The godfather of grunge’s first album with his legendary band Crazy Horse in 9 years contains no original songs; instead they crank out some intriguing rock arrangements of traditional tunes you’ve heard a million times before, e.g. “Oh Susannah” “This Land Is Your Land” etc. It seems Neil and the Horse are aiming at a sort of anti-nostalgia record, reinventing the ubiquitous melodies and trying to rediscover their forgotten meanings. Guthrie’s “This Land” is once again a protest song, and “Jesus’ Chariot (She’ll Be Comin’ Round The Mountain)” is a driving, bombastic rocker that pays homage to the tune’s slave spiritual roots. With loud overdriven guitars and (on some tracks) backing vocals from a children’s choir, Americana has a friendly, grungy sound that saves it from being a mere novelty record, and it will probably age better than Living With War did.
No FCCs, even toddlers can dig this.

1. (5:03) Midpaced plodding heavy rock, totally new melody for a familiar kindergarten song
2. (5:43) Slightly upbeat chugging, sentimental warbling vox from Young that begin to show his age; a loud bitter ballad that crescendos with some female ooh-ahhs.
3. (8:13)** An old Civil War murder ballad with Crazy Horse at their loosest, enthusiastic and impassioned solid rocker.
4. (4:15)* Stompin’ fun honky-tonk blues tune with searing guitars and sweet, lovely backing vox in the chorus.
5. (3:02) Strange, schlocky electric doo-wop with 'sha-na-na' hooks, quirky rockabilly shuffle about looking for a job
6. (6:47) Starts with a bit of lazy strumming and mumbling, then picks up into a toe-tappin’ loud country rock anthem
7. (5:30) Midpaced groove, sparse overdriven chords and somewhat forgettable hooks
8. (5:39)** “Comin’ Round the Mountain” with a new melody—rocks hard! Totally anthemic, like the best moments of “Living With War” or “Greendale”
9. (5:27) Guthrie’s “This Land” with some twangy but overdriven guitar leads. Simple, pleasant, familiar… whatever.
10. (3:08) Gentle acoustic folk song, based on the Burl Ives arrangement. Soothing and gorgeous.
11. (4:09) Huge stomping “God Save The Queen” …(I know, right??) with some American changes to the lyrics, loud guitars, big quasi-patriotic chorus, marching snare drum