View source for Rust Never Sleeps

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{{about|the album|the company whose slogan originated the phrase|Rust-Oleum|the episode of the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon|Rust Never Sleeps (TMNT 1987 episode)}}

{{Infobox album
| name         = Rust Never Sleeps
| type         = studio 
| longtype     = with [[live album|live recordings]]<ref>Young directly states that he considers this to be a studio album in the "Letter to the Editor" section on his website.</ref>
| artist       = [[Neil Young]] with [[Crazy Horse (band)|Crazy Horse]]
| cover        = Neil_Young_Rust_Never_Sleeps.jpg
| alt          = 
| released     = {{start date|1979|6|22}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Neil Young Archives |url=https://neilyoungarchives.com/#/album?id=A_023&_k=6uz9lg |access-date=August 8, 2018 |website=Neilyoungarchives.com}}</ref>
| recorded     = September 4, 1977 – October 22, 1978
| venue        = [[The Boarding House (nightclub)|The Boarding House]], San Francisco<br>[[McNichols Arena]], Denver<br>[[St. Paul Civic Center]]<br>[[Cow Palace]], San Francisco
| studio       = *Indigo Ranch, Malibu
*Triiad Studios, Ft. Lauderdale
*[[Woodland Sound Studios|Woodland]], Nashville
| genre        = {{flatlist|
* [[Folk rock]]
* [[hard rock]]<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=chj91X0dWzUC&q=%22mixed+acoustic+material+with%22&pg=PA460 |title=Icons of Rock: An Encyclopedia of the Legends Who Changed Music Forever |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]] |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-313-33845-8 |editor-last=Schinder |editor-first=Scott |page=460 |quote=...Rust Never Sleeps mixed acoustic material with squalling, feedback-laden hard rock. |access-date=November 27, 2013 |editor-last2=Schwartz |editor-first2=Andy}}</ref> 
* [[Grunge#History|proto-grunge]]<ref>[https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/50-greatest-grunge-albums-798851/neil-young-and-crazy-horse-ragged-glory-1990-798864/ "50 Greatest Grunge Albums"]. ''[[Rolling Stone]]''. Retrieved June 14, 2019.</ref>
|}}
| length       = {{duration|m=38|s=16}}
| label        = [[Reprise Records|Reprise]]
| producer     = 
* Neil Young
* [[David Briggs (record producer)|David Briggs]]
* Tim Mulligan
| chronology   = [[Neil Young]]
| prev_title   = [[Comes a Time]]
| prev_year    = 1978
| next_title   = [[Live Rust]]
| next_year    = 1979
| misc         = {{Extra chronology
 | artist     = [[Crazy Horse (band)|Crazy Horse]]
 | type       = studio
 | prev_title = [[Crazy Moon (album)|Crazy Moon]]
 | prev_year  = 1978
 | title      = Rust Never Sleeps
 | year       = 1979
 | next_title = [[Live Rust]]
 | next_year  = 1979
}}
{{Singles
| type = studio
| single1 = [[Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)]]" / "[[My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)]]
| single1date = August 27, 1979
}}
}}
'''''Rust Never Sleeps''''' is the tenth album by [[Canadian Americans|Canadian American]] singer-songwriter [[Neil Young]] and his third with American band [[Crazy Horse (band)|Crazy Horse]]. It was released on June 22, 1979, by [[Reprise Records]] and features both studio and live tracks.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mendelsohn |first=Jason |date=June 14, 2013 |title=Counterbalance No. 133: Neil Young's 'Rust Never Sleeps' |url=http://www.popmatters.com/post/172495-neil-young/ |access-date=November 27, 2013 |publisher=[[PopMatters]]}}</ref> Most of the album was recorded live, then [[overdubbing|overdubbed]] in the studio, while other songs originated in the studio. Young used the phrase "rust never sleeps" as a concept for his tour with Crazy Horse to avoid artistic complacency and try more progressive, theatrical approaches to performing live.<ref name="112and113">{{Cite book |last=Daniel Durchholz, Gary Graff |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vqmeyhtE1FYC&pg=PA112 |title=Neil Young: Long May You Run: The Illustrated History, Updated Edition |publisher=[[Voyageur Press]] |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-7603-4411-8 |pages=112–13 |access-date=November 27, 2013}}</ref>

