Six and a half years later,
Comes a Time finally was the
Neil Young album for the millions of fans who had loved
Harvest, an acoustic-based record with country overtones and romantic, autobiographical lyrics, and many of those fans returned to the fold, enough to make
Comes a Time Young's first Top Ten album since
Harvest. He signaled the album's direction with the leadoff track, "Goin' Back," and its retrospective theme augmented with an orchestral backup and the deliberate beat familiar from his number one hit "Heart of Gold." Of course,
Young remained sly about this retrenchment. "I feel like goin' back," he sang, but added, "back where there's nowhere to stay." Doubtless he had no intention of staying with this style, but for the length of the album, melodies, love lyrics, lush arrangements, and steel guitar solos dominated, and
Young's vocals were made more accessible by being paired with
Nicolette Larson's harmonies.
Larson's own version of
Young's "Lotta Love," released shortly after the one heard here, became a Top Ten hit single. Other highlights included the reflective "Already One," which treats the unusual subject of the nature of a divorced family, the ironic "Field of Opportunity," and a cover of
Ian Tyson's folk standard "Four Strong Winds" (a country Top Ten hit for
Bobby Bare in 1965). ~ William Ruhlmann