TRAINWRECKORDS: Crosby Stills Nash & Young's "American Dream"

CSNY almost cut a triumphant comeback record, but then their wooden ship got wrecked by the '80s.
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[@MixMasterLar]

"You're a bunch of washed up hippie burnouts and I'm Neil Fucking Yoooung" is still funny af

[@jamesrichie7844]

Brad Neely vibes the way he sang it

[@coolyoutubename]

Todd has finally dethroned Jimmy Fallon for best Neil Young impression.

[@bassplayer2011ify]

"You're a bunch of washed up hippie burnouts and I'm an angry boomer who got dissed by Lynyrd Skynyrd."

[@NEEDbacon]

@@jamesrichie7844 I was feeling more Jack Black.

[@851852093114208513]

@@bassplayer2011ify - I mean look Lynyrd Skynyrd fuckin shreds and Street Survivors is an all-time favorite but Sweet Home Alabama is an absolute shit song that is way overrated and way way way overplayed.

[@tylers1996]

The album that gave Crosby another 35 years he wouldn’t have had otherwise. Rest in Peace David.

[@robertwendland4197]

Amen

[@impermanence4300]

His work in The Byrds had a really deep impact on me. There's no question he was one of the greats.

[@littlekingtrashmouth9219]

RIP. Ftr compass is the best song on this album. The only one that makes me realize I’m listening to a csny album

[@thatkidwiththehoodie]

Say what you want about this album, it kept a man alive.

[@1987MartinT]

If that's indeed true, then this meh album was worth it.

[@CamCamGaming]

“The American Dream dies, ‘cause these fat, old hippies killed it.” might be one of the most savage opening stingers Todd has ever done lol.

[@applebonker141]

the title track from "American Dream" sounds like it's going to break into "Wake me Up Before You Go-Go" at any second

[@emilyadams3228]

Well, Neil's Les Paul has a Wham-my bar, so we were in greater danger than we perhaps realized.

[@MomLAU]

LOL! I like both of those songs, but you hit the nail on the head. I had never thought of the similarities until I read this.

[@davidgangemi3314]

What? It didnt???😂

[@crescentfreshbret]

Jitterbug!

[@crescentfreshbret]

@@emilyadams3228ZINGO!

[@alluneedislessthan3]

Me: *peacefully existing* A scream of a thousand voices emerging through the void: THIS OLD HOUSE OF OURS

[@Thomasmemoryscentral]

Me: Hey can you 4 old guys turn down the harmonies?

[@lucasbell4831]

God damn it, I hate when I'm trying to write an email at my computer but I suddenly get blindsided by the fabric of reality tearing apart for the harrowing shriek of the reaper of souls to blast me out of my chair screaming "THIS OLD HOUSE OF OURS"

[@cesarmadero05]

(blasting my house exploding and falling like Aunt May praying)

[@jeevithrai7994]

My eardrums exploding after wondering what our old house is built on:

[@basedsouljah]

@@jeevithrai7994 DREAMS DAMMIT, DREAMS!!

[@JeonardShadby505]

That drunk Stephen Stills interview gives off some serious Mike Love "life in prison as a ladies man" vibes.

[@RedXiongmao]

With the amount of times I've listened to the Beach Boys episode, I think subjecting myself to that line counts as digital self-harm

[@ddjsoyenby]

"i don't have a problem YOUR THE ONE GETTING ON MY BACK FOR LIVING LIFE!" "sir this is an aa meeting"

[@freakfoxvevo7915]

This and "Summer of Love" have more in common than I first thought

[@becauseimafan]

@@RedXiongmao LOL!

[@2dtrash19]

@@RedXiongmao It does. Please find healthier solutions to your problems, whatever they may be. Subjecting oneself to "Life in prison as a ladies' man" is no light topic, and is never the solution.

[@bagofgroceries]

It’s still remarkable David got clean. We got 30+ more years of David Crosby. And while this album may be trash, it symbolizes something better. It symbolizes life. RIP David Crosby.

[@jevinday]

I don't think it sounds that bad to be honest. It's not all that interesting, DEFINITELY not compared to some of their other stuff, but it doesn't sound terrible

[@Thomasmemoryscentral]

​@@jevindayif you play the title track over Billy Joel's The Longest Time video, it synces up wuite well!

[@plantain.1739]

​@@jevindayI get that for some songs. But shadow land is fucking ridiculous. You gotta admit that.

[@nickchambers3935]

CSNY's albums are now back on Spotify, but without the songs written by Neil as he's continuing with his boycott. The one exception is American Dream, where all the songs are available, Neil's included. I think the only conclusion we can draw from this is that they all forgot this album existed

[@Thomasmemoryscentral]

I don't even get why Joe Rogan bothers them so much for a boycott. Dont keep up with Rogan that much but he doesnt come off as a man to go after people. At least the albums existence got Crosby clean and enough for him to live past the 20th century

[@damotheman4196]

It turns out that Crosby had sold the rights to the music at the time of the boycott.. So he admitted he was (I hate this phrase) virtue signalling.. He came out a few weeks back and said 'I couldn't tour cos of Covid.. I had to feed my family" I get that. You'd be crazy not too. But the fact he put out a statement when it had literally NOTHING to do with him is a very Crosby move I guess!

[@kaspianepps7946]

@@Thomasmemoryscentral I think the issue that people have with Rogan is about misinformation (especially in relation to covid and vaccines). He also has an exclusivity deal with spotify, so they're paying him regardless of the number of listens - a lot of artists have criticised spotify's payments, so that probably contributes to their anger about the Rogan podcast.

[@Betta66]

@@Thomasmemoryscentral Neil Young had polio as a kid, so Joe Rogan letting people on his show spread vaccine misinformation understandably angered him.

[@theburningphoenix]

@@Thomasmemoryscentral the problem a lot of artists had with Spotify and Rogan aside from vaccine/Covid misinformation was the unfair pay gap between artists and Rogan where he gets paid millions to look like a douchebag while they make little to nothing from Spotify listens leading to the boycott by so many artists.

[@Smurfman256]

11:16 Audio engineer here. It's a combination of the 80's cliché of "shitload of reverb on everything" and the vocals just being *waaaaaaaaaay* too high up in the mix. There's at least 4 different "mixing" credits on the album, but considering CSNY themselves are listed in there as well, this was almost certainly a band decision saying "vocals louder".

[@DeadpoolX9]

ANOTHER victim of the loudness war

[@donnerthereindeer366]

@@DeadpoolX9That didn’t start until the early 90’s when CD’s were getting more popular and the production normalcy allowed for artists to push the bigger dynamic range for loudness to make the song sound more “exciting” and “irresistible”

[@christopherwall2121]

"My thing should be louder on the album!"

[@JonathanLedbetter]

​@@DeadpoolX9Nah, there was room to spare enough to mash the "chorus louder" vocals and still not peak out. But if this CD was rereleased anytime in the past 25 years, we would definitely see waveforms top out unless it was completely remixed from the master tapes or something.

[@GrafVonTirol]

Reasons for Trainwreckords thus far: * Trendchasing that went nowhere (0304, The Funky Headhunter) * Strange, if not ill-advised new directions (Kilroy Was Here, Cyberpunk, Crash, Passage, Witness) * Ego (Be Here Now (the Gallaghers), American Life (Madonna), Cut the Crap (Bernie Rhodes), Summer in Paradise (Mike Love)) * Band drama (Van Halen III, Mardi Gras, St. Anger, American Dream) * Personal drama (MTV Unplugged No. 2.0, Lost and Found) * Made poor life decisions (Paula, Two the Hard Way, Mission Earth) * Serious case of sophomore slump (Fairweather Johnson, Zingalamaduni, Turn It Upside Down) * ... whatever the hell that is (Funstyle)

[@SirJoelsuf1]

I'd put Witness in the "Ego" category. Same with Funstyle.

[@heymistercarter.]

