151 this week shapeshifting hardrockers living colour release their first fulllength album in eight years tori amos drops album no 15 neil young releases a previously unavailable set from 1976 indierockers alvvays release their second album buzzbinfavorites toadies make a hardcharging return and criticallyacclaimed band the national give us their first album in four years it is a heavilypacked list full of many favorites not one dud among them buckle yourself in and keep reading theres plenty to enjoy in this round of releases neil young hitchhiker reprise neil youngs hitchhiker a lost album recorded in one day in august of 1976 neil youngs hitchhiker contains strippeddown performances of songs he would eventually put on other albums in different forms for instance pocahontas powderfinger and ride my llama would all be later repurposed on 1979s rust never sleeps while the titletrack wouldnt resurface again until 2010s amazing but underrated le noise in fact only the laid back hawaii and the determined give me strength are songs that havent previously been released considering the depth on youngs discography this seems shocking since these both seem like rather reliable songs listening to captain kennedy which would later appear on 1980s hawks doves its amazing how much the riff kind of reminds me of harry chapins cats in the cradle even if both songs have their own unique spins this album shows young at his most natural a mic a guitar and his voice you get the feeling he could still churn out songs in this fashion but if you are a fan of youngs epic legendary discography this is still a choice discovery hitchhiker isnt necessarily essential since the majority of these songs have been released in fuller versions over the years but it provides an excellent supplement the truth is if this record had been released in 1976 it probably would now be considered a classic 41 years later focus tracks powderfinger the song is reduced to its essence and at the same time it still maintains its lyrical and melodic power this is definitely an ace in youngs songbook and this version is still powerful captain kennedy you can picture young briskly keeping the rhythm with his foot as he tells this mariners tale campaigner an edited version of this song appeared on the 1977 collection decade in this strangely compelling ode young tells the story of a campaign in a world where curiously even richard nixon has soul living colour shade mri living colours shade amazingly shade is only living colours sixth studio album coming 29 years after they burst onto the scene with their debut vivid and its nowclassic leadsingle cult of personality the album seamlessly combines funk and soul into a profoundly heavy metallic framework corey glover still commands the room with his lead vocals and vernon reid still can rip some of the most earthshattering guitarsolos out of his pocket with a surprising level of frequency this is actually the