Oversold at the time of its release as an elegy for recent suicide Kurt Cobain, this solemn, affecting album is denied a higher ranking due only to bloat: omit a third of Sleeps With Angels, and it’s a top ten classic. The overarching mood of the album may be melancholy, but the sounds are spontaneous and inspired. The album opens with vibraphone and saloon piano on the dramatic “My Heart,” but this proves an outlier; from here, the band rarely lets up the noir-ish grind. This is not to say Sleeps With Angels has the same lovably tossed-off quality of previous Crazy Horse LPs; piano, acoustic guitar and even flutes find their way into the mix this time around. The increased production value doesn’t spook the Horse, however, but proves an asset; even the band’s abundant background vocals sound well considered for a change.

The songs are sharp and somber; that Neil still possesses the ability to produce songs of such grainy realism only two years after the pastoral and hushed Harvest Moon is a testament to his remarkable and continued versatility. If Freedom explored the corruption and crime of an urban eventide, Sleeps With Angels gazes into the embers left at sunrise. Grim and bluesy tunes like “Safeway Cart” and “Trans Am” split the difference between JJ Cale and Dire Straits, while the sobering “Driveby” is a great example of Crazy Horse’s rarely-heard lighter touch. Neil must have really liked the melody and arrangement of “Western Hero,” as the song reappears on the album under the title “Train Of Love,” with only a different set of lyrics to distinguish it. The 15-minute “Change Your Mind” overstays its welcome a bit, as do a cluster of songs in the third act that seem to slip by unnoticed, but much of Sleeps With Angels is latter-day Neil at his brooding best. File under: Dark Side Of The Harvest Moon.