While this idea is something to consider, some of these albums I’d argue are more a mix of what you’re pointing out over one specific thing. Like for Kilroy Was Here, that seems to be a mix of Band Drama (since the band didn’t agree with DeYoung’s ideas for the album), Ego (since DeYoung wanted to make this big epic rock opera to prove the critics wrong), and the strange new direction categories. And for Mission Earth, that was a mix of Poor Life Decisions (for Winter joining Scientology and collaborating with Hubbard on this album) and Hubbard’s Ego that an album based on his bloated, widely despised, unreadable book series would do well.

[@ghostofabulletproducciones5748]

The Will Smith album is also trendchasing and going nowhere

[@QWERTYCommander]

I'd say Funstyle was very much ego. Probably the largest example of it in the ones you listed

[@MrSilnev]

I think think Zingalamaduni was more a result of Ego than being a sophomore slump. Hootie and Spin Doctors had massive acclaim with their first album only to fall flat with the followup (One hit wonders but of the album variety). Arrested Development were making waves for years but their genre was on the verge of death in 1992 and by 1994 it was completely dead.

[@rse1113]

Fun Fact: In the 80s, Graham Nash's mullet and Bono's mullet had a three year-long feud where both refused to acknowledge each other at award shows and press conferences. Ireland now refers to this period as "The Not-So-Much Troubles."

[@Arahsure]

True. A mullet-off

[@Me-kr3ox]

Scary

[@AlfredoFilmGeek]

Just put it together that The Simpsons joke where Barney says he is a huge fan of David Crosby and then reveals he didn’t know he was a musician is referencing Crosby’s drug use.

[@m1k3l1f3]

Hey! That's right

[@someguy3752]

And there's another episode where he's revealed to be Lionel Hutz's AA sponsor.

[@m1k3l1f3]

@@someguy3752 the brownest of thr brown liquors

[@christopherwall2121]

​@@someguy3752 "Hello, David? I'm really tempted!" "Just take it one day at a time, and know that I love you." "Thanks man, I... I love you too!"

[@McSquawk]

For the running list of most ridiculous lyrics of each Trainwreckords episode, I submit: "Here's another corner baby, let me demonstrate my slide rule (sliiiiide ruuuuuuuuuuule!)"

[@robjgolde3221]

I still think the lyric that tops that list is “In a word to (yeah!) the wisdom tooth…open up, SAY AAAHHHHHMEN! Rinse cup, and spit again!” from the VH III episode, but man is it hanging on to that top spot by a thread.

[@McSquawk]

@@robjgolde3221 I don't think anything can top "You're being a peñis...colada that is".

[@robjgolde3221]

@@McSquawk I would agree, but there’s a quirky charm about that stupid line that I kinda respect.

[@thatkidwiththehoodie]

We need an actual list of those

[@CSXIV]

He tried to make a pun combining drift racing with a slide ruler. A slide ruler. Who was still using slide rulers in 1988? And even if slide rulers were still in common use, this is like John Parr's "Love Grammar" (yes, that's from One Hit Wonderland, but the point still stands).

[@electrickeithery]

They used to play 'American Dream' all the time on Wal Mart radio when I worked there twenty years ago. Never knew what it was, never had the urge to find out, but as soon as those flutes hit in this, it was like PTSD.

[@davidl570]

Those friggin' flutes made me wanna take an icepick to my eardrums!

[@dn22pkkdd476]

American Dream was the only song from Crosby Still Nash And Young that ever recived any radio play when I was a young lad. I had nonidea the band even existed if it weren't for this song. American Dream would pop up once every 2 years or so, be played on classic rock radio and shopping malls, only to disapear back into radio single obscurity. My dumbass adolescent mind thought the song sounded too much like a shittier version of the theme from the TV show Wishbone. To this day, the rare times I do hear this song, all I can think of when they are singing the chorus and those flutes hit is *"what's the story Wishbone"...* Seriously, I don't even dislike pan flutes. But this song has something about it that makes me never want to ever hear pan flutes again.

[@vinnym5607]

So surprising that it's a Neil Young record...and in a sense, it's not because he's so idiosyncratic.

[@Vondreema]

There's something dystopian about the idea of "american dree-eam" resonating in a ghostly echo over the PA at walmart

[@picahudsoniaunflocked5426]

Sweet Jesus the Americana you experienced

[@StoutShako]

That harmony should count as a jumpscare wtf.

[@ltjjenkins]

Lol. Well done

[@ATBPRODUCTlONS]

Came back here after finding out David Crosby passed away today at the age of 81. Despite how bad this album is and it showing that it was made by Neil and the others as a promise if Crosby could get sober, Crosby sure did leave a legacy with his time in The Byrds and Crosby Stills Nash and Young and lived a pretty long life. Rest in Peace David.

[@taylorcatalana1783]

There is a Todd-specific phenomenon in my life where I rewatch these Trainwreckords videos so much that these terrible songs start to take up a lot of real estate in my brain, and sometimes on my playlists. The hold that certain songs (or the snippets Todd plays) from this album and Witness have over me now cannot be overstated.

[@SirEriol]

Happens to me too. I really dig Jewel's _Yes U Can._ Some of her lyrics are shallow, but compared to the rest of the album it's a very fun song, in a "you _still_ kinda wanna go to an Euphoria party, don't you" way.

[@jimrustle270]

I genuinely love ‘Do you know what I mean’. The cleaned up version is amazing.

[@mmeblueberry5133]

I’m legit sad that the Cher and Greg Allman album isn’t on Spotify.

[@taylorcatalana1783]

@@mmeblueberry5133 Same

[@Ratabulous]

This is one of the things I’m most grateful for. Todd’s influence on my pop music knowledge and indirectly also my taste in guilty pleasures. 😂❤

[@the-NightStar]

"Albums made out of emotional obligation to people you can't stand anymore...." Oh boy, I can just feel that Trainwreckords of Pink Floyd - The Final Cut pulling into the station after that prophetic ending statement. At least in a "How many times do we have to teach you this lesson, old man?" kind of way.

[@J.S.3259]

The Final Cut is fucking brilliant and leagues better than Gilmour’s shit

[@onthefaultline]

Pink Floyd's history is so full of interpersonal drama Todd would have a shitload of material with that band alone. Not only The Final Cut, where Roger ruined his relationship with the other band members forever; but also A Momentary Lapse of Reason, where a burned-out Dave basically shat out a contractual obligation with every session musician he could find while Nick slept it off. Hell, if you think about it The Wall could count too - the band members were already not getting along, but The Wall was when the bomb really blew up.

[@snoopsq.527]

Let’s not forget A Saucerful of Secrets which marked beginning of the end for their psychedelic-era with Syd Barrett’s downward spiral and subsequent ousting from the band. Hell, the album ends with Barrett telling off the rest of band, like it was his last moment of lucidity among them before he contemplates his own delusions and sense of alienation. It’s one of the most haunting pieces of music I’ve ever listened to and eerie in how it foreshadows the direction Pink Floyd would go in.

[@joaquinlezcano2372]

@@J.S.3259 but it ended the band. And that's perfect for a trainwreckord

[@mimkyodar]

@@onthefaultline More like Momentary Lapse of Talent!

[@Lucholosabe]

Todd in the Shadows: Great music critic and talented Ronald Reagan impersonator.

[@LazyFreak07]

He does say "well" a lot!

[@CliffordtheOrangeCat]

I think he may owe Chris Barrie royalties.

[@Thomasmemoryscentral]

@@LazyFreak07 Night Song isnt a bad closer song. Sure Todd jokes about the song having a Miami Vice intro sound but it's fine for me. Heck you could technically throw some nighttime footage of Thomas And Friends over the song and can work fine

[@typacsk]

But how's his *Keanu* Weagan impwession?

[@shwanbrusso7626]

One childhood memory I have is my mother winning this album in a raffle at some convention we were at. She had never won anything before so we were pumped went home and played this at a decent volume. We were both really confused at what the heck we were listening to but dared not say anything bad about it. It was really bad. Really really bad.

