Having apparently exorcised his demons by releasing the cathartic
Tonight's the Night
,
Neil Young
returned to his commercial strengths with
Zuma
(named after Zuma Beach in Los Angeles, where he now owned a house). Seven of the album's nine songs were recorded with the reunited
Crazy Horse
, in which rhythm guitarist
Frank Sampedro
had replaced the late
Danny Whitten
, but there were also nods to other popular
Young
styles in
"Pardon My Heart,"
an acoustic song that would have fit on
Harvest
, his most popular album, and
"Through My Sails,"
retrieved from one of
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
's abortive recording sessions.
had abandoned the ragged, first-take approach of his previous three albums, but
would never be a polished act, and the music had a lively sound well-suited to the songs, which were some of the most melodic,
pop
-oriented tunes
had crafted in years, though they were played with an electric-guitar-drenched
rock
intensity. The overall theme concerned romantic conflict, with lyrics that lamented lost love and sometimes longed for a return (
"Pardon My Heart"
even found
singing, "I don't believe this song"), though the overall conclusion, notably in such catchy songs as
"Don't Cry No Tears"
and
"Lookin' for a Love,"
was to move on to the next relationship. But the album's standout track (apparently the only holdover from an early intention to present songs with historical subjects) was the seven-and-a-half-minute epic
"Cortez the Killer,"
a commentary on the Spanish conqueror of Latin America that served as a platform for
's most extensive guitar soloing since his work on
Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
. ~ William Ruhlmann