Trans (album)

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Trans
Studio album by Neil Young
Released	Dec. 29, 1982
Recorded	Sept. 24, 1981-May 12, 1982, at Modern Recorders, Redwood City, California and Commercial Recorders, Honolulu, Hawaii
Genre	Electronic rock, Rock
Length	44:26
Label	Geffen
Producer	Neil Young, Tim Mulligan, David Briggs
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link Robert Christgau (A-) link Rolling Stone link
Neil Young chronology
Re-ac-tor (1981) Trans (1982) Everybody's Rockin' (1983)

Trans is an album by Neil Young, released in 1982. Recorded partially and released during his notorious Geffen era in the 1980s, Trans baffled many Neil Young fans. Some suggested that the album could be a satirical message that Young was trying to send about the direction music was headed in the future. A Vocoder features prominently in five of the nine tracks. While the album was poorly received, some critics point out that the melodies are strong and that the album involves Young addressing new musical movements, as he did previously on Rust Never Sleeps and later with the grunge movement.

Neil Young found that when using a vocoder when communicating to his son (who was born with cerebral palsy), he was able to elicit a better response. The emotional power of this experiment shows in the lyrics, particularly in the track "Transformer Man" with the lines "So many things still left to do / But we haven't made it yet."

Portions of several tracks appeared in Young's 1982 feature length comedy film Human Highway.^[1]

One song, "If You Got Love," appeared on the LP's printed track listing, but was not included on the album in a last minute change of mind.^[2]

Originally released as an LP, the album was re-issued in 1998 on CD, although not in the US.

Contents 1 Track listing 2 Personnel 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Track listing

All songs written and composed by Neil Young:

1. "Little Thing Called Love" – 3:13
2. "Computer Age" – 5:24
3. "We R in Control" – 3:31
4. "Transformer Man" – 3:23
5. "Computer Cowboy (AKA Syscrusher)" – 4:13
6. "Hold on to Your Love" – 3:28
7. "Sample and Hold" * – 5:09 (CD - 8:03)
8. "Mr. Soul" – 3:19
9. "Like an Inca" * – 8:08 (CD - 9:46)

*Different mixes of these tracks appear on the CD release

[edit] Personnel

• Neil Young: guitar, bass, synclavier, vocoder, electric piano, vocal
• Nils Lofgren: guitar, piano, organ, electric piano, synclavier, vocal
• Ben Keith: pedal steel guitar, slide guitar, vocal
• Bruce Palmer: bass
• Ralph Molina: drums, vocal
• Joe Lala: percussion, vocal
• Frank Sampedro: guitar, stringman
• Billy Talbot: bass

[edit] References

1. ^ Human Highway film credits
2. ^ Album ReviewParke Puterbaugh, RollingStone.com, February 3, 1983, Retrieved October 14, 2007

[edit] External links

• Lyrics at HyperRust.org
• review in Rolling Stone

v • d • e Neil Young Crazy Horse • The Stray Gators Discography Studio albums: Neil Young • Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere • After the Gold Rush • Harvest • On the Beach • Tonight's the Night • Zuma • American Stars 'N Bars • Comes a Time • Rust Never Sleeps • Hawks & Doves • Re-ac-tor • Trans • Everybody's Rockin' • Old Ways • Landing on Water • Life • This Note's for You • Freedom • Ragged Glory • Harvest Moon • Sleeps with Angels • Mirror Ball • Broken Arrow • Silver & Gold • Are You Passionate? • Greendale • Prairie Wind • Living with War • Living with War: In the Beginning • Chrome Dreams II EPs: Eldorado Live albums: Time Fades Away • Live Rust • Weld • Arc • Unplugged • Year of the Horse • Road Rock Vol. 1 Soundtracks: Journey Through the Past • Where the Buffalo Roam • Philadelphia • Dead Man Compilations: Decade • Lucky Thirteen • Greatest Hits Archive Series: Live at the Fillmore East • Live at Massey Hall 1971 • The Archives Vol.01 1963-1972 Unreleased albums: Homegrown • Human Highway • Chrome Dreams Also see Buffalo Springfield • Crosby, Stills & Nash (and Young) • The Stills-Young Band