[@henryglennon3864]

That's a very human coda to end the video on. Thank you.

[@Talisguy]

"Do it in the name of love" could have worked as political satire if it was handled differently. "Drop bombs in the name of love" could have been a very cutting critique of things like "Operation Iraqi Freedom:" putting a superficially positive spin on heinous actions.

[@nico.f.]

That's what it already is

[@Talisguy]

@@nico.f. I've looked up the lyrics, and if that was the intent, I think it missed the mark.

[@jeevithrai7994]

Isn't that what Rockin' In The Free World kind of does?

[@SavageGreywolf]

@@jeevithrai7994 and people still totally miss the point of that one, even though it has crunchy dissonant guitars and dark lyrics about things like a drug addicted mother abandoning an infant in a dumpster while society does nothing to help her, only congratulating itself on being 'free'.

[@coileight]

If a band like rage against the machine or dead kennedys wrote something like that song it would have been great.

[@seanmcloughlin5983]

Tbh after hearing that story at the start about Neil promising Crosby that if he got sober he’d make another album with him, I couldn’t care less if it’s actually good or not. Dave Crosby (was) alive and well (at the release of this video and comment) and I think that’s way cooler, and more important, than any song they could’ve made back together. RIP

[@vernie_in_hell]

very true!

[@mainnowalt]

Knowing how he sold off his song catalog out of pure financial necessity, I suppose that's very much true.

[@The61scissors]

Alive, and he's been quite productive for the past decade. He's actually my favorite of the four these days

[@jpirard]

@@mainnowalt Yeah like Stevie Nicks needed the money? Or Bob Dylan? PULLEZE

[@cessxiii]

@@seanmcloughlin5983 Well in fairness, what you had originally said is the exact opposite of the point you were trying to make. Personally I am happy when someone corrects me, and I thank them. Either way, your post makes a GREAT point that deserves some consideration.

[@thunder____]

Knowing about David Crosby's history of addiction really puts into context his support for Lionel Hutz through his struggles with alcoholism.

[@GrafVonTirol]

And also Barney Gumble meeting him in a later episode. Classics.

[@littlekingtrashmouth9219]

Just take it one day at a time and know I love you

[@thunder____]

@@littlekingtrashmouth9219 I love you too, man

[@MrGared22]

Honestly, as silly as it sounds, that's how I discovered Crosby. Was amazed to discover he wasn't a Simpsons character.

[@cesarmadero05]

​@@GrafVonTirol"David Crosby! You are my hero!" "Oh, you like my music?" "You're a musician!?"

[@MessagesFromEarth]

Todd singing, "... And I'm Neil Fucking Young," absolutely killed me. Well done

[@VinchVolt]

Watching this again, it feels like a companion piece to the "Summer in Paradise" video on several levels. The main difference is that CSNY at least had the good fortune to not have anyone quite like Mike Love in their lineup.

[@Thomasmemoryscentral]

It has the elements of Mardigras of each member contributing a song despite tension between members and heck, much like St Anger in 2003, this album existing helped at least one person out

[@iwest6256]

I’d actually say this episode is actually almost the exact inverse of Summer in Paradise. Whereas for that album, a member previously seen as more secondary wanted to prove himself capable in his own right in the absence of the primary songwriter, American Dream was the return of the member widely considered the most talented after a long absence, and yet still ended up a total flop.

[@zombiedodge1426]

Sounds to me like they had at least two and probably three people kind of like Mike Love in the group.

[@nickrustyson8124]

But they're all the Mike Love of their band

[@TPMProductions731]

I don't disagree that "I Can't Drive 55" has the vibe of a young man's song, so I was surprised to find out that Sammy Hagar was 37 when he released it. Stephen Stills was 43 when they did this album. I think it speaks to the vibes and personas they're able to project more so than their age

[@calmbbaer]

In his mid-50s, when the speed limit was changed, he re-recorded it as "I Can't Drive 65."

[@nickrustyson8124]

Also it help that Sammy Hagar had a supe up Trans Am, his song Trans Am Highway Wonderland is just him bragging about how cool it is, like 2 decades before that became a thing in Hip Hop

[@heymistercarter.]

The big difference is that Hagar was able to sell the youthful energy and rebellious spirit that a younger audience could relate to in 55. He may have been in his mid 30’s, but you could buy it being written and performed by someone 10-15 years younger. Stills, meanwhile, is practically strutting around with his beer gut and drunk-father-of-the-bride energy, and so he isn’t close to selling the same spirit and vibe as Hagar.

[@Piemanthe3rd]

"We really didn't get together, we were just in the same area." Is such a good line

[@akaihys]

i’m nominating “let me demonstrate my slide rule” for the trainwreckords bad lyrics hall of fame

[@4r4chn1da33]

Istg just listening to that lyric made me wanna take an ice-pick to my eye socket and lobotomize myself

[@TheAndradeCS]

Glad this one is back. Of all the trainwreckords to be copyright claimed, i expected the Scientology one to go down first, not the one about a band of Hippies.

[@timmy841212]

Most of the time, it’s the hippie musicians who are the most stingy about copyright lol

[@timmy841212]

@Perverted Alchemist That makes perfect sense

[@robgronotte1]

What had to be removed?

[@aimstar11]

@@robgronotte1 nothing he just lost all the original views and had to re upload it again.

[@SavageGreywolf]

@@timmy841212 the musicians usually couldn't care less (although there are a few notable exceptions). It's the record labels making billions off their back catalogs who care

[@heymistercarter.]

I said this during the last upload, but one TrainWreckords episode I think many would love to see is Forever by the Spice Girls. Like this, it’s a case of one of the biggest, most popular groups in the world trying to come together and put something new out, especially in the mix of personal turmoil (firing Simon Fuller, Geri “Ginger Spice” Halliwell quitting). That plus a change in sound from pop to a more R&B thing, creating some forgettable songs that sounded nothing like them, pretty much ended the Spice Girls dominion.

[@x_VineM_x]

Love the Spice Girls,haaaate Forever,tried but just couldn't get into it.🤷‍♂️

[@giarichards8379]

Whitney Houston’s Just Whitney would probably be the biggest train wreck in the history of Trainwreckords and really live up to the name of the show more than any other before it. 💀 There would be so much juicy material to dissect - a lead single that was a big FU to the media which ended up becoming her biggest flop ever, her Diane Sawyer and Wendy Williams interviews that brought her public image down to catastrophic levels. Bobby Brown… need I say more?

[@seamusburke639]

I didn’t even find out FOREVER had been released until months after the fact. The Spice Girls went out with such a whimper, it was kind of shocking.

[@giarichards8379]

@Perverted Alchemist He would be responsible for Mariah’s Emancipation of Mimi comeback in 2005 though I believe? I know she’s not an Artista artist but still a veteran act.

[@kittykittybangbang9367]

Don't forget Man of the Woods by Justin Timberlake. I would love to see Todd tear him to shreds.

[@JoshuaFagan]

I woke up in the middle of the night, watched this episode the first time it released, and fell back to sleep. When I woke up, it wasn't there, and I seriously thought I'd just dreamed it up.

[@musyarofah1]

"There were boomer icons all over the place, still making big hits and everyone just pretending they were still vital and relevant in their puffy middle age" pretty much just summed up Mike Love

[@littlekingtrashmouth9219]

“No one wants to see a fifty year old guy hittin on chicks!” (The Wedding Singer)

[@liamneedsauniquehandle]

No, I don't like Mike Love at all.

[@wubwub7230]

I've had those pan-flutes off the title track stuck in my head ever since the original upload 😭

[@ddjsoyenby]

same their mindworms.

[@cangrejopendejo4909]

Yeah I actually like that song lol. The lyrics are stupid and I get why it wasn't a hit, but ehhh sounds good to my ears.

