This discography analysis is written by contributer JT of Perth, Australia (follow him at @thesonofnoone on Twitter).

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
American Dream (1988) (unavailable on Spotify)
TRACKS (Neil or co-write only):
1) 'American Dream' - Where's Bobby McFerrin when you need him? This is sub-Phil Collins stuff right here. And that's a shame because on Neil's 1987 European Tour with Crazy Horse, this song wasn't bad at all, in fact it was much better than what we've got here. And what the hell is this stuff? Because it's barely recognisable when compared to the CH versions. As George Harrison put it... "isn't it a pity?" 3.0
2) 'Got it Made' - Neil co-write with Stills. A better song, but not much better. This one sounds like it should've been part of the 'Cocktail' soundtrack (there's a few 80s songs that fall into the "sounds like they should be in [insert movie here]" category. Neil's contribution seems miniscule, so I won't spend too much time on this one. 5.0
3) 'Name of Love' - I actually don't mind this song. Neil gets to be Neil, CSN do the backing harmonies to great (i.e not overbearing) effect and the song doesn't suffer the same fate as many of the others on the album. Should actually get some more live plays than it has. I'm actually surprised how much I enjoy this song. 6.5
5) 'This Old House' - Well, there you go - another really good song. Simple, yet effective. You can tell this is an Old Ways-era song, but you can't tell why the hell it was never released back then. Honestly, compared to the shit that came out, this is like the second coming of 'I Believe in You'. Again, CSN don't overdo it on the harmonies. Sure, they lay them on thick, but for some reason... they work. 7.0
8) 'Drivin' Thunder' - Another co-write, this one nowhere near as good as the last - which is saying something. Almost like Stills was trying to outdo Stevie Ray Vaughan. Not a good song - again, not to sure what Neil's contribution was. 3.0
13) 'Feel Your Love' - Well, here goes. I fuckin' LOVE this song. It's no masterpiece - but it's beautiful. Take this and put it on Freedom, and it would've fit as well as 'Sail Away' did onRust Never Sleeps. And if it doesn't reach those heights, then that's OK. Put this puppy on Harvest Moon and you've got the second best song on the album, no contest (it's still a fair way behind the best song - which you'll have to wait and see what it is). Too good to be on this shitty album. Too good for any of Neil's previous 5 albums. 9.0
VERDICT: One gem, another good song, and a couple that could've been good. The less said about the co-writes, the better. OK, enough of this... I've got a feeling that Neil's ready to let rip...

Neil Young
Eldorado [EP] (1989) (unavailable on Spotify)
TRACKS:
1) 'Cocaine Eyes' - Hell yeah - listen to that guitar! Hear the drums pound. This shit is raw and awesome. Great echo on the vocals. Great fuckin' song. How awesome is it that this came out in 1989 and yet if it had come out in 2008 it would've sounded just as awesome and it wouldn't have dated a second. Great to hear Neil letting rip. Been waiting a long while for that treat. 9.0
2) 'Don't Cry' - Masterpiece #23. What the fuck is this? This just burrows its way into your soul and sits there ready to twist and wrangle your body when it's played. Sure, it's got some hokey sound effects, but listen to the way Neil sings!! This is a revelation, and I don't mean that lightly. Neil matches his great, impassioned delivery with some guitar work that's out of this world. I first heard this song so many years ago, and I can safely say that I've never not been knocked right out by it. I know some will disagree, but this is the first masterpiece since 'Powderfinger' (but it won't be the last). 10.0
3) 'Heavy Love' - Keep giving me more. C'mon! Feed that shit this way. What we have hear is another great song on the great, lost Neil Young release. Sure, three of these songs are onFreedom, but this is where they belong - this is their home. It's like Neil had been shackled for so long (yet still managed some great music such is the measure of the man), that when the chains were broken he decided to go as hard as he could, not stopping to survey the wreckage. 'Heavy Love' is brilliant. Great melody and again, the guitar playing is first-rate in the Neil Young world. Short, sharp bursts that leave you breathless. Unbelievably brilliant. 9.5
4) 'On Broadway' - "Gimme that crack!!". Not normally a fan of 'Neil does someone else's song' , but I'm willing to make an exception here. Neil kills it on this song - finding the perfect song that he can cover, turning the song into more of an indictment on the city lights and how they mask the true nature of the beast. Not up to the standard of the rest of the EP, but then again - what is?!? 8.0
5) 'Eldorado' - Masterpiece #24. No one writes stuff like this. No one. Love how Neil just raises the intensity with each verse. Love how he drops this bomb on his guitar, and then goes and drops another that makes Hiroshima seem like a firecracker. Love this - "in Eldorado town there lives a great bullfighter. His eyes are screaming blue, his hair is red as blood and when the gate goes up the crowd gets so excited. And he comes dancing out, dressed in gold lami. He kills the bull and lives another day!". Love it, love it, love it. Couldn't be anything but a 10.0
EP RATING: 10.0
VERDICT: At 25 minutes in length, this is actually longer than Everybody's Rockin'. What a difference 20 seconds makes. This is, as I said before, the single great lost Neil Young release. Fuck Time Fades Away (as much as I love it), that people don't know this is a travesty.

