A very peculiar effort from Mr. Young released at a time when much of popular music had become increasingly electronic in nature. “Trans” borrows obvious stylistic cues from “Krautrock” artists such as Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream as well as “New Wave” artists and is about as far removed from Young’s earlier folky efforts as one could possibly imagine. Deeply abnormal for Neil Young; however, “Trans” is an partially interesting listen for those with an open mind.
Opener “Little Thing Called Love” is not terribly different from much of Young’s earlier output and does not shock the way that later songs do. The song is a kind country-tinged and sappy song about the singing the praises of love. The song actually sounds more like Young’s later 1980s releases, and sounds very out of place on this otherwise quite experimental album. Catchy, but a slightly average rocker. “Computer Age” at times reminds one very much of Kraftwerk’s “Computer World”. Synthesizers are all over the song, and many of Young’s fan base cringed at this idea. Young’s vocals are processed through a primitive vocoder, a machine that preceded the modern “auto-tune” effect we all know. This effect covers much of the album, love it or hate it. The song is honestly not bad, but feels like an imitation of Kraftwerk’s musical style and it’s a very drastic difference for the mostly organic Young.
“We R In Control” continues usage of the processed vocals. The song is about a sort of “Illuminati” like organization that is in complete control. Young’s voice is totally unrecognizable and it sounds like a typing program for the mute. Angular guitars remind one of Devo, one of the clear influences on this album. The same lyrics repeat over and over again, and the song sounds way too mechanical and silly. The highlight of the album for me was “Transformer Man”. Beneath all of the studio electronics, the song is actually quite good. Vocoders expand somewhat Young’s limited vocal range and make them a little easier to swallow. Like Kayne West on “808s and Heartbreaks”, young adopts a mechanical alter-ego to give his songs a much different range and a unique persona. The song is really about just that, using machinery and technology to change aspects of human life quickly and easily. A interesting little song and very catchy.
“Computer Cowboy” shows again the theme of contrast between old and new life on the album. Besides the vocoder effect, the song is fairly traditional in terms of musical elements. The vocoder gets really annoying by this point, and actually starts to make the listener frustrated and annoyed. This is especially apparent here, as the song is otherwise fairly normal sounding. The lyrics concern a sort of cyborg cowboy, roaming cities and range late at night trying to escape technology’s reach. The song includes an electronic facsimile of a horse trotting, a truly lame artistic decision. A total dud of a song. “Hold On To Your Love” is a fairly standard sounding song by this album’s standards. The song occasionally receives airplay on satellite radio, but still contains synthesizers and electric piano sounds; a huge mistake in the eyes of many of Young’s fans. These sounds actually don’t bother as much as the robotic vocals, and don’t really detract despite being fairly thin and cheap sounding. The song is actually fairly optimistic about love, and somewhat sweet and endearing tune. The song continues to explore the cowboy theme on the album, with lonesome slide guitar-like sounds adding some Western motifs.
“Sample And Hold” would not sound entirely out of place on an album by “Pet Shop Boys” or other such acts of the 1980s. The song concerns what appears to be some sort of digital dating service, and the creepy element of robotic love instantly reminds one of Kraftwerk. Twisted and distorted lower-end bass sounds really add a sleazy and gritty feel to the song. The robotic vocals actually work here, reflecting the emotional barrier that is produced by human interaction with technology. Young’s processed guitars sound interesting, and show his increasing exploration of distortion. The song gets to be somewhat repetitive after the four-minute mark, and starts of outwear its welcome. The song could have easily been trimmed in half, and the later four minutes mostly repeat the chorus many times atop fiddling with guitars and drum sounds. Not bad, but too long. “Mr. Soul” is fairly conventional remake, but makes use of a very horrible drum-machine to propel the track along. The song lacks any sort of “low-end”, and it sounds very weak and thin. The song really fails to match the “Buffalo Springfield” original, and is a totally useless endeavor. Skip this version, get the original classic. The album closes with “Like an Inca”, a Latin-influenced jam that really sounds much more conventional. The song reminds of Carlos Santana in the lead guitar, and shows Young’s more than decent guitar skills the most out of any song on this album. The lyrics concern getting back to the more primal instincts of ancient human societies, and it was nice to deviate from the mechanical theme dominating most of Trans. However, the song is a strong stylistic deviation from the rest of the album. Also, the song sounds quite dated and was actually a leftover from a previous session. Finally, at over nine minutes, the song feels like an extended jam and the listener is sure to lose interest.
“Trans” is a mostly forgotten album and an anomaly in the Young canon. “Trans” makes some bold artistic decisions, but really strays too from Young’s folk rock to be really considered. The songs are simply not that strong, and the mostly horrible electronics seem to be trying to mask that fact. Additionally, the albums wears its influences on its sleeve far too much, sounding often like a cheap parody by Liam Lynch rather than a true artistic direction. Avoid this one .
Rating-5.0/10
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