[@TheAlps36]

I still sing "don't know where things went wrong... might've been when you were young and strong" to myself from time to time

[@beckywelton6986]

Hooray! So glad this is back. I was lucky enough to catch it before it got taken down and was eager to see it again for Todd's 🎵You're a bunch of washed-up hippie burnouts and I'm Neil fucking Young...🎵

[@emilioalberto6967]

Got a good laugh out of Todd singing this backed up by Neil Fng Young’s guitar 🎸 riff 😂

[@Biscuit-Triscuit]

I was wanting to rewatch it for that same bit, it killed me lol

[@deltagodangel]

That's so good

[@morley364]

I literally finished watching the first upload, scrolled down to see the comments....and they were gone. I scrolled back up and the video was gone. I was just sitting there for a solid minute refreshing, assuming my internet had dropped.

[@Georgeirfx]

But why was it taken down?

[@joelthomas6522]

There are definitely better ways to mark the passing of David Crosby, but watching this video will be my way of remembering that remarkable soul.

[@jevinday]

RIP, one of my biggest musical influences.

[@YouCantDeleteDenzelL]

This album is the musical equivalent of trying to reconnect as adults with friends you never particularly got along with as kids. it never works out and it becomes almost immediately clear that time itself can't fix the dysfunction from all those years ago.

[@gabe_s_videos]

The key word here is "obligation." Every decision made for this album was an obligation: friends' personal obligations to each other, long-running music act's obligation to their fans, commercial artists' obligations to keep their "brand" up to date with changing fashions. All jokes aside, it does actually sound like everyone involved would rather be doing something else, like when you're at work and your brain is back home doing something fun (in my case, drawing or playing music). Everyone is doing what's expected of them, not what they, personally, want to do, and you can tell. There are things that were made under obligation that I like, mind you: both Linkin Park's "Meteora" and Monty Python's "Contractual Obligations Album" were both made out of obligation, and they're two of my favorite albums. Idk exactly what was happening behind the scenes on either because I wasn't there, but they at least sound like everyone's trying to make something they're happy with under the circumstances. I get the impression that everyone here just wants to do their job and go home (or in Neil's case, get everyone out of his home lol).

[@IsmailofeRegime]

Yeah even the "best" songs on this album just sound... underwhelming, as if the band collectively said "we could have made this song better but ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhh"

[@gabe_s_videos]

@@IsmailofeRegime Not even. More like "Whatever, it's fine, just get it done. Can we go home now, mom?"

[@robertwilloughby8050]

I agree about albums made for obligation, and weirdly "Metors" is the only Linkin Park album I like. But, yes, most "Contractual and Personal obligation" albums are complete.... poo. Might I suggest two more that aren't poo? The Bonzo's "Let's Make Up And Be Friendly" and The Association's "Waterbeds In Trinidad".

[@brothertoad6107]

I'll add another example of an "obligation album" that turned out well: Atheist's third album Elements. It was written and recorded and mixed in 40 days purely to fulfill their contract. It's actually a great album if you're into progressive/technical death metal. Their 2nd album Unquesrionable Presence will always be their classic album but Elements has a lot more of the jazz and Latin music influences that were introduced on Unquestionable Presence.

[@kylez8010]

@@robertwilloughby8050 "Here My Dear" by Marvin Gaye, who knew that his ex-wife would be getting much of his payment for it.

[@GriffinPilgrim]

The whole idea of the "big comeback" is fraught with issues. Often there's a good reason why the artist went away in the first place.

[@timmy841212]

Think New Edition’s first reunion in 1996-97.

[@Pikachu2Ash]

It work for Elvis and the Eagles.

[@GriffinPilgrim]

@@Pikachu2Ash I'm not saying artists can't have successful comebacks, plenty have. I'm just saying there has to be a reason why they're coming back beyond they just want to. Either they need to have something new to offer or tastes must have swung back round to what they were already doing.

[@hericiumcoralloides5025]

It can really depend on genre and expectations of the era though. Great artists in more avant-garde or exploratory spaces seem to be able to pull it off from time to time.

[@GriffinPilgrim]

@@hericiumcoralloides5025 True, if you were weird before and people got tired of it then simply being away for a while then coming back can make your brand of weird interesting again.

[@theneonchimpchannel9095]

I think the difference between the 80s version of CSNY and The Traveling Wilburys who debuted soon after was that The Traveling Wilburys just sort of happened. There was no great plan to make an album together, they were just a bunch of friends who came together to work on what was meant to be a b-side for George's latest single. It turned out far better than expected and they ended up making an album which, based on the studio footage, was basically just 1 long party/jam session. CSNY were forcing it. None of them were having a good time, they didn't enjoy each other's company anymore and the whole thing just seems uncomfortable.

[@joaquinlezcano2372]

But according to what I was looking for, it was also a help for Roy Orbison. Kind of like CSNY. Except that they were friends who actually cared.

[@muhammadrifqi7308]

What a blessing The Travelling Willburys was. That project reinvigorated Bob Dylan who had a terrible time in late 80s and inspired him to record Oh Mercy, his best album of the decade, with producer Daniel Lanois. That partnership would then create Time Out Of Mind and started the late Dylan renaissance

[@OTOss8]

RIP David Crosby, you may be gone but your grandson is still tearing it up in the NHL.

[@pronkb000]

Still partial to Graham Nash's son Rick.

[@heelstevenmaggle5615]

Yesterday I watched this video and when I went to the music store I work at I was talking to my coworker about how amazing it is that Crosby is still alive after everything he’s been through! And I go back today to pick up my check and he tells me that he died! R.I.P. David Crosby

[@RetroRuss]

RIP David Crosby. It's amazing he lived as long as he did.

[@GEM99Show]

Missing lyrics 14:05 Oh mighty lord, whose that girl I wanna go cruise that girl I tried to amuse that girl Fell down and I snooze that girl Seemed like I confuse that girl Cops like to accuse that girl Nice guys just abuse that girl Don't chu dare come and bruise that girl She wants her name, "Hughes that girl" Sing sad songs like "Blues that girl" So damn hard to ruse that girl I'm the one who screws that girl

[@TheSaltyLibrarian]

Stephen Stills did not write this himself because he's a coward. thank you, good poster

[@berkeleyisonline160]

next bob dylan in the youtube comments section

[@demoleramera]

"She thinks she is a moose that girl" "She demonstrates her slide rules that girl"

[@Alex_Fyrehart]

"Hey, if you get clean, I'll make an album with you again" [album happens] "Hey, I said AN album, not a good one"

[@davidyurch4446]

There's something about Graham Nash's moving from writing protest songs to playing yuppie 80's music like this that reminds me of how Oliver Stone made Platoon after fighting in Vietnam himself, and then called Wall Street "the greatest jungle of them all" in the trailer for Wall Street.

[@halo2d]

Weird cause Wall Street has millions more victims than Vietnam did Edit:trillions

[@davidyurch4446]

@@halo2d I am not prepared or equipped to have this discussion; I’m only making a comment on the music Graham Nash made.

[@Lamporre]

That’s not a fair comparison. Wall Street was a scathing criticism, especially where Gordon Gekko is concerned, and it still holds up today.

[@chriss6053]

and now he makes Putin propaganda 😅

[@nickrustyson8124]

@@chriss6053 And just flat out conspiracy propaganda

[@iamabrawler92]

Didn't get to write it the previous time, but reunions like this were summed up pretty well by a sketch I know. "Y'know, when artists who were in a band that split get back together, is it possible that it may be for the money?" "...Are you crazy? It's only for the fun of getting back together as good buddies! ...and then brutally remember, minutes later, the reasons why they had split in the first place."

[@TheDarkMessiah]

...Pérusse?

[@iamabrawler92]

@@TheDarkMessiah Yep!

[@stefanpredoi4564]

I love how Neil went from making an absolute proto-alt rock classic with Rust Never Sleeps to 10 years of failed experiments and then right back where he had left off. It's like he was swapped with a double in 1980 and returned in 1990.

