Re·ac·tor
Re·ac·tor is the eleventh studio album by Canadian folk rock musician Neil Young, and his fourth with American rock band Crazy Horse, released on November 2, 1981. It was his last album released through Reprise Records before he moved to Geffen for his next five albums.
| Re·ac·tor | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | November 2, 1981 | |||
| Recorded | October 9, 1980 – July 21, 1981 | |||
| Studio | Modern Recorders, Redwood City, California | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 38:45 | |||
| Label | Reprise | |||
| Producer | David Briggs, Tim Mulligan & Neil Young with Jerry Napier | |||
| Neil Young chronology | ||||
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| Crazy Horse chronology | ||||
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Content
Musical style
The album marked Young's first use of the Synclavier, which would be featured heavily on the subsequent albums Trans (1982) and Landing on Water (1986).
The song "Shots" had originally been performed live in 1978 as a ballad.
In 2003, Greg Kot of Chicago Tribune proclaimed that Re·ac·tor "works up a punk-blues racket [...] that sounds as shaggy and disheveled as anything the Replacements recorded".[3] AllMusic opined the album to contain "guitar-drenched hard rock made up of thrown-together material".[1] Salon.com described the album as a proto-grunge effort.[5] Peter J. Howe described it retrospectively in 1985 as "gritty post-punk".[2]
Packaging
The album features a Latin translation of the Serenity Prayer on its back cover ("'Deus dona mihi serenitatem accipere res quae non possum mutare fortitudinem mutare res quae possum atque sapientiam differentiam cognoscere'" – "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference").
The original 1981 album gave Neil Young sole writing credit on every track, however the 2021 live release Way Down in the Rust Bucket added Frank Sampedro's name as a co-writer on "Surfer Joe and Moe the Sleaze".[6]
Release
It was unavailable on compact disc until it was released as a HDCD-encoded remastered version on August 19, 2003, as part of the Neil Young Archives Digital Masterpiece Series.
Reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Pitchfork | (6.8/10)[7] |
| The Village Voice | B+[8] |
William Ruhlmann of AllMusic is largely dismissive of Re·ac·tor in his retrospective review,[1] awarding the record only two-out-of-five stars,[1] although he praises "Shots" as " a more substantive and threatening song given a riveting performance".[1]
Track listing
All tracks are written by Neil Young, except "Surfer Joe and Moe the Sleaze", written by Neil Young and Frank Sampedro.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Opera Star" | 3:31 |
| 2. | "Surfer Joe and Moe the Sleaze" | 4:15 |
| 3. | "T-Bone" | 9:10 |
| 4. | "Get Back on It" | 2:14 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 5. | "Southern Pacific" | 4:07 |
| 6. | "Motor City" | 3:11 |
| 7. | "Rapid Transit" | 4:35 |
| 8. | "Shots" | 7:42 |
Personnel
- Neil Young – vocals, guitar, Synclavier, piano, handclaps
- Crazy Horse
- Frank Sampedro – guitar, synthesizer, vocals, handclaps
- Billy Talbot – bass, vocals, handclaps
- Ralph Molina – drums, percussion, vocals, handclaps
References
- Ruhlmann, William. "Re-ac-tor - Neil Young,Neil Young & Crazy Horse | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved June 1, 2015.
- Howe, Peter J. (September 26, 1985). "Neil Young Goes Twang". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
- Kot, Greg (August 24, 2003). "'Greendale' a trip through Neil Young's career". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
- Jackson Toth, James (August 23, 2013). "Neil Young Albums From Worst To Best". Stereogum. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
- Zimmerman, Shannon (August 20, 2003). "Return of Rock's angry Old Man". Salon.com. Retrieved April 11, 2022.
- "Re·ac·tor credits". Discogs.
- Mitchum, Rob (September 30, 2003). "Neil Young: On the Beach / American Stars 'n' Bars / Hawks & Doves / Re-ac-tor". Pitchfork. Retrieved June 1, 2015.
- Christgau, Robert (March 9, 1982). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
