AmericanaReprise ****

This is Young's first album for almost a decade with Crazy Horse, the raucous band with whom he has shared some of his greatest moments since 1968. Americana is the 66- year-old Canadian's take on a random selection of wizened American folk songs, plus an oddity: the British national anthem. Don't imagine soft acoustic strumming and bucolic harmonies; this is Young with his guitar turned way up, and Ralph Molina, Billy Talbot and Frank Sampedro not far behind. The song selection – Oh Susannah, Tom Dula (Dooley), Jesus' Chariot ("She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain") hardly sets the pulse racing. But what they do with these songs, and others such as This Land Is Your Land (with all the rarely heard activist verses), makes this notable. And why God Save the Queen with its children's choir and "let freedom ring" coda? Trust Young to lay an intriguing, if bizarre, trail. neilyoung.com

Download tracks:Jesus' Chariot, This Land Is Your Land