Editing Rust Never Sleeps (section)

== Critical reception ==
{{Music ratings
| title = Retrospective professional reviews
| rev1 = [[AllMusic]]
| rev1Score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref name="AM" />
| rev2 = ''[[Chicago Tribune]]''
| rev2Score = {{Rating|4|4}}<ref name="CT" />
| rev3 = ''[[Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies|Christgau's Record Guide]]''
| rev3Score = A+<ref name="CG">{{Cite book |last=Christgau |first=Robert |title=[[Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies]] |publisher=[[Ticknor & Fields]] |year=1981 |isbn=089919026X |chapter=Consumer Guide '70s: Y |author-link=Robert Christgau |access-date=March 23, 2019 |chapter-url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_chap.php?k=Y&bk=70 |via=robertchristgau.com}}</ref>
| rev4 = ''[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]''
| rev4Score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Larkin |editor1-first=Colin |title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |date=2007 |publisher=Omnibus |page=1543 |edition=5th concise |ol=11913831M}}</ref>
| rev5 = ''[[The Great Rock Discography]]''
| rev5Score = 9/10<ref>{{cite book |last1=Strong |first1=Martin C. |title=The Great Rock Discography |date=2004 |publisher=Canongate |location=New York |page=1714 |ol=18807297M |edition=7th}}</ref>
| rev6 = [[Music Story]]
| rev6Score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{CN|date=December 2023}}
| rev7 = ''[[MusicHound|MusicHound Rock]]''
| rev7Score = 4.5/5<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Graff |editor1-first=Gary |title=MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide |date=1996 |publisher=Visible Ink |location=Detroit |page=754 |ol=8145585M}}</ref>
| rev8 = ''[[Q (magazine)|Q]]''
| rev8Score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref name="CD">{{Cite web |title=Crazy Horse – Neil Young – Rust Never Sleeps CD Album |url=http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=1099083&style=music&fulldesc=T |access-date=November 27, 2013 |publisher=[[CD Universe]]}}</ref>
| rev9 = ''[[The Rolling Stone Album Guide]]''
| rev9Score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref name="RSguide" />
| rev10 = ''[[Spin Alternative Record Guide]]''
| rev10Score = 10/10<ref>{{cite book |last1=Weisbard |first1=Eric |editor1-last=Weisbard |editor1-first=Eric |editor2-last=Marks |editor2-first=Craig |title=Spin Alternative Record Guide |date=1995 |publisher=Vintage Books |location=New York |isbn=0679755748 |page=447 |chapter=Neil Young}}</ref>
| rev11 = ''[[Consequence of Sound|Consequence]]''
| rev11score = A<ref name="CoS">{{Cite magazine |last=Garrett Gravley |date=July 20, 2019 |title=A New Neil Young & Crazy Horse Awaken on Rust Never Sleeps |url=https://consequence.net/2019/07/classic-album-review-neil-young-and-crazy-horse-rust-never-sleeps/ |magazine=[[Consequence of Sound]] |access-date=January 6, 2023}}</ref>
}}
Reviewing for ''[[The Village Voice]]'' in 1979, [[Robert Christgau]] called ''Rust Never Sleeps'' Young's best album yet and said although his melodies are unsurprisingly simple and original, his lyrics are surprisingly and offhandedly complex. "He's wiser but not wearier", Christgau wrote, "victor so far over the slow burnout his title warns of".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Christgau |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Christgau |date=July 30, 1979 |title=Christgau's Consumer Guide |work=[[The Village Voice]] |location=New York |url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cgv7-79.php |access-date=November 27, 2013}}</ref>

[[Paul Nelson (critic)|Paul Nelson]], writing in ''[[Rolling Stone]]'', found its first side "virtuosic" because of how Young "transcends the songs' acoustic settings with his commanding performance" and was "impressed by its themes of personal escape and exhaustion, the role of rock music, and American violence." Nelson would write that "''Rust Never Sleeps'' tells me more about my life, my country and rock & roll than any music I've heard in years."<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Nelson |first=Paul |author-link=Paul Nelson (critic) |date=October 18, 1979 |title=Neil Young ''Rust Never Sleeps'' > Album Review |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |issue=302 |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/rust-never-sleeps-19791018 |url-status=live |access-date=January 12, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070824004232/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/neilyoung/albums/album/301332/review/5946536/rust_never_sleeps |archive-date=August 24, 2007}}</ref> 