[@henrygvidonas9573]

The experiments didn't necessarily fail. Most of them weren't "experiments" at all to begin with. They just weren't commercial successes. The "Freedom" album was released in 1989, the famous SNL performance of "Rockin' In The Free World", too. As a live rock concert act he had been going strong again since 1986 with the "In A Rusted Out Garage" Tour that took the "Rust Never Sleeps/Live Rust" concept and turned it up to eleven. Neil and Pegi Young's son Ben was born in 1978. If you know Ben's story and Neil's problems with Geffen Records, you understand everything Neil did in the 1980s. He needed to be somebody else artistically or rely on reworked old material to survive emotionally. Neil played a total of one live show between October 1978 and mid-1982. His pre-Geffen albums in the 80s weren't experiments, they were just pieced together from old mid-70s material. The first Geffen album, "Trans", was assembled from three "conventional" tracks of an album Geffen had rejected and six electronic tracks that reflected Neil's attempts at communicating through technological means with his son who can't speak. The "Transformer Man" in the eponymous song is Ben. It's one of his best and most emotionally intense songs ever. Geffen absolutely hated the album, rejected Neil's next project, an excellent traditional country album, and demanded a "Rock 'n' Roll record". Neil's reaction to that was to morph into a 1950's Rocker pastiche and make a Rockabilly album. At that point he got sued by Geffen, basically for "refusing to be Neil Young". Since he had a contract that gave him creative control over his own work and public persona he filed a massive countersuit. After that Geffen had to apologise to him and had to release a reworked updated version of his country music project - and CSNY reunited for their performance at Live Aid, the real origin for the project that ended with "American Dream" album. A few months later Crosby turned himself in, went to prison in Texas, and got on his long road to recovery. Neil then cobbled an album with reworked older ideas and a terrible 80s "radio rock" production together. It has some really good songs on it (like "Violent side" and "Touch The Night"), but the production just doesn't work. The next album took live recordings from the amazing "In A Rusted Out Garage" tour and mutilated them with another terrible 80s production. Live bootlegs from that tour are eye-opening as to what that album could haven been. Great songs strangled by a terrible sound and mix. Neil's last album for Geffen records and the end of his missteps as a producer on his own records. After that he made the lovely "This Note's for You" R&B album with one of the most culturally relevant MTV videos ever (when MTV actually was culturally relevant...), got into the mess that "American Dream" and had his commercially successful comeback with "Freedom". Of course Todd, as usual, mentions or explains absolutely nothing of this in any significant way, just like he completely ignores the failed attempt at a new CSNY album after the 1974 stadium tour. He just parrots the old narratives from the first page of Google results plus a paragraph from a questionable biography, as per his established MO. That tour was the first modern concert tour of exclusively nothing but bigger baseball stadiums and football stadiums. It set the precedent for everything acts like the Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Michael Jackson, U2, Metallica did later. Attendances were between 32k and 90k, average attendance was over 62k, which was absolutely insane for the time. It cannot be overstated how dramatic the failure to make a new album at that particular point in the band's history was. They were pretty much the biggest live act in the world in the summer of 1974. Not even Neil in his most popular years has ever drawn average attendances as big as those for regular concerts. If they had followed that up with a good album with new material, instead of becoming completely dysfunctional and imploding, they could have been "bigger than the Beatles".

[@Thomasmemoryscentral]

Weight Of The World musically contains the sound of Neil's attempt at When Doves Cry

[@stockicide]

@@henrygvidonas9573 If you're dissatisfied with Todd's video, why don't you try making a video of your own on the downfall of CSNY? It seems to be a hyperfixation of yours.

[@doodooswaggy3825]

@@henrygvidonas9573 Relax

[@countrymusicadventurelover2001]

@@henrygvidonas9573while people might feel that you seem a little harsh on todd, hopefully we can all appreciate the further detail and clear history you provide of this band, thanks for the added context!

[@nathanjasper512]

As an audio engineer I can tell you what's wrong with the songs. They are in fact as you have suggested... mixed bad. Levels are all over the place, and it seems like they wanted to create an atmosphere? Or something? I'm not sure with the direction they were going for. I think a big part of it is the fact that CSNY is pretty much the anthesis of what the 80s was about, and they tried to follow the trends instead of just being the folk group that they were good at.

[@birkobird]

Another engineer here, at least for the part where Todd shows the waveform it looks an awful like they pulled all the tracks down to fix the levels, evened out all the backing vocals so they blended well, then forgot to bring the rest of the mix back up. And yeah on my headphones the backing vocals sound like a train hitting you.

[@HughDingwall]

...also an audio engineer... I wonder if it's a production choice reflecting the egos in the room? You know how when you want to make vocals blend nice, you sometimes round the edges off 'em and make them all a bit less distinct so they blur and mesh nicely? Wouldn't surprise me if theses guys all got mad at not being able to hear their own parts clearly, and that drove an "everything louder than everything else" spiral.

[@Thomasmemoryscentral]

@@HughDingwall Hi Hugh. Do any of you 3 audio engineers able to identify another arrists CSNY sounded like? Todd says Nighttime For The Generals sounded similar to Don Henley but for some of the others, I could identify: 1. Glad That You Got It Made: Fleetwood Mac, Cyndi Lauper. Specifically the music has a resemblance to Time After Time for me 2. Rolling Thunder: ZZ Top, Sammy Hagar 3. Dont Say Goodbye: Richard Marx 4. Soldiers Of Peace: Peter Cetera I only identified these artists in order bit which would count as a 7th artist or group they sounded like?

[@malegria9641]

Audio engineer in training here (aka an intern)- I have no idea what the fuck everyone else is talking about can someone explain it to me like I’m five

[@gabriel-von-schneider]

@@malegria9641 Same here. That chorus on "This Old House" does hit pretty hard, but I wouldn't call it unbalanced to the point of incompetence. There was much worse than this in the 80s.

[@Ethan_Davies]

The fact that every great band from the 60's ended up realise the worst shit ever in the 80s, I'm really starting to think that smoking weed all day and living in a van half the year was the only thing that kept them writing good tunes

[@mrcliff3709]

Well I imagine being broke as shit motivates you to succeed

[@Betta66]

Moody Blues were still making good albums in the 1980s

[@mrcliff3709]

@@jadedheartsz I agree on Cooper

[@PineappleLiar]

I think most every generation has older acts that linger around the periphery, not as good as they were in their heyday but still making albums. The difference with the 80s is that there was so much money getting flung around the music industry that these lesser albums that would otherwise disappear into the aether were instead given a disproportionate amount of publicity and sales. If Eddie Murphy could have *multiple* albums in that decade, anything is possible.

[@ltjjenkins]

They stayed revelent enough for gen xers to explore their old stuff.

[@ThereMayBeLions]

Revisiting this after hearing about David Crosbys passing and the effective end of CSNY. This was a great video, and still valid and worthwhile after the recent passing of Crosby. RIP David

[@josephkelly6681]

I saw them, sans Neil, right after David got clean. At a small setting in Cleveland, and they were incredible and the first time I realized that they were actual musicians and I was lucky to hear them live. Maybe, better live than trying to make a album.

[@brentwilson9566]

It's somewhat ironic that "American Dream" was actually a decently big (and if my local classic rock station is anything to go by, surprisingly long-lived) hit in Canada. Cancon makes thing a bit weird sometimes...

[@fabulosityeternal]

I call this phenomenon "Canadian myopia". Was this song ACTUALLY a giant hit, or do we only think of it as a hit because it's Canadian (and therefore music stations can safely play it as Cancon)?

[@Alfredo-oh8xb]

@@fabulosityeternal Yes, never knew Trooper, Harlequin and Big Sugar were never big in the States

[@NEEDbacon]

@@fabulosityeternal I'm aware of Cancon laws. But now I'm thinking of if this song actually is popular. TBH makes sense now.

