Young's love/hate relationship with Stephen Stills in Buffalo Springfield and CSNY are well documented, and in retrospect, it almost seemed an impossible task to confine Young's vision in either of these bands. Neil Young, plain and simple, is a musical force of nature - and "After the Gold Rush" brought this into clear focus.

Till The Morning Comes....
....nowadays this minute and a half track would be called an interlude on many of the bloated, half-baked discs released with staggering regularity. But on this 1970 classic it's just one of many great tracks that make up Neil Young's 3rd solo LP. While it's really hard for me to quibble with anything Young released during his most fruitful period, something about this particular album stands out. He wasn't trying to prove his clout as a hitmaker anymore, he'd already fully incorporated Crazy Horse into his sound and his songwriting had grown by leaps and bounds, this was simply Young relaxing and recording what felt good to him at the time. At least that's the impression I get listening to this set of relaxed yet confident tracks. "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" is a ragged waltz of such beauty that it seems much longer than it's 3 minute running time. The hard-rocking "Southern Man" incited much controversy 33 years ago, but it's lyrics seem quaint now in the 21st century, and musically speaking, it rocks like a b***h! The piano and voice combo on the quietly yearning title track is another current fave of mine. Everything here works very well and marks yet another great addition to one of the finest catalogs in all of popular music. Indespensible.

Truly one of Neil Young's classics
I don't exactly consider myself a big Neil Young fan, I'm not the kind of person who would buy every album with his name on it (especially many of the albums he done in the 1980s, such as Landing on Water), but After the Gold Rush, his third album (second with Crazy Horse) is truly deserving of classic status. This album has been with me most of my life, thanks to my parents owning a copy. This album also premiered a certain 17 year old by the name of Nils Lofgren, on piano. This album has many different styles from acoustic ballads, to rockers, to short singalongs. The album starts off with "Tell Me Why", which is a truly great acoustic piece. The title track is a piano-oriented ballad with an enviromental theme concerning the new decade (the 1970s, that is). "Only Love Can Break Your Heat" is not a cover of the Gene Pitney song, but another Neil Young original, in this case, a piano-oriented ballad. I don't think I need to mention the epic "Southern Man" as it's the song that receives plenty of FM radio airplay. The song obviously gave Lynyrd Skynyrd their response song four years later (1974) with "Sweet Home Alabama". Side one of the old vinyl ends with a nice, short, singalong cut called "Till the Morning Comes". Side two (of the LP) features a cover of Don Gibson's "Oh Lonesome Me", plus another nice ballad with "Don't Let It Bring You Down", plus a totally overlooked, but great rocker with "When You Dance You Can Really Love". There are two songs that don't seem to do a lot for me, that is "Birds" and "I Believe in You". The album closes off with another great singalong with "Cripple Creek Ferry", which is very much in the vein of "Till the Morning Comes". This album really takes me back to that bygone era of 1970 (even though I wasn't alive then). This album is a no brainer, if you're a Neil Young fan, get this album.

neil's best album
This is one of the best albums in the rock history.
It contains some "normal" songs and some masterworks
"Southern man" is among the ten best songs of rock and contains one of the five best riffs, such as "fire" of Hendrix or "brown sugar" of the stones.

Nothing tops this
The song "After the Goldrush" was 1st introduced to my ears while listening to the radio in my dad's pickup truck when I was 9 years old. Twelve years later my feelings for that album have not wavered. I have seen reviews by Rolling Stone magazine that say that this album was released prematurely. Upon reading Neil Young's biography and listening to many of his other albums, you will discover that whatever Neil releases is EXACTLY what he wants people to hear.
After the Goldrush is an album with mixed emotions. I am not a professional reviewer, but I know that the album brings out emotions of both reflection and love. It's an album of great contrast as well. Some songs like "Tell Me Why" and "Cripple Creek Ferry" are sort of light hearted and uplifting while the songs "Don't Let It Bring You Down" and "Oh Lonesome Me"...I think the names speak for themselves.
Do yourself a favor and get this album. You will never forget it.
After laboring in Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Neil Young finally hit perfect pitch--if his endearing off-center whine can be called "perfect"--with his third album. He's equally passionate with trippy riddles (has anybody figured out what "We've got mother nature on the run" means in the title track?) and pointed protest (after 30 years of rock-radio overplay, "Southern Man" still rings with truth about redneck racism). His creaky ensemble, including pianist Jack Nitzsche and rotating members of Crazy Horse, transforms ramshackle country and folk songs into soulful hippie hymns. --Steve Knopper