The venerable Neil Young offers a ragged and raw live take of his beloved 1990 album “Ragged Glory” with a new album, titled “Fu##in’ Up.”
Of course, the 2024 version doesn't have the same semi-youthful energy that the 44-year-old Young put into the original. Maybe his voice is a little shakier, the guitar solos not quite as refined, but the songs still crackle with a power that's frankly stunning coming from the not-so-young Young.
It's clear that the 78-year-old and his band Crazy Horse fed off the small crowd at the Toronto club where this was recorded in November 2023. Young is obviously having a blast on stage, so much so that he decided to release the songs just months after the performance. This is from a guy who has held on to some of his most beloved live shows for half a century.
Young and Crazy Horse perform nine of the 10 “Ragged Glory” songs in nearly identical arrangements to how they were recorded back in 1990.
Only one song from the original release, “Mother Earth (Natural Anthem),” is absent on ”Fu##in’ Up.” The songs have all been retitled with lyrics from the original, except for the cover of “Farmer John.”
For example, “Over and Over” becomes “Broken Circle” and “Love to Burn” becomes “Valley of Hearts.”
The somewhat profane album title is more or less the same as a song from “Ragged Glory,” just with a couple of different characters in between the “f” and the “in.” (It went from “F(asterisk)!#in’ Up” in 1990 to “Fu##kin’ Up” in 2024.)
For all of its virtues, some fans of the original may quibble with Young tackling the material 34 years later, especially since he doesn't differ much from the originals.
“Not everyone will want to hear it because it’s not for everyone," Young writes in the liner notes. "In the spirit it’s offered, we made this for the Horse lovers. I can’t stop it. The Horse is runnin' — what a ride we have. I don’t want to mess with the vibe, and I am so happy to have this to share.”
It may be for a niche Neil audience, but that niche is sure to love it. And Young probably doesn't care what the rest think.
FILE - Neil Young poses for a portrait at Lost Planet Editorial in Santa Monica, Calif. on Sept. 9, 2019. Young offers a ragged and raw live take of his 1990 album "Ragged Glory" with a new album, titled "F##in' Up." (Photo by Rebecca Cabage/Invision/AP, File)
FILE - Neil Young performs at the BottleRock Napa Valley Music Festival at Napa Valley Expo in Napa, Calif., on May 25, 2019. Young offers a ragged and raw live take of his 1990 album "Ragged Glory" with a new album, titled "F##in' Up." (Photo by Amy Harris/Invision/AP, File)
BRUSSELS (AP) — Germany's top diplomat on Friday said Russia will face consequences after accusing its military intelligence service of the “absolutely intolerable” hacking of domestic targets, including the governing coalition's leading party. NATO and European Union member countries said they won't let Russia’s “malicious" cyberspace behavior go unanswered.
Relations between Russia and Germany were already tense, with Germany providing military support to Ukraine in its ongoing war with Russia.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Russian state hackers were behind the hacking of emails of the Social Democrats, the leading party in the governing coalition. Officials said they did so by exploiting Microsoft Outlook.
The German Interior Ministry said in a statement that the hacking campaign began at least as early as March 2022 — a month after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine — with emails at Social Democrat party headquarters accessed beginning that December. It said German companies, including in the defense and aerospace sectors, as well as targets related to the war were also a focus.
The statement said international efforts led by the FBI shut down in late January a botnet of compromised network devices used by the Russian hackers — known as APT28 or Fancy Bear — in the cyberespionage scheme.
“Russian state hackers attacked Germany in cyberspace,” Baerbock said at a news conference in the Australian city of Adelaide. She attributed the hack to a unit of Russia's GRU military intelligence unit.
“This is absolutely intolerable and unacceptable and will have consequences,” she said, without specifying what they might be.
The Council of the EU and the Czech Foreign Ministry said Czechia's institutions have also been targeted by the same group. Both German and Czech officials said the GRU hackers leveraged a previously unknown vulnerability in Microsoft Outlook.
In a statement by the EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, the bloc’s nations said they “strongly condemn the malicious cyber campaign" by Fancy Bear "against Germany and Czechia.”
The EU noted that it had previously imposed sanctions on individuals and entities associated with the group for targeting the German parliament in 2015. It said it will not tolerate the continuation of such attacks, particularly with EU elections upcoming in June.
NATO accused Fancy Bear of targeting “other national governmental entities, critical infrastructure operators and other entities across the Alliance," including in Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Sweden.
“We are determined to employ the necessary capabilities in order to deter, defend against and counter the full spectrum of cyberthreats to support each other, including by considering coordinated responses,” said the North Atlantic Council, the principal political decision-making body within NATO.
Baerbock is visiting Australia, New Zealand and Fiji, with the trip focusing on security policy as China pushes for influence in the Pacific region.
“The defense cooperation between Germany and Australia is close and we would like to deepen it further and together expand it, because we are in a situation where we face similar threats,” said Baerbock, who is the first German foreign minister to visit Australia in 13 years.
Discussions between Baerbock and Australia counterpart Penny Wong centered on the conflict in Gaza. “I think we all understand that the only path out of this cycle of violence that we see in the Middle East at such great cost is one that ultimately ensures a two-state solution,” Wong said.
Associated Press Technology writer Frank Bajak contributed from Boston.
Germany's Minister for Foreign Affairs Annalena Baerbock, left, speaks with Lewis O'Brien, the oldest living Kaurna man, in Adelaide, Friday, May 3, 2024, during a ceremony to mark the return of four significant cultural heritage items to the Kaurna people from the collection of the Grassi Museum in Leipzig. (Michael Errey/Pool Photo via AP)
Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, center, poses with Lewis O'Brien, the oldest living Kaurna man, and Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, left, in Adelaide, Friday, May 3, 2024, during a ceremony to mark the return of four significant cultural heritage items to the Kaurna people from the collection of the Grassi Museum in Leipzig. (Michael Errey/Pool Photo via AP)
Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, left, and Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong arrive for a news conference in Adelaide, Friday, May 3, 2024. (Michael Errey/Pool Photo via AP)
Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, left, and Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong attend a news conference in Adelaide, Friday, May 3, 2024. (Michael Errey/Pool Photo via AP)
Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock speaks in Adelaide, Friday, May 3, 2024, during a ceremony to mark the return of four significant cultural heritage items to the indigenous Kaurna people from the collection of the Grassi Museum in Leipzig. (Michael Errey/Pool Photo via AP)
