Editing Sleeps with Angels

{{Infobox album
| name       = Sleeps with Angels
| type       = studio
| artist     = [[Neil Young]] & [[Crazy Horse (band)|Crazy Horse]]
| cover      = Neil Young & Crazy Horse-Sleeps With Angels (album cover).jpg
| alt        =
| released   = August 16, 1994
| recorded   = November 8, 1993 – April 25, 1994
| venue      =
| studio     = The Complex Studios, West Los Angeles, California
| genre      = [[Rock music|Rock]]
| length     = 62:06
| label      = 
* [[Reprise Records|Reprise]]
* [[Warner Bros. Records|Warner Bros.]]
| producer   = 
* [[David Briggs (record producer)|David Briggs]]
* Neil Young
| chronology = [[Neil Young]]
| prev_title = [[Unplugged (Neil Young album)|Unplugged]]
| prev_year  = 1993
| next_title = [[Mirror Ball (Neil Young album)|Mirror Ball]]
| next_year  = 1995
| misc       = {{Extra chronology
 | artist     = [[Crazy Horse (band)|Crazy Horse]]
 | type       = studio
 | prev_title = [[Arc (Neil Young & Crazy Horse album)|Arc]]
 | prev_year  = 1991
 | title      = Sleeps with Angels
 | year       = 1994
 | next_title = [[Broken Arrow (album)|Broken Arrow]]
 | next_year  = 1996
}}
{{Singles
| type        = studio
| single1     = Change Your Mind
| single1date = 1994
| single2     = Piece of Crap
| single2date = 1994<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/artist/138556-Neil-Young?superFilter=Releases&subFilter=Singles+%26+EPs&page=1|title=Neil Young singles & EP discography|website=Discogs|access-date=July 22, 2024}}</ref>
}}
}}

{{Album reviews
| rev1      = [[AllMusic]]
| rev1score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}<ref>{{cite web|first=William|last=Ruhlmann |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/sleeps-with-angels-mw0000118402 |title=Sleeps with Angels - Neil Young,Neil Young & Crazy Horse &#124; Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards |publisher=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=June 3, 2015}}</ref>
| rev2      = [[Robert Christgau]]
| rev2score = A−<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_album.php?id=2536 |title=Album: Neil Young & Crazy Horse: Sleeps With Angels |first=Robert|last=Christgau |authorlink=Robert Christgau|website=robertchristgau.com|access-date=June 3, 2015}}</ref>
| rev3      = ''[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]''
| rev3score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Larkin|first=Colin|author-link=Colin Larkin|title=Encyclopedia of Popular Music|year=2007|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|edition=4th|isbn=978-0195313734|title-link=Encyclopedia of Popular Music}}</ref>
| rev4      = ''The Music Box''
| rev4score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref>{{cite web|first=John|last=Metzger |url=http://www.musicbox-online.com/ny-angel.html |title=Neil Young - Sleeps with Angels (Album Review) |website=Musicbox-online.com |access-date=June 3, 2015}}</ref>
| rev5      = ''[[New Musical Express]]''
| rev5score = 9/10<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Ashes to Ashes, Rust to Rust|last=Martin|first=Gavin|magazine=[[New Musical Express]]|date=13 August 1994|page=47}}</ref>
| rev6      = ''[[Select (magazine)|Select]]''
| rev6score = {{rating|5|5|full=U+25A0.svg|empty=U+25A1.svg|rating=medal}}<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Clark|last=Collis|url=https://selectmagazinescans.monkeon.co.uk/showpage.php?file=wp-content/uploads/2013/02/albums3.jpg|title=New Albums|work=[[Select (magazine)|Select]]|date=September 1994|page=94|access-date=December 22, 2024}}</ref>
}}

'''''Sleeps with Angels''''' is the 22nd studio album by Canadian-American musician [[Neil Young]], released on August 16, 1994, on [[Reprise Records|Reprise]] as a double LP and as a single CD. Young's seventh album with [[Crazy Horse (band)|Crazy Horse]], it was co-produced by long-time collaborator [[David Briggs (producer)|David Briggs]] who died the following year. The title track was written in response to [[Suicide of Kurt Cobain|Kurt Cobain's suicide]]. Musician and author Ken Viola described the album as one of Young's "top five records. It examines the nature of dreams — both the light and dark side — and how they fuel reality in the nineties. Dreams are the only thing that we've got left to hang on to."<ref>Mcdonough, Jimmy. 2003. Shakey: Neil Young’s Biography. New York: Anchor Books.</ref>

==Background==
The early 1990s were something of a comeback and second career pinnacle for Young with the release of 1989's ''[[Freedom (Neil Young album)|Freedom]]'', 1990's ''[[Ragged Glory]]'' and 1992's ''[[Harvest Moon (album)|Harvest Moon]]''. Young would be dubbed the "Godfather of Grunge" by one music critic<ref>The Godfather of Grunge Rock. Steve Martin. Pulse!. December 1991</ref> and would perform "[[Rockin' in the Free World]]" with [[Pearl Jam]] at the [[1993 MTV Video Music Awards]]. Young would also perform with [[Booker T. & the M.G.'s]] at [[Bob Dylan]]'s [[The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration]] and then embark on a North American tour with the group. During the winter of 1993-1994, Young would reunite with [[Crazy Horse (band)|Crazy Horse]] to record a new album at The Complex in Los Angeles.