The album peaked at No. 8 on the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]] album chart and spawned the hit single "[[Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)]]" that peaked at No. 79 on the US [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] chart.<ref>{{Cite magazine |title=Billboard 200 December 21, 1979 |url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/billboard-200/1979-12-21/ |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |access-date=March 26, 2023}}</ref> It also included one of Young's most popular and critically acclaimed songs, the enigmatic "[[Powderfinger (song)|Powderfinger]]".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rolling Stone Readers Poll; The Best Neil Young Songs |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/readers-poll-the-best-neil-young-songs-10643/10-helpless-23664/ |access-date=March 26, 2023 |publisher=rollingstone.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Neil Young Releases a Never-Before-Heard Version of His 1979 Classic, "Powderfinger" |url=https://www.openculture.com/2020/11/neil-young-releases-a-never-before-heard-version-of-1979-classic-powderfinger.html |access-date=March 26, 2023 |publisher=openculture.com}}</ref> The album, along with Young's 1990 release ''[[Ragged Glory]]'', has widely been considered a precursor of [[grunge]] music with the bands [[Nirvana (band)|Nirvana]] and [[Pearl Jam]] having cited Young's heavily [[Distortion (music)|distorted]] and abrasive guitar style on the B side of the album as an inspiration.<ref>{{Cite web |title=This is why Neil Young is called the 'Godfather of Grunge' |url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/neil-young-godfather-grunge-kurt-cobain-eddie-vedder/ |access-date=March 26, 2023 |website=Faroutmagazine.co.uk}}</ref>

==Background==
The album was recorded in May 1978 during solo acoustic performances at The Boarding House in San Francisco and in October 1978 during the "Rust Never Sleeps" tour, in which Young played a wealth of new material. The concert tour was divided into a solo acoustic set and an electric set with Crazy Horse. Two new songs, the acoustic "[[My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)]]" and electric "[[Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)]]" were the centerpiece of the new material. The overdubbed live tracks are complemented with two outtakes from Young's previous album, ''[[Comes a Time]]''.

==Writing==
The album sees Young reunited with Crazy Horse, his first credited to the band since 1975's ''[[Zuma (Neil Young album)|Zuma]]''. Four of the album's eight songs date from the sessions from that previous album: "Pocahontas", "Ride My Llama", "Powderfinger" and "Sedan Delivery". Studio attempts at each of these songs from the summer of 1975 have since been released through Young's ''Archives'' series. Young explains in his memoir, ''Waging Heavy Peace'': "The album ''Zuma'' is the first album we made with Crazy Horse after Poncho joined the band. We kept playing day after day and partying at night. We did the original "Powderfinger" and held it back. We did "Sedan Delivery" and held it back. "Ride My Llama" was completely finished and mixed and held back. Today I like listening to all of those tracks together in a compilation I call ''Dume'' that is in [[Neil Young Archives Volume II: 1972–1976|The Archives Volume 2]]."<ref>Young, Neil. 2012. ''Waging Heavy Peace''. Penguin Publishing Group.</ref>

The album's title, ''Rust Never Sleeps'' takes its name from the song that bookends the album, titled "[[My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)]]" and "[[Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)]]". The line "It's better to burn out than it is to rust" was borrowed from a line in a song by Jeff Blackburn, Young's bandmate in [[The Ducks]], with whom he toured in 1977.<ref name="auto">Mcdonough, Jimmy. 2003. ''Shakey: Neil Young’s Biography''. New York: Anchor Books.</ref> Devo vocalist [[Mark Mothersbaugh]] added the lyrics "Rust never sleeps", a slogan he remembered from his graphic arts career promoting the automobile rust proofing product [[Rust-Oleum]].{{sfn|McDonough|2002|pp=531}} Young recalls in a 1981 ''[[Rockline]]'' interview: {{blockquote|"I think Mark had the idea in the first place. We were doing this version of "Out of the Blue" together and we were in the studio playing and Booji Boy was there and he was singing 'Hey Hey, My My' and he just had a lyric sheet and it said 'It's better to burn out than to rust' and he just said 'Well it's better to burn out 'cause rust never sleeps' and I thought, well all right, that makes a lot of sense to me."<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=April 1982 |title=The Neil Young 'phone-in' [transcript] |url=https://sugarmtn.org/ba/pdf.ba/web/ba_viewer.html?file=%2Fba/pdf/ba005.pdf |magazine=Broken Arrow |issue=5 |page=6 |via=Sugar Mountain: Neil Young Set Lists}}</ref>}}

