''Sleeps with Angels'' is the 20th studio album by Canadian musician

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Fu ...

, released on August 16, 1994, on

Reprise In music, a reprise ( , ; from the verb 'to resume') is the repetition or reiteration of the opening material later in a composition as occurs in the recapitulation of sonata form, though—originally in the 18th century—was simply any repe ...

as a double LP and as a single CD. Co-produced by David Briggs, the album is Young's seventh with

Crazy Horse Crazy Horse ( lkt, Tȟašúŋke Witkó, italic=no, , ; 1840 – September 5, 1877) was a Lakota war leader of the Oglala band in the 19th century. He took up arms against the United States federal government to fight against encroachment by w ...

Background and recording

The album was conceived as a conscious attempt to recapture some of the atmospheric experiments Young and Crazy Horse played around with in the ''

After the Gold Rush ''After the Gold Rush'' is the third studio album by the Canadian-American musician Neil Young, released in September 1970 on Reprise Records, catalogue number RS 6383. It is one of four high-profile albums (all charting within the top fifteen) ...

'' era. Although the majority of the album was recorded before the fact, Young created the title track after the

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and ...

Kurt Cobain Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – April 5, 1994) was an American musician who served as the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter of the rock band Nirvana. Through his angst-fueled songwriting and anti-establishment persona ...

, who quoted him in his suicide note. Two songs ("Western Hero" and "Train of Love") feature the same music with differing lyrics. "Safeway Cart" is featured on the soundtrack during a marching sequence in

Claire Denis Claire Denis (; born 21 April 1946) is a French film director and screenwriter. Her feature film ''Beau Travail'' (1999) has been called one of the greatest films of the 1990s, as well as of all time. Other acclaimed works include '' Trouble Ev ...

's 1999 film ''

Beau Travail ''Beau Travail'' (, French for "good work") is a 1999 French film directed by Claire Denis that is loosely based on Herman Melville's 1888 novella ''Billy Budd''. The story is set in Djibouti, where the protagonists are soldiers in the French Fore ...

''. ''Sleeps with Angels'' is the only Neil Young album on which he plays the flute.

Track listing

All tracks were written by

, except "Blue Eden", written by Young, Ralph Molina,

Frank Sampedro Frank "Poncho" Sampedro (born Manuel Francisco Sampedro de Victoria, February 25, 1949) is an American retired guitarist and member of the rock band Crazy Horse, known mainly for his longtime collaboration with singer-songwriter Neil Young. Sampe ...

and Billy Talbot.

Personnel

*Neil Young – guitar on all tracks except 1 and 12,

tack piano A tack piano (also known as a harpsipiano, jangle piano, and junk piano) is an altered version of an ordinary piano, in which objects such as thumbtacks or nails are placed on the felt-padded hammers of the instrument at the point where the ha ...

on tracks 1 and 12, accordion on track 5, flute on tracks 2 and 8, harmonica on track 8 and 12, vocals ;Crazy Horse *

Frank "Poncho" Sampedro Frank "Poncho" Sampedro (born Manuel Francisco Sampedro de Victoria, February 25, 1949) is an American retired guitarist and member of the rock band Crazy Horse, known mainly for his longtime collaboration with singer-songwriter Neil Young. Sampe ...

– guitar on tracks 2, 4, 6, 7, 10, and 11, grand piano on tracks 5 and 9, piano on tracks 3 and 12, bass

marimba The marimba () is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars that are struck by mallets. Below each bar is a resonator pipe that amplifies particular harmonics of its sound. Compared to the xylophone, the timbre ...

on track 1, oberheim on tracks 3 and 8, Wurlitzer piano on track 8, vocals * Billy Talbot – bass on all tracks except 1 and 12, vibes on track 1, bass marimba on track 12, vocals * Ralph Molina – drums, vocals ;Recording personnel * David Briggs – producer, mixing *Neil Young – producer, mixing * John Hanlon – engineer, mixing *Chad Blinman – assistant engineer *Roland Alvarez – assistant engineer *Joe Gastwirt – digital editing, mastering *Tim Mulligan – additional digital editing *Tim Foster – production manager *Bettina Briggs – production coordinator *Sal Trentino – amplifier tech *Jim Homan – guitar tech *Jerry Conforti – drum tech *Mark Humphreys – live monitors

Charts

Album

Singles

Certifications

References

Neil Young albums 1994 albums Albums produced by David Briggs (producer) Reprise Records albums Albums produced by Neil Young Crazy Horse (band) albums Cultural depictions of Kurt Cobain {{1990s-rock-album-stub