Decade, while being eventful in that it did once and for all establish [Neil Young] as a Major Artist of impressive proportions, also illustrated the fact that his is a vision as consistent as it is clear; he will sing about how it feels to live in this strange and risky world, where friends still die and politics of oppression still operate and love is always hard to live with, and he will do it with none of rock's usual obfuscation or frivolity until they come to take him away.

New-album-wise (Comes a Time), this translates into serious songs about love, a theme with which he was so obviously occupied as one part of a couple at the time the album was made…. It's a smooth job, one of his calmer efforts … but still quietly passionate, a bit of a sleeper.

Side one involves a lot of committing to love in the form of coupledom despite existential doubt and a penchant for travel, etc. "Look Out for My Love" … is a lovely image song about such things. It serves to remind you that its writer knows the often contradictory virtues of image power (evocation) and image clarity (effective conveyance of message); that is, he keeps the little boogers under his control, and in rock & roll that's rare. Otherwise, "Comes a Time" and "Lotta Love" are both very catchy indeed, simple and seductive, and "Peace of Mind" states a major life problem with great precision.

On side two, we're off on the road and out in the world again. "Human Highway" is a shock song about coming out of wounded privacy and into the mean eye of the outside ("Now my name is on the line / How could people get so unkind?"). "Already One," very sad, looks back from the suspicious highway to the remains of a relationship ("our little son"). Then it's the "Field of Opportunity" (where it's plowing time again) to a happy country beat, then "Motorcycle Mama" ("won't yo lay your big spike down") passed in the night out there in Freeville/Riskville and rendered with strong, stinky blues funk….

It's neatly laced and quite coherent, a wider and somehow sadder long take on the frailty of love relationships than Willie Nelson's great and graphic treatment of the same subject, Phases and Stages. It is, of course, a lonely album; once again, it's about lessons learned.