==Writing and recording==
In contrast to his other albums, Young has been loath to discuss the album's content and the inspiration for its songs in interviews. In 1995 he told ''[[Mojo Magazine]]''{{'}}s [[Nick Kent]]: "''Sleeps With Angels'' has a lot of overtones to it, from different situations that were described in it – a lot of sad scenes. I've never really spoken about why I made that album. I don't want to start now. I just don't want to talk about that. That's my decision. I've made a choice not to talk about it and I'm sticking to it."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kent |first1=Nick |title=I Build Something Up, I Tear It Right Down: Neil Young at 50 |journal=Mojo |date=December 1995 |url=https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/i-build-something-up-i-tear-it-right-down-neil-young-at-50 |access-date=December 10, 2023}}</ref> He repeated his stance in a later 1995 interview for ''[[Spin Magazine]]'': "I'm not doing anything with that album. It stands on its own. That's why I made the record. Too sensitive of a subject to isolate comments on. When you speak to someone who can write things down, you have to remember that they only write what they select. And it appears next to something that they can't control, like an ad. And then that article can be quoted, and over time...I've seen the way things happen."<ref>"Not Fade Away: Our 1995 Neil Young Cover Story". Eric Weisbard. ''Spin''. September 1995. https://www.spin.com/2021/10/neil-young-september-1995-cover-story/</ref>

The lengthy "Change Your Mind" was debuted during the 1993 tour with [[Booker T. & the M.G.'s]]. The other songs on the album were written during the recording sessions.<ref>Mcdonough, Jimmy. 2003. ''Shakey: Neil Young's Biography''. New York: Anchor Books.</ref> The album features a variety of unique instruments, including bass marimbas, vibes, synthesizers and a tack piano on "My Heart" and "A Dream That Can Last". "Prime of Life" and "Safeway Cart" feature Young playing flute; ''Sleeps with Angels'' is the only Neil Young album on which he plays that instrument.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://music.apple.com/us/album/sleeps-with-angels/72797981 |title=iTunes - Music - Sleeps With Angels by Neil Young |publisher=[[iTunes]] |date=1994-08-05 |access-date=2013-05-27}}</ref> The songs "Western Hero" and "Train of Love" feature the same music with different lyrics, "like identical twins. The same song with two completely different stories. But it brings you back to this theme. It's almost like a Broadway play."<ref>Mcdonough, Jimmy. 2003. ''Shakey: Neil Young's Biography''. New York: Anchor Books.</ref> "Safeway Cart" is featured on the soundtrack during a marching sequence in [[Claire Denis]]'s 1999 film ''[[Beau Travail]]''.

The title track was inspired by the death of Kurt Cobain, who quoted Young in his suicide note, with the rest of the album having been recorded before that event.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/neil-young-sleeps-with-angels/|first=Nick|last=DeRiso|title=How Neil Young Mourned Kurt Cobain On 'Sleeps With Angels'|website=Ultimate Classic Rock|date=August 6, 2015|accessdate=December 29, 2021}}</ref> "When he died and left that note, it struck a deep chord inside of me. It fucked with me. I wrote some music for that feeling: "Sleeps with Angels"," Young remembers in his memoir, ''Waging Heavy Peace''.<ref>Young, Neil. 2012. ''Waging Heavy Peace''. Penguin Publishing Group.</ref> He continues in ''Shakey'': "What that suicide has done is return me to my roots. Makes me go back and investigate where I started. Where I came from. Why am I here and why is he not here? Does my music suffer because I survived?"<ref>Mcdonough, Jimmy. 2003. ''Shakey: Neil Young's Biography''. New York: Anchor Books.</ref> Young wrote the first lyrics to the song on a matchbook during a charity golf tournament hosted by [[Eddie Van Halen]]. The song was the last to be recorded for the album.<ref>Durchholz, Daniel, and Gary Graff. 2012. ''Neil Young: Long May You Run: The Illustrated History''. Minneapolis, MN: Voyageur Press.</ref>

==Promotion==
A thirty-minute documentary was filmed by [[Larry Johnson (film producer)|L.A. Johnson]] during the album's sessions. Promotional videos were later shot for the songs "My Heart," "Prime of Life," "Change Your Mind," and "Piece of Crap" by director [[Jonathan Demme]]. The videos feature the group returning to The Complex on October 3-4, 1994 to perform the songs live.

