Much as was the case with the Byrds tribute Time Between written up the last time out, The Bridge was a disc purchased not because I was into the artist being feted, but because I really liked a few of the bands paying tribute. In this case, the Pixies, Dinosaur Jr. and, most importantly, Soul Asylum contributed tracks. Only later would I value the disc for the fact that it offered alternate looks at songs by someone who had become a hero of mine: Neil Young.

The disc, issued in 1989 like Time Between, had a more altruistic goal than its brethren in the tribute CD racks. Proceeds from the disc went to support the Bridge School, which, according to its web site, is "an educational program dedicated to ensuring that children with severe speech and physical impairments achieve full participation in their communities through the use of augmentative & alternative means of communication and assistive technology applications." Young holds an annual benefit concert to raise money for the school, and this disc, released just three years after Young started that series of shows, piggybacked on the name and idea.

Of course, the name of the disc also is a not-so-subtle reference to the bridge between Young and the younger artists who contributed tracks. There is a clear line between most of the acts here and Young's work, from the guitar squall of Sonic Youth or Dinosaur Jr. to the naked melancholy of Nick Cave and early Flaming Lips.

The disc starts strong with one of the last truly decent thing Soul Asylum ever did. "Barstool Blues" is a fitting choice, and it sounds like it came right off the band's best album, Hang Time. It's ragged charms are a sad reminder of what was once a great band. From there, Victoria Williams warbles her way through "Don't Let it Bring You Down" and Wayne Coyne of the F'lips, well, he warbles his way through "After the Goldrush." Nikki Sudden, Loop, Bongwater, Pyschic TV and B.A.L.L. all offer predictably good, trippy versions of Young classics as well.

The stand-outs, in addition to Soul Asylum, are Cave, who makes "Helpless" his own, the Pixies, whose "Winterlong" is among their best songs, and Sonic Youth, who remake Trans' strange "Computer Age" into a swirling wash of guitar fury that is further evidence that the band was at the height of its powers around the time of Daydream Nation.

The disc's lineup today seems odd, as most tribute albums do in hindsight, but for what it was, it ably marked Young's influence and captured many great alternative bands at their crest. With today's reliance on superstar-filled, gimmicky tributes, this, Time Between and a few other peers actually felt like tributes, a way of saying thanks from one generation to another.

MP3: Soul Asylum - Barstool Blues
MP3: Sonic Youth - Computer Age

Labels: music, OOTS