[@zombiedodge1426]

@@Alfredo-oh8xb I was surprised to find out April Wine and Chilliwack actually had a few top 40 hits apiece in the US. Corey Hart had way more Billboard top 40 hits than people remember, too (though "Sunglasses at Night" and "Never Surrender" were his only top tens). It's rare for a Canadian who's a one hit wonder in the States to also be a one hit wonder in Canada. Can-con requirements can usually push a few other singles across the finish line. One exception: Jane Child, whose only hit on both sides of the border was "Don't Wanna Fall In Love" in 1990.

[@alejoparedes2388]

I'm glad this is back because I can't go on living without your Neil Young impression at 1:26

[@mightymoses18]

Best part of another brilliant video. He’s gotta incorporate that in each Trainwreckord video from now on.

[@alejoparedes2388]

The Reagan impression at 10:14 is also fantastic

[@2-d_in_a_bag]

it's a sacred audio clip to keep on a cloud or a usb stick and pass down through generations 💙

[@jackalthereefer]

Growing up in Canada, I actually heard "American Dream" somewhat regularly on local radio over like a 5 year time period when I was a kid. That pan flute riff is burned in the back of my brain. Neverrrrrr knew it was Neil Goddamn Young!

[@Thomasmemoryscentral]

Hey Jack, Canadian from Vancouver here and I too grew up with the title track! Did you hear the other songs being played on air?

[@ilikebags8385]

Multiple radio stations in Canada play "American Dream" everyday. Everyday.

[@nickrustyson8124]

@@ilikebags8385 Yeah that would be enough to drive anyone crazy

[@Liquidduck]

That's CanCon for ya.

[@walmorcarvalho2512]

@@ilikebags8385 I saw it somewhere on Todd's video comments that Canadian radios have a quota of locallly-made music to fill and, for that reason, people had to listen to Nickelback stuff back-to-back on multiple radios at the same time. As a Brazillian, i wonder if that's true and, if being the case, it had anything to do with this "American Dream" situation

[@KaiserBeamz]

I attended a CSNY concert at Red Rock Stadium with my Dad back in '06 and I do remember they brought a lot of energy to that show. Probably because they played none of the songs from this album. Also, pretty amazing that not only is David Crosby still alive at the time of this posting but also very active on Twitter. EDIT 1/19/2023: RIP Crosby you legend

[@paisleepunk]

omggg KAISERBEAMZ?

[@heymistercarter.]

I think I realize what this album is for each of the guys. Crosby: a rehab/sobriety journal set to music. Stills: a midlife crisis spent at beachfront resorts and casinos (probably ones Mike Love is banned from), while still hoping he has the same charm he had in his youth. Nash: an attempt to reclaim the glory days by sticking to what he knows best (and trying to update it for the times), not realizing it’s pretty much out-of-date. Young: the efforts of a student who’s forced into a project with the kids with the worst grades in the class, so he’s only putting in 50% effort because the others have to do the work too, and he has better stuff to focus on.

[@k-discotheque3630]

It’s back baby! Fuck copyright strikes fr. Especially on this video which has some of Todd’s all time zingers, from his spot on Neil Young impression to his inspired comparison of David Crosby and ODB to his hatred of Stephen Stilles’s 80s bad guy mullet everything.

[@iansanchez966]

I happened upon this video earlier today, before I heard of David Crosby’s passing. How appropriate that this album gave him the gift of extended life. May he rest in peace 🙏

[@richardeckert883]

RIP David Crosby (1941-2023). May he be remembered for... better material than this.

[@muhammadrifqi7308]

His last few albums before his death are genuinely great and worth a listen

[@AdrianBelmonte96]

just found out David Crosby, the man that inspired this whole record, has died today Rest in Peace man

[@firmanchristiansianturi4794]

Wilburys worked because it seems like they're actually just such good friends

[@romangarcia608]

and the songs were incredible, that can’t really be said about any other stuff found on TrainWreckords 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@Hammerhead547]

They actually were extremely close friends before forming. The story goes that when roy was recording his vocal parts, everyone else stopped everything they were doing and went into the studio just to listen to him sing.

[@emilywhite1429]

Glad this is back, now I can hear Todd's sweet sweet Neil Young impression once again

[@Riatzi]

"We didn't really get together, we were all just in the same area." Uncle Neil not giving a fuck, as usual.

[@jackthayer1289]

It's like if Moe, Larry, Shemp, and Curly made an album together.

[@cremetangerine82]

Calling your album “American Dream” is just inviting the “half the band isn’t American” jokes. This album is so bad in its execution, it’s making my brain melt! Also, some of these lyrics (political and romantic) sound written by teenagers, not men who just turned 40. I’ll pretend that “Déjà Vu” is the only album that Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young made together! I do like that the inspiration for the album is someone getting sober; that’s admirable, especially after Young and what happened to Danny Whitten. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Whitten Also, I’m surprised “Smells Like Teen Spirit” *didn’t* make an appearance in this episode! I credit Neil Young’s career revival in the 1990s due to the “grunge” movement (Young being an OG of what could be considered grunge). Neil Young was very heartbroken by Kurt Cobain’s death, wrote an album devoted to Cobain (“Sleeps with Angels”) in 1994, and thanked Cobain in his Rock Hall of Fame Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame speech the next year. Thanks, Todd in the Shadows!

[@Thomasmemoryscentral]

Kind of sounds to what Metallicas St Anger in 2003 did in keeping the band together. An album that had at least one good thing come out of it. I'd say American Dream the album getting David Crosby sober and St Anger keeping Metallica together during their early 2000's fights are 2 reasons each album can have great for them for existing. One album got created as the result of one member getting clean and another became a sort of necessary bad to stop another band from breaking up.

[@calmbbaer]

Non-American bands seeming fixated with America isn't a new thing. Heck, several Neil Young albums have titles that directly reference the U.S. And then there's the band 54-40, a Canadian band.

[@KingRandor82]

OHHHH yes they do sound like lyrics written by teenagers.

[@ghostofabulletproducciones5748]

To be fair, Neil Young has lived in the US for like 60 years and even at the time he had been living there for half his life

[@ironicdivinemandatestan4262]

@@calmbbaer That's at least moe understandable, as the 54°-40' line is within their home province of British Columbia.

[@samuelmiller7987]

1988-1991 (until release of Nirvana's 'Nevermind') was a weird transition time for music. A lot of it sounded like movie soundtrack background music. I mean, c'mon....that was the rise of Kenny G.

[@zombiedodge1426]

In his worst songs of 1991 video, Todd says it was a really weird "aborted experiment" year. Not necessarily *bad*, but the rise of grunge, alt-rock and gangsta rap would abruptly make almost everyone else look hopelessly out of date.

[@samuelmiller7987]

@@zombiedodge1426 Hey hey!! I was right. Vindication!

[@bellaluna9228]

"You're a bunch of washed-up hippy burnouts, and I'm Neil Fucking Young." This impression made me laugh hysterically in a moment when I really needed it.

[@kenn_k]

Future episode suggestion: Limp Bizkit's _Results May Vary._ Not only is it their relatively unsuccessful follow-up to _Chocolate Starfish,_ the first rock record to go platinum in it's first week and as far as I know it's still the fastest-selling rock record ever... but _Results_ is also the album that blessed us with their cover of "Behind Blue Eyes," it's their first and only without the OG Wes Borland (so nearly every other track is performed with a different guitarist, including Fred Durst), and MTV Album Launch did a full 5 episodes documenting the 2 years they put into it, so you'd have a ton of material to work with, lol. It's a god damn mess, both the journey and the (ahem) result. Not to mention, they've recently spiked in popularity, so... Just a thought.

[@crescentfreshbret]

“L…I…M…P…” “Experience.”

[@the-NightStar]

Still waiting for Pink Floyd - The Final Cut

[@DirtiestDMusic]

We know Todd loves his nu metal.

