Re·ac·tor

Re·ac·tor is the eleventh studio album by Canadian folk rock musician Neil Young, and his fourth with American rock band Crazy Horse, released on November 2, 1981. It was his last album released through Reprise Records before he moved to Geffen for his next five albums.

Re·ac·tor
Studio album by
Neil Young and Crazy Horse
ReleasedNovember 2, 1981 (1981-11-02)
RecordedOctober 9, 1980 – July 21, 1981
StudioModern Recorders, Redwood City, California
Genre
Length38:45
LabelReprise
ProducerDavid Briggs, Tim Mulligan & Neil Young with Jerry Napier
Neil Young chronology
Hawks & Doves
(1980)		 Re·ac·tor
(1981)		 Trans
(1982)
Crazy Horse chronology
Live Rust
(1979)		 Re·ac·tor
(1981)		 Life
(1987)

Content

Musical style

The album marked Young's first use of the Synclavier, which would be featured heavily on the subsequent albums Trans (1982) and Landing on Water (1986).

The song "Shots" had originally been performed live in 1978 as a ballad.

In 2003, Greg Kot of Chicago Tribune proclaimed that Re·ac·tor "works up a punk-blues racket [...] that sounds as shaggy and disheveled as anything the Replacements recorded".[4] AllMusic opined the album to contain "guitar-drenched hard rock made up of thrown-together material".[1] Salon.com described the album as a proto-grunge effort.[3] Peter J. Howe described it retrospectively in 1985 as "gritty post-punk".[2]

Packaging

The album features the Serenity Prayer on its back cover ("'Deus dona mihi serenitatem accipere res quae non possum mutare fortitudinem mutare res quae possum atque sapientiam differentiam cognoscere'" – "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference").

The original 1981 album gave Neil Young sole writing credit on every track, however the 2021 live release Way Down in the Rust Bucket added Frank Sampedro's name as a co-writer on "Surfer Joe and Moe the Sleaze."[5]

Release

It was unavailable on compact disc until it was released as a HDCD-encoded remastered version on August 19, 2003, as part of the Neil Young Archives Digital Masterpiece Series.

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Pitchfork(6.8/10)[6]
The Village VoiceB+[7]

William Ruhlmann of AllMusic is largely dismissive of Re·ac·tor in his retrospective review,[1] awarding the record only two-out-of-five stars,[1] although he praises "Shots" as " a more substantive and threatening song given a riveting performance".[1]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Neil Young, except "Surfer Joe and Moe the Sleaze", written by Neil Young and Frank Sampedro.

Side one
  1. "Opera Star" – 3:31
  2. "Surfer Joe and Moe the Sleaze" – 4:15
  3. "T-Bone" – 9:10
  4. "Get Back on It" – 2:14
Side two
  1. "Southern Pacific" – 4:07
  2. "Motor City" – 3:11
  3. "Rapid Transit" – 4:35
  4. "Shots" – 7:42

Personnel
  • Neil Young – vocals, guitar, Synclavier, piano, handclaps
Crazy Horse

References
  1. William Ruhlmann. "Re-ac-tor - Neil Young,Neil Young & Crazy Horse | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2015-06-01.
  2. Howe, Peter J (26 September 1985). "Neil Young Goes Twang". Harvard Crimson. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  3. Zimmerman, Shannon (20 August 2003). "Return of Rock's angry Old Man". Salon.
  4. Kot, Greg (24 August 2003). "'Greendale' a trip through Neil Young's career". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  5. https://img.discogs.com/3vEwjpVMxH1-uJTJn4In45fN3y4=/fit-in/600x597/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-17524333-1613981234-6529.jpeg.jpg
  6. "Neil Young: On the Beach / American Stars 'n' Bars / Hawks & Doves / Re-ac-tor | Album Reviews". Pitchfork. 2003-09-30. Retrieved 2015-06-01.
  7. Christgau, Robert (March 9, 1982). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
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