Neil Young "Harvest" [1972]

Those alt-rockers who weren't inspired by the profound suckassity of the Velvet Underground undoubtedly got theirs from Neil Young. And "Harvest," which quite uncalled-for sported an actual #1 Billboard hit single (just how stoned was everybody back then, anyway?), is the bible for severely untalented music mopes like Flaming Lips, etc. If it's been awhile since you revisited this album -- not like if you've turned on classic rock radio in the past several decades, at which I can tell immediately you're still extremely familiar with Young's most popular songs -- take it from me: Bob Dylan is not the worst singer/guitarist/harmonica player on the scene at the time. Apparently, Young and his record company couldn't tell the difference between Joni Mitchell's talent and Neil Young's... opposite of that -- both of their voices hit incredibly annoying frequencies, with frequency. Young's frail, high-pitched whine sounds unmistakably like someone who's gotten kicked in the nuts before every single verse he sings; you'd think he'd eventually have grown used to it and managed something resembling firmness if not strength, but we listeners just aren't that fortunate. And if he's responsible for legions of awful alternative bands' existence, then the Beatles are ultimately responsible for Young: don't tell me he wasn't trying to perform his songs more stonededly than they were toward the end. Way to lower the bar for the 70s, fellas. Thanks so much.