised by Unplugged is Young's recent trend towards a meek, James Tayloresque demeanor.

Young was the one artist who seemed to be able to age while resisting corporate buyout and saying "fuck you" with adolescent effectiveness. We count on Young to age in a complex way, to grow older without turning his back on the indignation of his younger years - to age with less grace and more passion. Aside from the spunky "Look Out for My Love," Unplugged sounds too a little too sad and settled for Young.

But if there's one thing we know for sure, it's that Young will never sink too easily into a comfortable groove. His recording career is laden with disappointments and ridiculous self-indulgence, but in retrospect even the worst of Young is respectable, because that same spirit of artistic independence fueled his best efforts. In the meantime, we have a beautiful rendition of "Stringman" - not to mention the rest of the consistent Unplugged - to get us through the mellow years as best we can.

-Jon Reed