Young adopted Mothersbaugh's lyrics and created a new version of the song with Crazy Horse. He also adopted Mothersbaugh's lyrics for the title of his album as a metaphor about the hazards of complacency on his music career and the need to keep moving forward.{{sfn|McDonough|2002|pp=531}} Young explained in a June 1988 interview for ''[[Spin Magazine]]'' how the lyrics resonated with him, and how he felt both the record industry should be shaken up at the time, and how he applies the sentiment of the song to his style of recording: {{blockquote|"I never met Johnny Rotten, but I like what he did to people. He pissed off a lot of people who I think needed waking up. Rock 'n' roll people, who in the Seventies were asleep and thinking they were just so fucking cool and they knew what had to happen. They were telling me why don't you make a real record. People became aware that there was more to it than perfection and overdubs, and fucking equipment and limousines back and forth to Studio B, and the other group down the hall and getting high in the bathroom with the other group that's going in and singing on their record. That's not intense enough for me. I think art is a private thing. I'm not sharing my creative moment with whoever's in the hallway. Rust implies you're not using anything, that you're sitting there and letting the elements eat you. Burning up means you're cruising through the elements so fucking fast that you're actually burning, and your circuits, instead of corroding, are fucking disintegrating. You're going so fast you're actually fucking the elements, becoming one with the elements, turning to gas. That's why it's better to burn out."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.spin.com/2019/09/neil-young-june-1988-interview-forever-young/|title=Neil Young: Our 1988 Interview |website=Spin.com|access-date=June 27, 2024}}</ref>}}

The lyrics, "It's better to burn out than fade away", were widely quoted by his peers and by critics.{{sfn|McDonough|2002|pp=531–532}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Neil Young Powderfinger |url=https://americansongwriter.com/neil-young-powderfinger/ |access-date=March 27, 2023 |website=Americansongwriter.com}}</ref> In a 1980 interview with [[David Sheff]] from ''Playboy'' magazine, [[John Lennon]] was dismissive of the lyric and the song's reference to [[Johnny Rotten]] for what he interpreted as worship for the dead saying, "No, thank you. I’ll take the living and the healthy."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rust Never Sleeps by Neil Young |url=https://www.classicrockreview.com/2014/11/1979-neil-young-rust-never-sleeps/ |access-date=March 27, 2023 |website=Classicrockreview.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Neil and The Beatles |url=http://hyperrust.org/Rust/TheBeatles.html |access-date=March 27, 2023 |website=HyperRust.org}}</ref> In 1994, [[Kurt Cobain]] quoted the lyric in his suicide note.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kurt Cobain and Neil Young |url=http://thrasherswheat.org/jammin/nirvana.htm |access-date=March 27, 2023 |publisher=thrasherswheat.org}}</ref> After Cobain's death, Young vowed never to perform the song again, but reversed his stance at the request of the surviving members of Nirvana.<ref>{{Citation |first1=Andy | last1=Fyfe |year=2023 |title=Neil Young Archives:1945-2023 |work=Mojo |publisher=Bauer Publishing |issn= 2514-4626 }}</ref>

"Thrasher" was written while filming ''[[Human Highway]]'' in [[New Mexico]] with [[Dennis Hopper]]. Young remembers in a 2022 post to his website: "After leaving [[Taos, New Mexico|Taos]] with Carpio, a Native American friend I had met during the filming of ''Human Highway'', sitting in the front seat of his car, I wrote this song, "Thrasher". Driving through the magnificent beauty of New Mexico, the words just kept coming to me. I saw the eagles circling, the deep canyons, the road ahead, reflecting on my journey through recent years, and thankful to be where I was."<ref>March 7, 2022. Neil Young Archives.</ref>

