It’s not a great record, but if you are up for its experiments, it is strangely satisfying. This is by no means a Young record that stands out as an important offering in his discography, but at the same time, even with the abrupt left turns it takes, “Peace Trail” still very much feels like the work of the same artist we have been listening to for five decades. “John Oaks” makes the most of an effective shuffle while “My Pledge” is once again slightly marred by the use of Auto-Tune/vocoder technology.

Still, the fact that in these times of political unrest, Young remains a fixture of protest music in oddly comforting. Like 2006’s “Living With War,” this record is so targeted that politically speaking it will probably only preach to the choir. There is something heavy-handed about Young’s approach here. It’s all those people with funny names moving into our neighborhood.' “Terrorist Suicide Hang Gliders” sounds musically like a bizarre relative of “My My Hey Hey (Out Of The Blue)” but has sarcastic, pointed lyrics like, “I think I know who to blame. There are still some truly bizarre moments on here, like the defiant and dissonant “ Texas Rangers.” Young has always been someone who has balanced his time-tested sound with occasional oddball touches. The line “Behind big money, justice always fails” succinctly illustrates the imbalance between influence and fairness. “Indian Givers” definitely resonates given the recent happenings at Standing Rock. Still, the protest-singer side of Young is in full effect here. The same can be said for the title track, but what is that effect on his voice? Some sort of Auto-Tune? “Can’t Stop Working,” for instance has a strong vintage feel, even if the harmonica solos are admittedly (and presumably purposely) a bit assaultive.

This is also his second album this year, following June’s live album, “Earth.” There are ghosts here of classic Neil Young. The fact that “Peace Trail” is his seventh album in four calendar years should say a lot. Quicklist: 1title: Neil Young’s “Peace Trail” ***text: Neil Young has had a busy few years recently. As the best year in recent history for music winds down, here are three more albums for you to spin. Cole continues to build momentum and singer-songwriter Maria Taylor once again shows her reliability.

Neil Young releases an admittedly strange new album, rapper J. - intro: This week we have a smaller batch of reviews for the last week of new reviews of 2016. Grohl talks collaborating with legendary musicians, from Neil Young to Tom Petty, in new documentary C Flanigan/Getty Images

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