FANS of Neil Young will know the title 'Chrome Dreams' from an aborted album of that title which was due to appear in 1977 (but in its stead came the LP 'American Stars n Bars') and for a couple of bootleg offerings which did the rounds about 10 years ago. Well, if Young is known for one thing it is seizing the moment and he decided to let some of these older song sketches out of their boxes and blend them with a number of tracks he had written recently. The result is 10 songs, old and new, recorded in a 'live' studio in northern California with a couple of petrol pumps out front.

Young's output over the past few years has suggested an artist fiercely determined to maintain a creative peak. From the environmentally friendly, family conscious 'Greendale to Prairie Wind' (an ode to his then dying father), Young surprised many with his anti-war, anti Bush diatribe 'Living With War'.

Now he has combined all these elements to craft a set of disparate songs with unifying themes. And it's in this diversity that the record suceeds. Back in the fold are Crazy Horse drummer Ralph Molina, pedal steel player Ben Keith and a whole host of friends and singers including his wife Pegi.

And like so many of Shakey's great albums, 'Chrome Dreams II' is built around two giant tunes. If the opening two tracks come across like 'After The Goldrush', it is intentional.

They make way for 'Ordinary People' which comes in at over 18 minutes long and is the album's first grunge anthem proper.

This is one of the older songs that Young never felt right to record. Until now. As usual the spiritual is found in the ordinary, the ghosts of those lost, the bent American dream. The playing is crisp, the vocals bright; it is a confident, bold statement that grandads do still rock.

'No Hidden Path', clocking in at over 14 minutes, has that 'Cortez The Killer' feel run going through, with scratchy fiddly stuff beneath . . . as Young revels in his old age.

"Will the northern lights still play as we walk our distant days? /Ocean Sky, sea of blue, let the sun wash over you" . . . it's essentially a prayer. "Show me the way and I'll follow you today, " the song fades out warmly.

Closing track 'The Way' written on piano with a choir and finishes what must be Shakey's most coherent and confident sounding of his releases since the turn of the milennium.

Download: 'Ordinary People', 'Dirty Old Man', 'No Hidden Path' Neil Dunphy