[@K.J.S.est1994]

Let’s not forget that “Results May Vary” was one of the two albums that killed the Nu Metal genre once and for all (alongside KoRn’s “Take a Look in the Mirror”). When Nu Metal became irrelevant after 2003/04, the rise of the Emo movement came along with bands such as Panic! At the Disco, Fall Out Boy and My Chemical Romance.

[@kenn_k]

@@K.J.S.est1994 I've heard that before but, imo, the genre peaking both artistically and in popularity around 2001 is what ultimately killed it... oversaturation, the cheesy rip-offs, etc. But those were definitely the two big releases that _confirmed_ it was dead. Or at least in a long coma, anyway, lol. Kinda funny that _Meteora_ was released that same year. But your point about the rise of emo is hella on point, not to mention metalcore and bands like Three Days Grace and Breaking Benjamin kinda bridging the gap on rock radio. That's something worth noting actually, Fred and LB were going for that nü grunge sound on certain tracks here... Now I'm genuinely curious to hear Todd's opinion on which factor contributed more to this failure, the shitshow record or the general hatred for the band, lol

[@ya9thelatinogringo]

The next Trainwreckord should be the king of albums that were hellish to make: Chinese Democracy. I don't know if it's technically a Trainwreckord but I think it would be interesting to discuss.

[@cheetohands9]

I am in the minority of people who like that album, not more than their classic stuff obviously, but on its own there are some songs I like a lot. That being said I can 100% understand why someone wouldn’t like it.

[@DrewFKADruid]

He might, considering his enthusiasm in the Van Halen III review. I don't imagine Guns N' Roses have been near as relevant ever since Chinese Democracy released. Scooped Mids did a review/retrospective of it on his channel, which is primarily how I know about that album, but I'm interested in Todd potentially having hot takes of his own on it.

[@okagron]

Still waiting for a trainwreckord on either X Factor and Virtual XI from Iron Maiden. I enjoy a few songs from both albums, but they are the nadir of the band.

[@necrodamus5481]

that would actually work. Guns N Roses aint made anything else since then

[@FabulousResults]

god, I remember listening to that when it came out. what a strange album.

[@karnickel-s33d16]

That episode of Trainwreckords was so good, I think I'll watch it for the first time a second time!

[@jonsrecordcollection7172]

Have you ever thought about doing Duran Duran, "Thank You"? Unlike a lot 1980s New Wave acts, Duran Duran actually had a legit 1990s comeback with "Ordinary World" and "Come Undone" that wasn't some nostalgia pity party. Then they tanked it with one of the most ill-conceived covers album ever done. I mean, have you ever heard them attempt Public Enemy's "911 Is A Joke"?

[@davidl570]

..........................not to mention White Lines (Don't Do It). WTF were they thinking??

[@someguy3752]

A bunch of the artists they covered really liked that album for some reason, but basically no one else did.

[@davidl570]

@@someguy3752 Oh, the irony!

[@kriswright]

I dunno. I kinda like that album. And white guys covering hip-hop songs seems like less of a sin today than it did in 1995.

[@pmberry]

Even Duran Duran have pretty much disowned that album but you've not been paying attention because they've put out seven albums since that disaster, three of them reaching the top ten albums in the UK, and five of them reaching the top forty albums in the US. So that's two comebacks: Thank You did not sink Birmingham's finest.

[@arandompasserby7940]

It's interesting how this whole album feels like the band taking a wild, unsure stab at trying to sound contemporary by poking at different styles and sounds. Thing is, this kind of experiment sounds like an early 80's album, when everyone was still getting into the groove of what was the style of the decade. In 1988, this feels about 5 years late. I like to think, had this record come out about 7 years later, there would have been a song with some grunge elements in there, and probably a 90's ballad in there for good measure. Also, the production on the song "American Dream" (especially with those synth flutes) really sounds like the intro to some 90's PBS Kids show.

[@ply61]

Do you remember when in Spongebob, Squiward says "If we play loud enough, people will think we're good?" (or something like that), well... that's why the harmonies sounds SO FUCKING LOUD.

[@ninjabluefyre3815]

Someone should edit that! Squid: And a one, and a two, and a 1 2 3 4. THIS OLD HOUSE OF OURS IS BUILT ON DREAMS!!! Squid: Okay, new plan. Maybe we should play so quiet, no one can hear us.

[@raggedyanarchist]

Oh. Huh. It actually never occurred to me that this album might be bad. My mother used to love it, and played it all the time when I was a baby. I got into CSNY when I was a teenager, and while nothing on American Dream ever hit the heights of, say, Ohio, I certainly never hated listening to it. I guess that's probably because I didn't go into American Dream as a fan of the older work, expecting them to rekindle the magic, but rather went into the older work having been bottle-fed American Dream, and was blown away by it. Context matters, I suppose.

[@Galantski]

🤣 *Best Line* "Hey, guys, I've just written a song about how the American Dream is a failure and a lie, and I think it should sound like a commercial for a water park." 8:15 🤣

[@Thomasmemoryscentral]

To me, this music is more finger snap music. Something to listen to as you walkndiwn the streets all happy and snapping your fingers with.

[@JamesJimmaHarding]

Todd's "....And I'm Neil fucking young" is up there with Buckley's impression of Neil's "Out of the BLUUUUE....and into the BLAAAACK"

[@apc9681]

Hello Mr Shadows, I am once again requesting Chance the Rapper’s ‘The Big Day’ for a Trainwreckord episode

[@howtoedittv5628]

Agree

[@NarutooftheRasengan]

That's way too soon for a Trainwreckord

[@juliancantero3519]

I think is a good future episode but maybe in a few years. I see a good comeback from chance in this year or the next one.

[@GrantH]

Depends if his next few albums perform poorly as well

[@Strix24000]

His latest singles have been pretty great. I don’t that episode is happening any time soon

[@Stygosi]

It wasn't intended to be their last album. They had plans for the future. But the reaction and disappointing sales to "Calling All Stations" pretty much killed off the seemingly unstoppable Genesis. If you want a future Trainwreckords idea. Your presentation might make it more fun than the album was. But bring an oxygen tank or twelve!

[@timmy841212]

Cause they wanted Phil. Something they don’t wanna say out loud. I understand Genesis wanted to move on but it’s like what happened when Van Halen after they hired Gary Cherone. They never really tried again besides that one reunion album with David that never went anywhere.

[@colefitzpatrick8431]

I would be uber curious to hear what Todd would have to say about a song like the title track from a Genesis song, and then what he would have to say about something as half-baked as Shipwrecked.

[@arandompasserby7940]

@@colefitzpatrick8431 The song "Calling All Stations" is a difficult one to process. The first impression (after the pretty solid guitar riff) will always be a shocked and generally negative one if you've ever heard a Genesis song any time ever. (Some people still hate on Phil for "taking the band away from heady prog-rock to mainstream radio pop", but at least 80's Genesis made some solid bangers.) But after about the 4th or 5th attempt to listen, you start to realize the song really is not as bad as that first impression ... but then you notice the lyrics are clunky, and it's not that great of a song either ... but it's also not bad enough to hate ... but the song is worse off for being part of a (once) much better band. Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford were probably much better off retiring the Genesis name and doing the Calling All Stations album under a different band name.

[@hericiumcoralloides5025]

As a huge Peter Gabriel fan, I feel the lyrics of many Genesis songs after his era aren't up to par. Then again, Gabriel has such a unique style of writing and delivering lyrics that it isn't much of a surprise. What an innovative group of musicians though. Regardless of era or style.

[@Hammerhead547]

@@timmy841212 It also didn't help that tattoo was basically superglued together from ancient unfinished demos and scrapped ideas from the 1984 sessions that would've sounded amazing in 1987 but were way past their prime by 2010.

[@TheAlexSchmidt]

I feel like the pan flutes are supposed to sound like Revolutionary War era fifes, even if it doesn't quite fit.

