Broken Arrow

With the first three mid-tempo numbers stretching into the 8-to-10-minute range, the initial suspicion might be that Neil Young is coasting on his ’90s coronation as Granddad of Grunge by kicking out the jams on such wisps of tunes. But as Broken Arrow simmers down and the full effect of his alternately world-weary and dreamy imagery kicks in, you get a better idea of the hard-rocking evanescence he’s going for. And by the time Arrow anticlimaxes with an ultra-lo-fi audience recording of a blues cover taped somewhere near the rear of a noisy California bar, the guy on stage is literally receding before our ears: Neil the Friendly Ghost. Long may he haunt. B