Produced by his new friend David Briggs, Neil’s debut is unlike anything else in his catalog. The infamous stickler nevertheless lacked the music industry clout to mastermind his own debut, resulting in an overproduced, too-many-chefs type album that nevertheless contains magic in abundance. Recorded at several different studios and meticulously labored over, Neil Young is mostly what you’d expect a solo album by Buffalo Springfield’s resident weirdo to sound like. Powerful downers like “The Old Laughing Lady,” the epic “Last Trip To Tulsa,” and the vaguely Bee Gees-y “The Loner” are logical extensions of Neil’s Buffalo Springfield contributions like “Flying On The Ground Is Wrong” and “Nowadays Clancy Can’t Even Sing.” Pianist Jack Nitzsche co-produced three songs, adding strings and bombast that foreshadow future collaborations like “A Man Needs A Maid,” while Ry Cooder adds stock guitar licks throughout. Despite the meddling and the polish, or because of it, the album sounds incredible; play a vinyl copy on a decent turntable and you’ll never look at your iPod the same way again. Neil would do an almost complete about-face on his next album, releasing an album as reductive as Neil Young is glossy, but the debut remains one of the more telling snapshots of a fine artist on the cusp of a greatness.