''Rust Never Sleeps'' was voted the second best album of 1979 in ''The Village Voice''{{'}}s annual [[Pazz & Jop]] critics poll.<ref>{{Cite news |title=The 1979 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll |work=The Village Voice |location=New York |url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/pnj/pjres79.php |access-date=November 27, 2013}}</ref> Christgau, the poll's creator, ranked it second on his own list for the poll, as did fellow critic [[Greil Marcus]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Christgau |first=Robert |date=January 28, 1980 |title=The Pazz & Jop Critics' Poll (Almost) Grows Up |work=The Village Voice |location=New York |url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/pnj/pj79.php |access-date=November 27, 2013}}</ref> The album also won ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's 1979 critics poll for Album of the Year.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Albums Of The Year And End Of Year Critic Lists |url=http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/rolling.htm#1979 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060222083523/http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/rolling.htm#1979 |url-status=usurped |archive-date=February 22, 2006 |access-date=October 6, 2010 |publisher=Rocklist.net}}</ref> In a decade-end list for ''The Village Voice'', Christgau named it the ninth best album of the 1970s.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Christgau |first=Robert |date=December 17, 1979 |title=Decade Personal Best: '70s |work=The Village Voice |location=New York |url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/list/decade70.php |access-date=June 23, 2013}}</ref>

In 2000, ''Rust Never Sleeps'' was voted number 240 in the third edition of [[Colin Larkin]]'s ''[[All Time Top 1000 Albums]]'' book.<ref name="Larkin">{{Cite book |title=[[All Time Top 1000 Albums]] |date=2000 |publisher=[[Virgin Books]] |isbn=0-7535-0493-6 |editor-last=Colin Larkin |editor-link=Colin Larkin |edition=3rd |page=110}}</ref> In 2003, it was ranked number 350 on ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's list of [[Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time|the 500 greatest albums of all time]].<ref>{{Cite magazine |title=Rust Never Sleeps ranked 350 |url=http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-19691231/rust-never-sleeps-neil-young-and-crazy-horse-19691231 |url-status=dead |magazine=Rolling Stone |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110902035751/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-19691231/rust-never-sleeps-neil-young-and-crazy-horse-19691231 |archive-date=September 2, 2011 |access-date=August 1, 2021}}</ref> ''Rolling Stone'' re-ranked the album at 351 in the list's 2012 edition, and later at number 296 in the 2020 edition.<ref name="500-greatest">{{Cite web |year=2012 |title=500 Greatest Albums of All Time Rolling Stone's definitive list of the 500 greatest albums of all time |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-156826/neil-young-and-crazy-horse-rust-never-sleeps-46086/ |access-date=September 9, 2019 |publisher=[[Rolling Stone]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |date=September 22, 2020 |title=The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-albums-of-all-time-1062063/ |magazine=Rolling Stone |language=en-US |access-date=January 14, 2021}}</ref> In a retrospective review, [[Greg Kot]] of the ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' said that the acoustic and electric sides were both "astounding".<ref name="CT">{{Cite news |last=Kot |first=Greg |author-link=Greg Kot |date=October 21, 1990 |title=From Rock To Country And Back Again |work=[[Chicago Tribune]] |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1990/10/21/from-rock-to-country-and-back-again/ |access-date=November 27, 2013}}</ref> [[AllMusic]]'s William Ruhlmann viewed that "Young reinvigorated himself artistically by being imaginative and bold, and in the process created an exemplary album that encapsulated his many styles on a single disc with great songs — in particular the remarkable 'Powderfinger' — unlike any he had written before."<ref name="AM">{{AllMusic |class=album |tab=review |id=r22516 |first=William |last=Ruhlmann |access-date=May 8, 2005}}</ref> [[Rob Sheffield]], writing in ''[[The Rolling Stone Album Guide]]'' (2004), felt that "Powderfinger", "Pocahontas", "Thrasher", and "Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)" were among Young's greatest songs.<ref name="RSguide">{{Cite magazine |title=Neil Young: Album Guide |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/neil-young/albumguide |magazine=Rolling Stone |access-date=November 27, 2013}}</ref>