A sort of unofficial sequel to 2000’s superb Silver & Gold, Prairie Wind similarly recasts old songs as country-rock numbers in the Harvest Moon mold. Neil has done the ‘aww shucks’ bit better at least three different times, but if you’re one of those people who can’t get enough of Neil’s nostalgic rambling and overproduced country rock, Prairie Wind delivers. Following as it does Neil’s 60th birthday, which arrived with a brain tumor and the death of his father, the maudlin mood of Prairie Wind is perhaps defensible, even as it veers perilously between profundity and schwarmerei. The only unforgivable number is the baroque “When God Made Me”: Built on the sort of rococo arrangement that resulted whenever Jack Nitzsche meddled with a Neil Young song, this turgid album closer competes with “Such A Woman” and “Let’s Roll” for Neil’s most embarrassing song. The rest of the album is all bucolic and loamy atmosphere that only lets up when something unexpected occurs, like a reference to Chris Rock, but such moments are scarce. Mostly, Neil just sounds resigned, resting comfortably.