Le Noise (Deluxe Version)

Neil Young’s 31st album is a collaboration with atmospheric-rock producer Daniel Lanois, whose name gets a clever nod in the title. Together, the duo find new ways to make Young’s stripped-down solo-guitar excursions both densely layered and personal. Incendiary tracks like “Walk With Me” and “Sign of Love” shroud their romantic lyrics in a fog of echo and distortion, while more folky ballads like “Love and War” have Young expressing confusion and anger over minimal acoustic instrumentation.