[@tyjuarez]

Producer and audio nerd here: When you have a sprawling 80s production like this, with a ton of separate elements coming together, some of them artificial, the thing that separates professional sheen from instantly dated cheese, is Gain Staging. What is Gain Staging? It's making sure each of the elements are the right volume. Y'know, the bread and butter of the job of a producer? the thing that people think of when they hear "Mixing"? Yeah they screwed that up.

[@davidhibbs4737]

Nice to see so many returning to this video after the news of David’s passing

[@kochiyama]

It's important to note ol' Neil and his lawyers have spent the last year trying to scrub the videos of his horrible '80s stuff from the internet, and this video is one of the last places you can see clips of them.

[@ToddintheShadows]

They were quite hard to find.

[@Thomasmemoryscentral]

Geez Neil Young. You made your mistakes and should just own up to them. People have moved on from your bad 80s stuff, you can too!

[@MmeSmite]

Is it wrong that I kind of like “Wonderin’”?

[@ianriemer6245]

I don't know if you do requests, Todd, but I'd love to see you cover DEVO's Shout. The album that turned the pioneers of the 80's sound into an act that sounded like every cheesy 80's act. The album flopped hard and was hated by critics. It made Warner Bros drop them as an act, it made their drummer leave the band, and it destroyed their planned tour for the album. There's a reason why DEVO regrets this album and barely ever plays songs from it on tour.

[@KingRandor82]

I actually recently ordered and played New Traditionalists; the album has some of their best songs......and is also where you can start hearing them *try too hard* . Most of their albums before this, even if the songs weren't hits, there was a really nice consistency to them. That ends with New Traditionalists. I still want the Shout album for "Here To Go", but am honestly afraid to check out anything beyond that from them.

[@becauseimafan]

Todd does take requests - usually through his Patreon! He has the link in the video description box

[@misfire33]

@@KingRandor82 They never really get consistently good again but Smooth Noodle Maps has a hysterical, mean and ridiculously catchy song about a dude in a wheelchair who's a total prick. It's called "Jimmy" and it's amazing.

[@alexandertijerina1658]

@@KingRandor82 I dunno, I love New Traditionalists for every song on it, definitely their darkest album overall, I love it. Oh No, It’s Devo is to me the beginning of the end, a decent beginning of a mediocre end though

[@KingRandor82]

@@alexandertijerina1658 I'm not saying New Traditionalists is bad, it's just *inconsistent* . Oh No, It's Devo I absolutely love, and in part because even the songs that aren't hits have a consistency next to the ones that do. The inconsistency in New Traditionalists is where I think the problems started.

[@cannibalisticrequiem]

Much respect to David Crosby for real. He lived a wild and full life, was an extremely accomplished musician and penned quite a bit of staples of classic rock, and was kind enough to offer up his... uh, "help" when Melissa Ethridge and her first wife/partner decided to have children (although he wasn't a big part of their lives in a traditional sense, he seemed to genuinely adore the kids Bailey and Beckett - he was absolutely heartbroken when Beckett passed at the very young age of 21 from addiction and Bailey wrote a beautiful tribute to Crosby after he passed earlier this year), he was able beat his addiction, Phil Collins paid for his liver transplant after Crosby's long battle with Hep C, survived three heart attacks and had eight stents put into his chest... Crosby clearly lived life to its fullest and his decades long legacy will always outlive a couple subpar albums released in the 1980s! 🕯Rest in Peace David - If there is an afterlife, I hope you're having a grand time jamming out with all the other greats! 🕯

[@Betta66]

Fittingly, seeing this uploaded again gives me a strange sense of Deja Vu.

[@AP-mn4hj]

I'm definitely Looking Forward to this video. One of Todd's best So Far.

[@A.M.intheAM]

We have all been here before

[@CZ61600]

Really pleased this has been reuploaded so I can enjoy it again. My favourite Trainwreckord episode since 'Summer In Paradise' by the Beach Boys.

[@GayLatinoBear]

I will swear until the end of time, I got Vietnam flashbacks to "I'm just a Ladies Man" when he clipped in Stills and "I just love to party"

[@Thomasmemoryscentral]

Speaking of Summer In Paradise Barry, a friend of mine notes the sound of American Dream kind of sounds similar to that beach boys album. Btw I think American Dream the album stares similarities with 2 other bad albums Todd covered previously: 1. Tension in the band and everyone contributes a song? Mardigras by Creedance Clearwater Revival got that 2. An album who's existence helped one or more band member out? David Crosby getting clean and this album being created as a result reminds me of what Todd said about St Anger helping keep Metallica together. In both cases, each album being born have those going for them.

[@AJOmega2]

Ironically, check at 5:18 - little callback to the Beach Boys Trainwreckords episode ;)

[@katej2284]

Damn that Neil impression is so good

[@Marshal_Dunnik]

The title track saw wide airplay in Canada for no other reason than its songwriter ticked the appropriate boxes under the Broadcasting Act, 1971

[@soraw434]

Ooh! Can't wait to watch this one again

[@KCJ1999]

The fact this remains the only CSNY studio album left on Spotify probably shows you how hated it is....

[@GrafVonTirol]

I just checked. It wasn't there. Closest I can see is a CSN compilation. Then again, it's just me, a paying American subscriber, so not sure what it's like elsewhere.

[@Calpsotoma]

Most Trainwreckords are fun disasters or have more of a narrative around them. This just seems like 4 guys who didn't get along too well and didn't have too many ideas left failed to make anything of value. Just kinda sad, to be honest.

[@wonderoushistoryofclassicf9193]

So oddly enough the quote about Sammy Hagar's "I cant drive 55" being a young man's song is hilarious because Sammy Hagar was around the same age as the members of Crosby Stills Nash and Young.

[@jordandavis6574]

Todd chose songs and videos from some of Neil's most maligned records to discuss his 80s flops. He did not include anything from Trans because Neil Young pretending to be a Decepticon is the best thing that's ever happened to this planet.

[@unkelkreepy8529]

"Goin for that Richard Marx money" Holy fuck I'm dyin

[@stapler942]

I could be wrong but, given this is 1988, there's no way those pan flutes are not a synthesizer sample.

[@ChromeDestiny]

I think it might have been played on a synth flute midi controller which was big in Jazz Fusion music at that time.

[@blpblp-tj7ux]

I was a live sound engineer for many years and got to mix David and his band in 2013 at a beautiful venue in San Francisco. He was a joy to work with, and the performance was just excellent.

[@omegafilming]

I watched this ep three times before it was taken down. Will I watch it three more times now that it's back up? Probably.

[@kingextreme88]

RUN DMC's "Back From Hell" would totally make a great awesome Trainwreckord. Going New Jack Swing was a big mistake for them deep down.

[@timmy841212]

Oh that was an awful period for them. A group who made hardcore hip hop possible especially with hard rock influences going the NJS route. Ugh.

[@DarkmanPoe]

That's probably the album from them that I revisit the least. They never really found their footing again after "Tougher Than Leather." Even "Down With the King" sounded more like a Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth album than it did a Run DMC one.

[@ddjsoyenby]

yes!

[@Thomasmemoryscentral]

A album that could rack up with Deedee Ramones rap album for awfulness?

[@quincyrich5817]

Down with the king is pretty good but yeah good suggestion

[@book3100]

My older sister was into CSN, back in the day she was 15-18 years old... When American Dream came out, she heard it in the radio. I happened to be there. She looked at me and laughed about a minute in and said, "Oh no! They got old" I said yea they sound like crap.

[@necrodamus5481]

im gonna repeat my comment from before the vid got taken down This is one of the definitive Trainwreckords on here. Everything about it went wrong and fits with the ideal definition of a trainwreckord -Production -Songwriting -Promotion -Motivation -Band Chemistry -Reviews -Effort -Album art -Even the title sucks -Everything is a phone in This album should not have happened. This is akin to writing something like Nostalgia Critic's "The Wall" or freaking "Grandpa Metal" by Brian Posehn