Sleeps with Angels

''Sleeps with Angels'' is the 22nd studio album by Canadian-American musician Neil Young, released on August 16, 1994, on Reprise as a double LP and as a single CD. Young's seventh album with Crazy Horse, it was co-produced by long-time collaborator David Briggs who died the following year. The title track was written in response to Kurt Cobain's suicide. Musician and author Ken Viola described the album as one of Young's "top five records. It examines the nature of dreams — both the light and dark side — and how they fuel reality in the nineties. Dreams are the only thing that we've got left to hang on to."

Background

The early 1990s were something of a comeback and second career pinnacle for Young with the release of 1989's ''Freedom'', 1990's '' Ragged Glory'' and 1992's '' Harvest Moon''. Young would be dubbed the "Godfather of Grunge" by one music critic and would perform " Rockin' in the Free World" with Pearl Jam at the 1993 MTV Video Music Awards. Young would also perform with Booker T. & the M.G.'s at Bob Dylan's The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration and then embark on a North American tour with the group. During the winter of 1993-1994, Young would reunite with Crazy Horse to record a new album at The Complex in Los Angeles.

Writing and recording

In contrast to his other albums, Young has been loath to discuss the album's content and the inspiration for its songs in interviews. In 1995 he told ''Mojo Magazine''s Nick Kent: "''Sleeps With Angels'' has a lot of overtones to it, from different situations that were described in it – a lot of sad scenes. I've never really spoken about why I made that album. I don't want to start now. I just don't want to talk about that. That's my decision. I've made a choice not to talk about it and I'm sticking to it." He repeated his stance in a later 1995 interview for ''Spin Magazine'': "I'm not doing anything with that album. It stands on its own. That's why I made the record. Too sensitive of a subject to isolate comments on. When you speak to someone who can write things down, you have to remember that they only write what they select. And it appears next to something that they can't control, like an ad. And then that article can be quoted, and over time...I've seen the way things happen."

The lengthy "Change Your Mind" was debuted during the 1993 tour with Booker T. & the M.G.'s. The other songs on the album were written during the recording sessions. The album features a variety of unique instruments, including bass marimbas, vibes, synthesizers and a tack piano on "My Heart" and "A Dream That Can Last". "Prime of Life" and "Safeway Cart" feature Young playing flute; ''Sleeps with Angels'' is the only Neil Young album on which he plays that instrument. The songs "Western Hero" and "Train of Love" feature the same music with different lyrics, "like identical twins. The same song with two completely different stories. But it brings you back to this theme. It's almost like a Broadway play." "Safeway Cart" is featured on the soundtrack during a marching sequence in Claire Denis's 1999 film ''Beau Travail''.

The title track was inspired by the death of Kurt Cobain, who quoted Young in his suicide note, with the rest of the album having been recorded before that event. "When he died and left that note, it struck a deep chord inside of me. It fucked with me. I wrote some music for that feeling: "Sleeps with Angels"," Young remembers in his memoir, ''Waging Heavy Peace''. He continues in ''Shakey'': "What that suicide has done is return me to my roots. Makes me go back and investigate where I started. Where I came from. Why am I here and why is he not here? Does my music suffer because I survived?" Young wrote the first lyrics to the song on a matchbook during a charity golf tournament hosted by Eddie Van Halen. The song was the last to be recorded for the album.Durchholz, Daniel, and Gary Graff. 2012. ''Neil Young: Long May You Run: The Illustrated History''. Minneapolis, MN: Voyageur Press.

Promotion

A thirty-minute documentary was filmed by L.A. Johnson during the album's sessions. Promotional videos were later shot for the songs "My Heart," "Prime of Life," "Change Your Mind," and "Piece of Crap" by director Jonathan Demme. The videos feature the group returning to The Complex on October 3-4, 1994 to perform the songs live.

The group performed three concerts in October 1994 featuring songs from the album, all charity events. On October 1-2, the group played acoustic sets at the annual Bridge School Benefit concerts featuring seven of the album's songs. On October 22, the group played a similar setlist in Sedona, Arizona at the Verde Valley scholarship benefit festival.

Track listing

All tracks were written by Neil Young, except "Blue Eden", written by Young, Ralph Molina, Frank Sampedro and Billy Talbot.

Personnel

*Neil Young – guitar on all tracks except 1 and 12, tack piano on tracks 1 and 12, accordion on track 5, flute on tracks 2 and 8, harmonica on track 8 and 12, vocals
;Crazy Horse
* Frank "Poncho" Sampedro – guitar on tracks 2, 4, 6, 7, 10, and 11, grand piano on tracks 5 and 9, piano on tracks 3 and 12, bass marimba on track 1, Oberheim on tracks 3 and 8, Wurlitzer piano on track 8, vocals
* Billy Talbot – bass on all tracks except 1 and 12, vibes on track 1, bass marimba on track 12, vocals
* Ralph Molina – drums, vocals
;Recording personnel
* David Briggs – producer, mixing
*Neil Young – producer, mixing
* John Hanlon – engineer, mixing
*Chad Blinman – assistant engineer
*Roland Alvarez – assistant engineer
*Joe Gastwirt – digital editing, mastering
*Tim Mulligan – additional digital editing
*Tim Foster – production manager
*Bettina Briggs – production coordinator
*Sal Trentino – amplifier tech
*Jim Homan – guitar tech
*Jerry Conforti – drum tech
*Mark Humphreys – live monitors

Charts

Album

Singles

Certifications

References

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Neil Young albums
1994 albums
Albums produced by David Briggs (producer)
Reprise Records albums
Albums produced by Neil Young
Crazy Horse (band) albums
Cultural depictions of Kurt Cobain