Neil Young

So here’s the deal. Old Neil had his 1959 Lincoln Continental re-jiggered so it could run on some sort of bio-hydro-electric propulsion system, and then he wrote an album about it! Go ahead and consider Fork in the Road a concept work along the lines of Trans, and expect it to be about as well received.

Nearly every one of the 10 tracks here concerns cars, and the lyrics revolve around obvious metaphors and corny plays on words. “You know she takes a little care,” he wails on “Get Behind the Wheel,” “She’s always looking good/Roll over and put that top down/Check out what’s under the hood.” Hmmm.

Some tracks are about appreciating a fine automobile, while others tend toward environmentalist and geopolitical tirades. “Cough Up the Bucks” falls in the latter category, and while timely, it’s also about as close as you’ll ever get to Young rapping, which is way too close indeed. Sonically, there are a few inspired flashes of Ragged Glory and Harvest Moon, but unfortunately the majority of the album sounds like something you might hear an all-white blues band play before a nearly empty house on a Tuesday night in some lame coastal city in Florida.