Neil Young
Freedom (1989) Spotify
TRACKS:
1) 'Rockin' in the Free World' - Sure, you've all heard this before. Love the dickheads at the end trying to singlong to a song they're probably hearing for the first time. Love Neil's guitar sound, love the biting vocals. You just know that he was prowling the stage, spitting out these lyrics to a crowd who knew they were witnessing one of the first performances of what would quickly become a classic. 9.0
2) 'Crime in the City (Sixty to Zero, Pt 1)' - Not yet a masterpiece, but as close to one as can possibly be. To understand why I can't give this a 10.0, you need to have immersed yourself in the version from Weld for as long as I have. That version is simply perfection - one of the best things Neil's ever done. This here is brilliant, but there's a difference between the brilliance there and the brilliance here. And that difference, my friends, is the reason for this only getting a 9.5
3) 'Don't Cry' - See Eldorado [EP] review. 10.0
4) 'Hangin' on a Limb' - A little bit meh. Not a lot, but just a little. Not a fan of the Linda Ronstadt/Neil Young combo to be honest, and that's especially so on an album that contains so many classics. Sure, it's fine on the first side of American Stars & Bars, but here it just doesn't sit right. Although, having said all that - it would've fit on Harvest Moon and would've been better than quite a few songs there. 6.5
5) 'Eldorado' - See Eldorado [EP] review. 10.0
6) 'Ways of Love' - Similar to 'Hangin' on a Limb', this song would've been a perfect fit for something like Comes a Time, but here it only serves as a distraction until the brilliant stuff starts back up again. Not a bad song at all - just not sure of its purpose here (although, to be fair - the sequence of this album has always baffled me). 7.0
7) 'Someday' - I know I should hate this song. Its production is quite ghoulish (to say the least), but damn if there's not a helluva lot of charm here. The Bluenotes pop their heads back in (amongst the plane and train noises) and play their part. I can't actually find the right words to say about this song, so I'll just leave it alone and rate it. 6.5
8) 'On Broadway' - See Eldorado [EP] review. 8.0
9) 'Wrecking Ball' - Masterpiece #25. Neil/Piano? Aural Viagra right there... One of the more traditional songs (verse, chorus, verse, chorus etc) that Neil's ever written, but I'm not sure he's ever written a more beautiful song. I get lost in it, I wish I could play it and I wish I could sing it. Singing stuff like this for your girl would guarantee you a great night in the sack.10.0
10) 'No More' - Masterpiece #26. Took a long time to see the charms of this song. To me, it was always the other song that Neil played when he did 'Rockin' in the Free World' on SNL in 1989. But that's being completely unfair and unreasonable to the song, because it stands on its own as a brilliant song and utterly deserving when it gets called (by me and hopefully a few more) a masterpiece. Again, great singing and great playing make the song into something that other bands strive their whole career for, only to fall far too short on every occasion.10.0
11) 'Too Far Gone' - If they'd only have kept this as a 'Deep Forbidden Lake' rip-off, it would've been much better. As it is, the electric overdubs don't really do the song justice. It's such a fine little song, it would've been perfectly served by three men and three instruments... Neil Young guitar, Ben Keith - Banjo, Frank Sampedro - Mandolin. There, done and dusted - brilliant song. As it is, it nearly gets ruined by the electricity striking throughout. 7.0
12) 'Rockin' in the Free World' - Masterpiece #27. As powerful as the acoustic take is, it can't match this here. This is primal fury distilled into 4:42. Sure, it's been played probably too much and covered by far too many people who don't really understand the song at all, but that doesn't dilute its brilliance. Fresh ears always reveal it to be just as amazing as the first time you heard it. 10.0
ALBUM RATING: 9.0
VERDICT: Almost a perfect album. But for that to happen (again), Neil will have to wait until next year. But until then, what a way to end the eighties... a time when Neil Young was ridiculed and pilloried for following the muse. OK, so I didn't always agree with his choices, but I don't think he shouldn't have made them. After all, I'm a firm believer that things happen for a reason, so who are we to know that if Neil had never made Old Ways, this album may never have been made. And I just don't think I could deal with that - because this album is one of my favourites... only let down by a couple of weak(er) songs.
NEXT: The 1990s. Yay! But not today - I need sleep now.