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Comes a Time is the ninth studio album by Canadian-American singer-songwriter Neil Young, released by Reprise Records in October 1978. Its songs are written as moralizing discourses on love's failures and recovering from worldly troubles. They are largely performed in a quiet folk and country mode, featuring backing harmonies sung by Nicolette Larson and additional accompaniment on some songs by Crazy Horse.[3]

Comes a Time
Studio album by Neil Young
Released	October 21, 1978[1]
Recorded	January 10, 1976 – November 21, 1977
Studio	Triad Recording (Ft. Lauderdale) Columbia Recording (London) Wally Heider Recording (San Francisco) Woodland Sound Sound Shop (Nashville) Broken Arrow Ranch (Redwood City)
Genre	Country folk[2]
Length	37:15
Label	Reprise
Producer	Neil Young, David Briggs, Ben Keith, Tim Mulligan
Neil Young chronology
Decade (1977) Comes a Time (1978) Rust Never Sleeps (1979)

Production

The album originally started out as a solo record, but when Young played it for Reprise executives they asked him if he would consider adding rhythm tracks to what he already had. Young agreed, and the end product was Comes a Time.

Much of the album features harmony vocals from Nicolette Larson, who also shares lead vocals with Young on "Motorcycle Mama".[4] Two songs on the album, "Look Out For My Love" and "Lotta Love", featured Young's long-time backing band, Crazy Horse.^{[citation needed]} Another song, "Human Highway", was written several years prior to the album's release, and was originally recorded by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young in 1974 for a proposed album to be called "Human Highway", but in typical CSNY fashion the recording sessions were abandoned amid acrimony between the four group members and the album never came to pass.[5]

For many years it was rumoured that Young had personally purchased some 200,000 vinyl copies of Comes a Time having been unhappy with the album's sound, owing to damage that occurred to the master tape during shipment to the mixing facility. The version of the album most widely available today was personally remixed by Young from the safety copy of the original master. In a March 2014 interview with Rolling Stone, Young claimed that he, in fact, used the 200,000 LPs as shingles for a barn roof.[6]

Critical reception

Retrospective professional reviews

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[7]
Christgau's Record Guide	A[8]
Rolling Stone	[9]
Spin Alternative Record Guide	9/10[10]
Tom Hull – on the Web	A[11]

Reviewing for The Village Voice in October 1978, Robert Christgau hailed Comes a Time as a "tour de force" for its folkie concept and music, with melodies that rival those of Young's After the Gold Rush (1970) and a sound that is "almost always quiet, usually acoustic and drumless, and sweetened by Nicolette Larson". While noting that listeners may "wonder why this thirty-two-year-old hasn't learned more about Long-Term Relationships", Christgau was ultimately won over by "the spare, good-natured assurance of the singing and playing" for how it "deepens the more egregious homilies and transforms good sense into wisdom".[12] Stereo Review magazine's Noel Coppage found the album to be Young's "simplest, most acoustic, and best produced" record since 1972's Harvest, but more "down to earth and direct" in comparison and highlighted by a healthier perspective to his usual angst and varied songs performed in a consistent style. While lamenting a lack of energy to some degree, Coppage said that repeat listens of the album will provide "rewarding experiences with texture and mood, some real tunes, and the real personality Young puts into his work".[13] Somewhat less impressed was Greil Marcus of Rolling Stone. Describing Comes a Time as "a restrained and modest set of love songs that traces a long affair from first light to final regrets", he expressed disappointment at the relative "facelessness" of the songwriting when compared with rougher music on earlier albums like Zuma (1975) and American Stars 'n Bars (1977).[14]

At the end of 1978, Comes a Time was voted the year's eighth best album in the Pazz & Jop, an annual poll of American critics nationwide, published in The Village Voice.[15] Christgau, the poll's supervisor, ranked it fifth on his own year-end list accompanying the poll.[16]

According to Rolling Stone's Milo Miles, while the album may have sounded out of place amidst the punk rock craze of 1978, it is in retrospect Young's "most timeless and easy-to-love works, a brief but immaculate" work. Miles interprets the opening track "Goin' Back" as Young returning to folk music in refuge from the real world, much as in the same way the album altogether offers listeners "a steady haven in dark times" with lyrics about "taking shelter from troubles and going out to face them again".[9] AllMusic's William Ruhlmann recommended the album to fans of Harvest, saying "melodies, love lyrics, lush arrangements, and steel guitar solos dominated, and Young's vocals were made more accessible by being paired with Nicolette Larson's harmonies."[7]

Track listing

All songs are written by Neil Young, except where noted. Track numbering and timings are from the original vinyl release, MSK 2266.

Personnel

Musicians

Technical

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart performance for Comes A Time

Chart (1978)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[17]	6
US Billboard Top LPs & Tape[18]	7
UK Album Charts[19]	42
Canadian RPM 100 Albums[20]	4
Finnish Album Charts[21]	10
French Album Charts[22]	2
Japanese Album Charts[23]	65
Norwegian VG-lista Albums[24]	9
New Zealand Album Charts[25]	6
Dutch MegaCharts Albums[25]	3
US Cash Box Top 100 Albums[26]	13
US Record World Album Chart[27]	13

Singles

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1979	"Four Strong Winds"	Billboard Pop Singles[28]	61
		US Cashbox Singles[29]	69
		US Record World Singles[30]	67
		Canadian RPM Top Singles[31]	61
		UK Singles Chart	57

Year End Chart

Year	Chart	Position
1978	Canadian Year End Chart[32]	60
	Cashbox Year End Chart[33]	71
1979	Billboard Year End Chart[34]	56
	New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[35]	44

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[36]	2× Platinum	140,000^
France (SNEP)[37]	2× Gold	200,000*
United Kingdom (BPI)[38]	Gold	100,000^
United States (RIAA)[39]	Gold	500,000^
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

External links

• Comes a Time at MySpace (streamed copy)

На других языках

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- [en] Comes a Time

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[es] Comes a Time

Comes a Time es el décimo álbum de estudio del músico canadiense Neil Young, publicado por la compañía discográfica Reprise Records en octubre de 1978.

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