Trans (1982)
And so we arrive at the most infamous album in Neil Young’s catalog. This album and the next one (Everybody’s Rockin) got him sued by his record company for making music "not commercial" and "musically uncharacteristic of [his] previous recordings." Eventually the suit was dropped, but that’s just a shocking moment in music history to me. The most tragic part is that Trans exists because Neil was just trying to talk to his son.
Neil has had a difficult road in terms of his own health and that of his children. He had polio, suffered from epilepsy, and has had an aneurysm. His first son Zeke was born with cerebral palsy. His second son Ben was also born with cerebral palsy and is also nonverbal and quadriplegic. Ben is the reason Trans exists. Neil started playing with vocoders and synthesizers as a way to relate and communicate with Ben. Much of Neil’s time was spent in therapy with Ben and this struggle to communicate is what inspired Trans.
With that knowledge in mind, Trans takes on a different tenor than what it appeared to be at the time: a mercurial artist trying to stay relevant by adopting new technology, trying to fit in with the burgeoning electronic music and new wave scenes. But it was really just a songwriter attempting to perform in a way that mimicked the communication struggles his son was going through.
There are three songs from a rejected album called Islands in the Sun that we can get out of the way first. They all have a sort of tropical feel, with more classic instrumentation. Of those, “Little Thing Called Love” is the best, I think. It’s a good groove, with nice guitar lines. “Like an Inca” is very odd on this album as it has a bizarre hippie bent (complete with bongos) that feel at odds with the lyrics. It will be interesting to hear these songs in context when Islands in the Sun finally emerges in the next volume of the Archives.
“Computer Age” kicks off the the main story of Trans, though. Lush synths give way to 80s guitar and bass before Neil eases us into the vocoder with lightly effected vocals, then hitting us with the chorus using the full effect. This song is not exactly bad, but it’s very shocking coming from Neil. It’s a pop song that honestly would probably be a hit if released in 2022 by anyone other than Neil. It has a crazy high pitched sing song section that is the most bizarre moment on Trans.
Personally, “We R In Control” is the most successful experiment here because it’s so deep into the robot theme, the lyrics just being statements about computer controlled entities without any pretense of this being the writer of “Cortez the Killer.” I heard stuff just like this in the late 80s, early 90s. It’s not that far from things like Meat Beat Manifesto. Of course, Neil was heavily influenced by Kraftwerk at the time. A close second is “Computer Cowboy (aka Syncrusher),” a hilariously accurate prediction of future industrial band song names. It’s also a purely Trans song with no attempt at crossing over with traditional Neil.
“Sample and Hold” is probably the most well known song from this album, although I don’t understand why, personally. It’s a bit half-baked and chaotic. If you were looking back at this album through the lens of electronic music and industrial music, though, this is where you would start. It reminds me the most of that heady time when metal and electronic were mixing and experimenting…years after Trans. The last song in this vein is a wretched reimagining of the classic “Mr. Soul.” I think it’s the worst offense of this album, but it’s very Neil to do something like this. Take something you love, and subvert it. Make you confront what you are hearing and try to understand what he’s saying. He’s a songwriter with an already legendary career. His entire life is built around communicating thoughts and emotions to the world. But his son can’t talk to him without filtering it through technology. Is this how Ben hears his father’s work? Is this how Neil needed to change his work so his son can hear it?
Top 3:
- We R in Control
- Computer Cowboy (aka Syncrusher)
- Little Thing Called Love
Cut song: Mr. Soul. It’s an abomination.
Exciting timing: Yesterday Neil Young Archives debuted part of the Trans - The Animated Story that is forthcoming with Neil Young Archives Vol. III this year sometime. Neil originally proposed video that would go along with the album release that clarified the story he was trying to tell:
All of the electronic-voice people were working in a hospital, and the one thing they were trying to do is teach this little baby to push a button. (McDonough, Shakey, 2002)
He recently worked with Micah Nelson (more on him way later in this project) to bring this vision to life. Now we are seeing the first fruits of that labor with a video for “Computer Cowboy.” Watch it in the Hearse Theater at Neil Young Archives (Hearse Daily only lasts a few days).
The video does help illustrate who the Computer Cowboy is and how the character experiences the world. It’s obviously Neil combining his love of the country with all the technology helping his son Ben communicate. It’s worth checking out for a bit more context on the Trans effort.