The group performed three concerts in October 1994 featuring songs from the album, all charity events. On October 1-2, the group played acoustic sets at the annual [[Bridge School Benefit]] concerts featuring seven of the album's songs. On October 22, the group played a similar setlist in [[Sedona, Arizona]] at the Verde Valley scholarship benefit festival.

==Track listing==
All tracks were written by [[Neil Young]], except "Blue Eden", written by Young, [[Ralph Molina]], [[Frank Sampedro]] and [[Billy Talbot]].
{{Track listing

| title1 = My Heart
| length1 = 2:44

| title2 = Prime of Life
| length2 = 4:02

| title3 = Driveby
| length3 = 4:43

| title4 = Sleeps with Angels
| length4 = 2:44

| title5 = Western Hero
| length5 = 4:00

| title6 = Change Your Mind
| length6 = 14:39

| title7 = Blue Eden
| length7 = 6:22

| title8 = Safeway Cart
| length8 = 6:29

| title9 = Train of Love
| length9 = 3:57

| title10 = Trans Am
| length10 = 4:07

| title11 = Piece of Crap
| length11 = 3:15

| title12 = A Dream That Can Last
| length12 = 5:27

| total_length = 62:06
}}

==Personnel==
*Neil Young – guitar on all tracks except 1 and 12, [[tack piano]] 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]] – 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]] 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 (record producer)|David Briggs]] – producer, mixing
*Neil Young – producer, mixing
*[[John Hanlon (record producer)|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===
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
! scope="col"| Chart (1994)
! scope="col"| Peak<br />position
|-
{{album chart|Australia|23|artist=Neil Young and Crazy Horse|album=Sleeps with Angels|rowheader=true|access-date=September 21, 2020}}
|-
{{album chart|Austria|12|artist=Neil Young and Crazy Horse|album=Sleeps with Angels|rowheader=true|access-date=September 21, 2020}}
|-
{{album chart|Canada|7|chartid=2591|rowheader=true|access-date=September 21, 2020}}
|-
{{album chart|Netherlands|10|artist=Neil Young and Crazy Horse|album=Sleeps with Angels|rowheader=true|access-date=September 21, 2020}}
|-
! scope="row" | Finnish Albums ([[Official Finnish Charts|Suomen virallinen lista]])<ref>{{cite web | url=https://suomenlistalevyt.blogspot.com/2015/08/x-y.html | title=Sisältää hitin: Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1960: Artistit X Y | date=2015 }}</ref>
| style="text-align:center;" | 2
|-
{{album chart|Germany4|11|id=1905|artist=Neil Young and Crazy Horse|album=Sleeps with Angels|rowheader=true|access-date=September 21, 2020}}
|-
{{album chart|New Zealand|17|artist=Neil Young and Crazy Horse|album=Sleeps with Angels|rowheader=true|access-date=September 21, 2020}}
|-
{{album chart|Norway|4|artist=Neil Young and Crazy Horse|album=Sleeps with Angels|rowheader=true|access-date=September 21, 2020}}
|-
{{album chart|Sweden|2|artist=Neil Young and Crazy Horse|album=Sleeps with Angels|rowheader=true|access-date=September 21, 2020}}
|-
{{album chart|Switzerland|13|artist=Neil Young and Crazy Horse|album=Sleeps with Angels|rowheader=true|access-date=September 21, 2020}}
|-
{{album chart|UK2|2|date=19940827|rowheader=true|access-date=September 21, 2020}}
|-
{{album chart|Billboard200|9|artist=Neil Young|rowheader=true|access-date=September 21, 2020}}
|}

===Singles===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! scope="col"| Year
! scope="col"| Single
! scope="col"| Chart
! scope="col"| Position
|-
| 1994
| "Change Your Mind"
| US [[Mainstream Rock (chart)|Mainstream Rock Tracks]]<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/neil-young/chart-history/rtt/ |title=Neil Young Chart History: Mainstream Rock |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |access-date=September 21, 2020}}</ref>
| align=center| 18
|-
| 1994
| "Piece Of Crap"
| {{single chart|UK|91|date=19940828|rowheader=true|access-date=February 23, 2020}}
|}

==Certifications==
{{Certification Table Top}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=album|title=Sleeps with Angels|artist=Neil Young|award=Gold|relyear=1994|certyear=1995|id=5977-833-2|access-date=5 May 2022}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|type=album|title=Sleeps with Angels|artist=Neil Young|award=Gold|relyear=1994|certyear=1994|access-date=5 May 2022}}
{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Neil Young}}
{{Crazy Horse (band)}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Neil Young albums]]
[[Category:1994 albums]]
[[Category:Albums produced by David Briggs (producer)]]
[[Category:Reprise Records albums]]
[[Category:Albums produced by Neil Young]]
[[Category:Crazy Horse (band) albums]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Kurt Cobain]]