Tonight's the Night

A few weeks later I was telling a friend how bad "Tonight's the Night" was and pulled it off the shelf to play for him. But, on second listen the album didn't sound as bad as I had remembered. "Come Baby, Let's Go Downtown" was a nice rockin' tune, "Roll Another Number" was an amusing druggie tale, and "Tired Eyes" seemed like an sad, even pretty, ballad. "Hmmm," I thought "Maybe this isn't a joke after all." I still didn't think it was a good album, it sure wasn't "Harvest", but I decided to give it a few more listens before I wrote it off for good.

So over the next few weeks I listened to "Tonight's the Night" again. And again. And again. And again. I listened to it drunk and I listened to it sober. I listened to during the day and I listened to it at night. I listened to it loud and I listened to it soft. I just couldn't stop listening to it. It replaced "Live at Fillmore East" as the album that was constantly on my turntable. It was absolutely hypnotic. "Tonight's the Night" sure wasn't "Harvest"; it was far better. It was some strange kind of Canadian, whiteboy, folk blues that reached right inside you, in the same way that Robert Johnson did, or Roscoe Holcomb did. It was the real thing, and it didn't matter if Neil couldn't carry a tune to save his life, or that the steel guitar was out of tune; it was pure, unaffected emotion that could send chills down your spine. And the songs! Each one was gem and I soon knew them all by heart (and I still do). Needless to say, my initial impression of "Tonight's the Night" underwent a complete revision. I now thought it was a bloody masterpiece and I've had no reason to change my mind since then. Although I no longer listen to "Tonight's the Night" obsessively, or even frequently, every time I put it in the changer it still sounds . . . "fresh"? "unique"? "original"? "raw"? All that and more. It always sounds like "Tonight's the Night". It's still the real thing.


Convulsive, raw, and underrated   February 6, 2004
Rocco Dormarunno (Brooklyn, NY)
50 out of 54 found this review helpful

The long history of rock and roll is filled with many incongruities. One of the more SEEMING incongruities has already been identified by several reviewers (I didn't read them all, so this may be old hat) and that is the punk feel in this mostly accoustic album. But this shouldn't be surprising. In a 1977 interview, Johnny (Rotten) Lydon stated that Neil Young was a major influence on him, and that TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT impressed him the most. Neil returned the compliment in "Hey, Hey, My, My" with the lyric: "The King is gone but he's not forgotten/This is the story of Johnny Rotten".

Obviously, the influence wasn't musical. The influence wasn't in attitude, either: much of TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT howls with pain and despair, NEVER MIND THE BOLLOCKS..." growls with anger and mockery. The true influence writhes in the convulsions, the hoarse screams, the rawness of the emotions. There's a fury and an outrage in these albums that is unsuppressed. It's little wonder that Kurt Cobain would be the logical heir of this legacy. (Another seeming incongruity: Kurt Cobain's suicide note contains Neil Young's lyric "It's better to burn out than to fade away". And Neil wrote the sorrowful "Sleeps with Angels" about Cobaine's suicide.)

Nearly thirty years later the raw wounds still fester; the album has withstood the proverbial test of time. I won't go through each song individually because I would just be repeating what other reviewers have said. But it is worth repeating how powerful this album is.


One of the best albums of any kind...ever   June 23, 2000
12 out of 12 found this review helpful

I've scoped a couple of reviews that seem to give this album a reluctantly positive review. Y'know: "It's pretty good, but no masterpiece. Just an average album by Neil. Pretty good." And so on...

It's safe to say anyone who thinks this album is merely average should probably avoid other "dark nights of the soul" like Exile on Main Street, L.A. Woman, etc. Matter of fact, keep listening to Harvest and CSNY and you should be okay. It's probably not safe to go into the dark.

Seriously, this is Neil's best one by a long shot. He opens up a vein and lets it bleed all over the vinyl, naming names, sounding like he's on the verge of suicide, a drug OD, or both, and it's a beautiful and touching and powerful testament to the bleak era of post-Woodstock, post-Vietnam America. This album is perfectly constructed, remarkably played (dig that Nils Lofgren solo on Speakin' Out....astonishing), and the one record that I can call both beautiful and terrifying. So don't listen to the naysayers. It has less to do with the album's quality and more to do with their middle of the road tastes. This is ESSENTIAL.


A die-hard fan's dream; Harvest fans beware!   February 11, 1999
12 out of 13 found this review helpful

Those of us who love Neil at his raw and sloppy best will agree that this and the inexpicably unavailable "On the Beach" remain his finest work. This is far from the easy-listening strains of Harvest, Comes a Time, or Harvest Moon, so if those are your favourite NY albums, stay away. If however, your musical tastes are a tad more adventurous, give this a chance. The music is catharsis, Neil's musical response to the death of his two close friends Danny Whitten and Bruce Berry. Neil and band are apparently stoned, drunk or both, the playing is raw and sloppy but GENUINE, and the songs are great. Highlights include "Tired Eyes", "New Mama", "Albuquerque", the title track, and several others. After a few open-minded listenings you'll agree it's a certifiable classic. Go for it


Downright scary   May 18, 2002
VoodooLord7 (Oklahoma, USA)
12 out of 12 found this review helpful

Hearing this record for the first time was one of the scariest and strangely moving experiences of my life. Hearing Neil positively moan out the straight-narrative vocals of the opening title track - as if each word sung is causing him physical pain - gives one a glimpse of what it must feel like to hear a man sing from the other side of the grave. The history of this album is well-documented: it was written and recorded in 1973 after the heroin-related deaths of two of Neil's associates, guitarist Danny Whitten and roadie Bruce Berry. As on the more recent Sleeps With Angels - where Young deals directly with Kurt Cobain's suicide - Neil tackles his subject matter head on here, in a surprising, shocking, almost nearly disturbing way. One hears of turning grief into art - art as therapy - well, there are few finer examples of it in all of music than here. Neil directly unloads his grief and sorrow and mixed up and confused feelings into his music. The title track is a direct narrative about Berry "Bruce Berry was a working man/He used to load that Econoline van" and sets the course for the rest of the album's songs - dark, introspective, direct, brooding, and ragged. The lyrics and music supporting them have a generally dark vibe throughout; absolutely hopeless tunes such as Borrowed Tune ("I'm clmbin' this ladder/My head in the clouds/I hope that it matters/I'm havin' my doubts") abound. The lone upbeat, more harmonius song here - a live Come On, Baby, Let's Go Downtown with vocals from Whitten - sticks out like a sore thumb amongst this musical graveyard of heartbreak and pain. Other songs seems to tackle the subject almost directly - such as Tired Eyes ("He tried to do his best/But he could not"), even reflecting Neil's own situation, of which he admits, in Borrowed Tune "I'm singin' this borrowed tune/I took from the Rolling Stones/Alone in this empty room/Too wasted to write my own." The performances are extremely raw and obviously not intended to be polished or kept up. They are all undoubtedly first takes - you can hear instruments that are out of tune, notes that are out of place, even the musicians speaking back and forth to one another (not to mention a static hum.) Clearly, this album was not made for fun. It was made out of necessity. Such is the essence of true art.