Waging Heavy Peace

By: Neil Young

Narrated by: Keith Carradine

Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

The perfect gift for music lovers and Neil Young fans, telling the story behind Neil Young's legendary career and his iconic, beloved songs. “I think I will have to use my time wisely and keep my thoughts straight if I am to succeed and deliver the cargo I so carefully have carried thus far to the outer reaches". (Neil Young, from Waging Heavy Peace)

Legendary singer and songwriter Neil Young’s storied career has spanned over 40 years and yielded some of the modern era’s most enduring music. Now for the first time ever, Young reflects upon his life - from his Canadian childhood, to his part in the '60s rock explosion with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, through his later career with Crazy Horse and numerous private challenges. An instant classic, Waging Heavy Peace is as uncompromising and unforgettable as the man himself.

©2012 Neil Young (P)2012 Penguin Audio

Memoir

This is by no real means a biography. Although Neil does give lots of biographical pictures, this book is more like a diary of particular thoughts from day to day. If you like Neil, there is a lot here to enjoy. If you love Neil… check this out!

Maybe if you are a die hard Neil Young fan...maybe

If you are a die hard Neil Young fan then maybe you might find some interesting nuggets here. Personally, I found the book to be about 25% interesting stories, 25% boring, meandering, and sometimes repeated stories, 25% repeated commercials for the things he's developing and selling (Pono music player, Linkvolt electric car), and 25% railing and complaining about things, mostly digital and streaming music and how crappy it is. The statistics he often cites to support this I find suspect and at best, misunderstood and misrepresented ("CDs only contain 15% of the information of high quality masters,"...this is discussion all its own of how that statement is possibly misrepresented).

Keith Carradine is a wonderful actor...which makes it all the more baffling how he is such a terrible narrator. Every sentence sounds artificial and is delivered in almost exactly the same cadence and tonality.No variance or naturalism at all.

Should have been a BLOG

Any additional comments?

On the positive side, I must say that if you are a Neil Young fan, this book might interest you. He sounds sincere, and gives lots of little details about his life that perhaps his mother and his fan club members are interested about.

For the rest of us, the book is big disappointment. It has no storyline, no flow, it is just a collection of disconnected ramblings and stories, much like any blog. However, since he is Neil Young, he can put it in a book format and sell it. Some of the chapters are outrageous in their banality, like the one where he spends pages talking about the time his car broke down and he had to wait for a tow truck on the road. Or his passion for toy trains. Or the dozens of commercials he does about his sound software company/project. I almost quit reading the book three times, but wanted to finish just to write a fair review.

I am a enthusiast for the 1968-1973 golden era of rock and folk music, and I expected to find interesting facts about CSNY and other singers of the time. There is almost nothing about it. I mean, the guy lived in the most interesting time in rock and roll history but instead of writing great stories he spends his time talking about the decoration on the walls of his ranch house. I expect to learn something when I finish a book, but in this case I am in the same place I was on the music business or the musical community of Young's time.

I wonder what happens with these great rock stars when they age. He reminds me of Sammy Haggar and his boring deals with vodka and mountain bikes. Their lives become much like the ones of successful retired accountants or Wall Street business men, full of super expensive and futile hobbies and no real intelectual or artistic pursuits. Hey, come and see my $10 million dollar wall display of baseball memorabilia (in his case a car collection). More often than not, they also change into super beta types, drooling over their second wives who seem to dominate them with their strong personalities (think about Sinatra). It is like a curse, the curse of the old bourgeois. I wonder if they ever were visionaries at all, or if they were just lucky to strike a few good songs.

PS: I listened to the audio book, and Keith Carradine does a superb job of narration. It is a shame it was wasted on this book.

rambling

really just a rambling advertisement of some pretty cool ideas and aspirations. I'll try another book.

No meat

There was absolutely no meat to this biography at all. It was an extended advertisement for his ongoing projects like linkvolt. I was hoping to get his take of being in the forefront of the rock and roll revolution of the 60s and it was just rambling stories looking through VERY rose colored glasses. If you want to listen to a great book on the birth of 60s rock and get an unfiltered account of what it was all about, then skip this and listen to Graham Nash's book.

Nothing personal no life history.

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

If he would have talked more about how he became who he is today.

What could Neil Young have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Be more open about how changed his lif was formed by ups and downs.

How could the performance have been better?

Better story

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

How much he loves his wife.

He clearly wrote the book for himself, mostly.

It is possible to both be an admirer of his music and not a fan of this book. This autobiography seems honest and well-meaning, it just isn't my cup of tea. Maybe if I was an old rock and roll guy I'd like it more.

The stories are a bit scattered, but I found that part charming. It's just that after an hour or so I started to feel like I was hanging out with an old man who's a bit out of touch. Young pays tribute to many of his friends and family, it's really sweet overall, it's just that it's surprisingly really sappy and the sentimentality directed towards cars, toy trains, guitars, houses, and other property of the sort is not that interesting to everyone.

I think that if the book had been read by the author it could have worked better. I saw Neil Young on the Daily Show and it made me want to get this book. The title itself was also super promising.

I was sadly disappointed.

Neil's a total drag

What disappointed you about Waging Heavy Peace?

what you get with this book - an oh so little taste of Neil's life but lots of sales pitches for his new inventions. don't waste your money. he's not that interesting

Would you ever listen to anything by Neil Young again?

no

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Keith Carradine?

a mute person

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Waging Heavy Peace?

anything about his stupid trains or his audio technology or his car engines

You Gotta Love Neil

Neil Young, presents an autobiography that, true to his convictions, does not take commercial acclaim into consideration. He says what he wants when he wants as many times as he wants. This book is clearly for Neil Young lovers who want to get a taste of what's in his head but not for the masses. Awaiting the sequel.

Young and restless

What would have made Waging Heavy Peace better?

I adore his music
There is no poetry in his biography
I understand he is now sober
It's a failure in sobriety

What do you think your next listen will be?

Probably the last speech

Would you listen to another book narrated by Keith Carradine?

I hope not

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Waging Heavy Peace?

Too much to cut