Neil Arc Welds Himself One Big, Powerful, Loud-@ss Boat

Of course, I’m referring to ARC-WELD (1991). And, first of all, before anyone accuses me of taking the easy way out by lumping these together (thus, not having to address ARC head-on), let me explain it in plain terms: that’s the way I bought them. That’s right. Back in October 1991, ARC-WELD was issued as a limited edition, 3-CD set. So, my ARC is clearly labeled “Disc Three” in multiple places (case, booklet, disc itself). It was only one month later that they could be purchased separately.

By the way, the ARC booklet states that it is “A compilation composition by Neil Young”. That sounds good. To the untrained ear, it sounds like 34:58 of feedback, noise, and vocal fragments. Oh, well.

Now, let’s talk about WELD. First of all, let me set the stage. The year was 1991. Neil Young was touring with Crazy Horse (and Sonic Youth as the opening act). His two most recent albums were FREEDOM (1989) and RAGGED GLORY (1990). I, your humble narrator, was in my 3rd year as a University of Illinois undergraduate. The exact date was January 25, 1991. I traveled with several friends approximately one hour to Redbird Arena in Normal, IL on the Illinois State University campus. This was it. After at least 5 or 6 years as a devoted Neil Young fan, I was finally going to see him perform live in concert.

Let me tell you, nothing (and I mean nothing) could possibly have prepared me for how unf-ckingbelievably amazing that show was! Neil was an absolute madman on guitar and vocals. It was louder than sh-t, but sounded great. If I had been any kind of forward-thinking individual at that point in my life, I would’ve written down the songs that were played. Unfortunately, no such luck. I happened across the Sugar Mountain website. But, alas, their set list for this show is incomplete (and, maybe I should tell them it’s Normal, not “Norman”, Illinois).

In any event, I’m sure the song selection was very similar to what ended up on WELD:

Disc One
Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black) (5:42)
Crime in the City (6:33)
Blowin’ in the Wind (6:49)
Welfare Mothers (7:04)
Love to Burn (10:01)
Cinnamon Girl (4:45)
Mansion on the Hill (6:14)
F*!#in’ Up (7:10)
Disc Two
Cortez the Killer (9:47)
Powderfinger (5:58)
Love and Only Love (9:17)
Rockin’ in the Free World (9:23)
Like a Hurricane (14:00)
Farmer John (5:00)
Tonight’s the Night (8:45)
Roll Another Number (5:20)

The highlights of the concert for me, as I remember them now:

#1 was the rendition of “Blowin’ in the Wind”, which seems to owe more musically to the Hendrix-at-Woodstock “The Star Spangled Banner” than it does to Dylan’s original version. And, the introductory sound effects of gunfire and helicopters underscored the anti-Gulf War sentiment. I don’t recall if we were still in Operation Desert Shield or had moved on to Desert Storm already. Either way, Neil didn’t seem to want any wars for oil, and this great cover version communicated that. This song is captured wonderfully on WELD.

#2 was the incredible, extended version of “Like a Hurricane”, which firmly established, in my mind, Neil as a mad genius of guitar-soloing distortion and feedback. He was absolutely on fire during the solos on this song. It was an awe-inspiring thing to behold. The 14-minute version on WELD encapsulates my memory perfectly.

#3 was simply how loud, loose and great Neil and Crazy Horse sounded. From the RAGGED GLORY cuts all the way back through Neil’s catalog, they rocked out on every tune they played. WELD reflects this beautifully.

In fact, WELD is the perfect blend of “Ragged Glory, Live” meets “Live Rust, Revisited” in my humble opinion. After all, 5 of these songs were from RAGGED GLORY (plus another 2 from FREEDOM). However, 6 other of WELD’s songs had previously comprised the entire second record of LIVE RUST (and a 7th, “Welfare Mothers”, was originally from RUST NEVER SLEEPS, and basically replaces “Sedan Delivery”, which was the last song on the first record of LIVE RUST). Throw in the newly covered “Blowin’ in the Wind” and the closing song, “Roll Another Number” (originally from TONIGHT’S THE NIGHT), and all 16 songs on WELD have been accounted for.

“Hey Hey, My My” opens WELD, as opposed to being next to last on LIVE RUST. As with LIVE RUST, “Cortez the Killer” and “Powderfinger” are presented consecutively on WELD, just in the opposite order. Really, WELD takes the loose, rough, heavy, grungy spirit of RAGGED GLORY and applies it to these classic Neil tunes. I love it. The grunge-ified version of “Crime in the City” (originally from FREEDOM) is great, and you really must hear Neil’s wicked enunciation of the word “killers” on this song!

Now, I’m already on record as saying that LIVE RUST is the greatest live album EVER. And it still is. But, c’mon people. Where the f*!# is all the love for WELD? I’m looking all over the internet (thanks mainly to links from Thrasher's Wheat), and it’s almost impossible to even find a review of this album.

Here’s all Wilson & Alroy have to say: “Arc/Weld (1991) Live with Crazy Horse; a fairly predictable selection of his loudest hits. The Arc disc is a feedback collage. (DBW)” [haahnster note: That passes for a review? “Fairly predictable selection”…wow, did Wilson get that from reading the case, or did he actually listen to the damned thing?]

The entire “review” from Creative Noise Reviews: “Arc/Weld (1991) A pair of live albums, with Weld consisting entirely of feedback - Young's own Metal Machine Music.” [haahnster note: OOPS! More than a bit confused here. Actually, ARC is the entirely-feedback disc. And, WELD is a 2-CD Live Album.]

At least Mike "Expecting 2 Fly" Cordova enjoyed listening to it!

Hey, maybe it’s just me. I love RAGGED GLORY, which is well represented on WELD. And, I love the revisiting of LIVE RUST, too. Plus, like I’ve stated, I have great memories of my attendance at a concert from this tour. Still, that aside, WELD really captures the loud, live Crazy Horse sound for everyone to hear. Highly recommended.