In the song's lyrics, he uncharitably describes his [[CSNY]] bandmates as "dead weight."<ref name="auto1">{{Cite journal |last=Kent |first=Nick |date=December 1995 |title=I Build Something Up, I Tear It Right Down: Neil Young at 50 |url=https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/i-build-something-up-i-tear-it-right-down-neil-young-at-50 |journal=Mojo |access-date=August 26, 2023}}</ref> Young explains in a 1985 interview: "Well, at that point I felt like it was kind of dead weight for me. Not for them. For me. I could go somewhere and they couldn't go there. I wasn't going to pull them along, they were doing fine without me. It might have come off a little more harsh than I meant it, but once I write I can't say, 'Oh, I'm going to hurt someone's feelings.' Poetically and on feeling it made good sense to me and it came right out. I think I'd be doing a disservice to change it based on what I think a reaction would be. I try not to do that."<ref>Flanagan, Bill. 1986. ''Written in My Soul''. McGraw-Hill/Contemporary.</ref>

Young chose not to perform the song for several years after its initial release, due to his reaction to a particularly harsh review of the song. He would tell a 2014 audience "This song, you know, I did it, I haven't done it that much in my life because at a very vulnerable moment I read something about it. Just like the worst fucking review I've ever read. So for all your reviewers, if you feel like your words don't mean anything, you're probably right, but in that case, in that case they were damaging. So, anyway, I think I got this, I think this it's the one here. I hope so."<ref>Comments to the audience, April 1, 2014. Hollywood, California.</ref>

"Ride My Llama" tells a tale of space travel and playing guitars with an alien. When introducing the song at The Boarding House, Young described it as "an extraterrestrial folk song" about "close encounters of the finest kind." He further shares that he wrote the song the same day as "Cortez the Killer".<ref>Comments to the audience, May 1978, The Boarding House, San Francisco.</ref> Young and Crazy Horse would first record "Cortez the Killer", "Ride My Llama" and "Sedan Delivery" on the same day at the beginning of the ''Zuma'' sessions. 

"[[Pocahontas (Neil Young song)|Pocahontas]]" was written at the home of CSNY road manager and video producer Taylor Phelps "one night when I was just sitting around on one of my friend's farms out there. We were getting high sitting there in front of that old pot belly, thinking about what it could've been like. I turned over and said, 'Wow, I wish I had my 12-string with me right now'."<ref>Comments to the audience, November 24, 1976, Atlanta.</ref> The song was written "just after [[Marlon Brando]] received his [[Academy Award]] and didn't accept it. And sent an [[Sacheen_Littlefeather|Indian girl]] to receive the award and make a few comments."<ref>Comments to the audience. November 17, 1992. Chicago.</ref>

"Sail Away" was first performed live in 1977 with [[The Ducks]]. Referring to the song, Young shares on his website in 2018 that "When i think about the road, I always see those long strips of blacktop cutting through immense valleys."

"[[Powderfinger (song)|Powderfinger]]" took several years to write. When Young first played the song live at The Boarding House, he claimed he still didn't know it well. Young explains its evolution in a 1993 interview: "It's a unique thing when you start a song at one point and finish it years later. Something happens. You get an original idea and get it going, and something stops you. It could be anything--some distraction that happens and takes your mind away from it. You could be trying too hard. These things happen, and you don't finish the song. "Powderfinger" took a long time. I wrote the first line in 1967 and didn't finish the song until 1975. It was funny to pick up where I left off. Something blocks me once in awhile, and I don't try to force anything to an unnatural end. I just put it away and maybe come back to it later."<ref>Gary Graff. ''Guitar World''. June 1993.</ref>

Young would offer the song to [[Lynyrd Skynyrd]] for one of their albums, but members of the group died before it could be recorded.<ref name="auto1"/> [[Cameron Crowe]] remembers in a post to his blog, ''The Uncool'': "Neil Young gave a tape to [[Joel Bernstein]] to give to me which I gave to Ronnie [Van Zant], that had three songs on it - "Captain Kennedy," "Sedan Delivery," and "Powderfinger" - before they'd come out. And he wanted to give them to Lynyrd Skynyrd if they wanted to do one of his songs."

"[[Sedan Delivery]]" appears with a faster tempo and with one less verse than its studio performance from the ''Zuma'' sessions that surfaced on ''[[Chrome Dreams]]''. In a 1995 interview with [[Nick Kent]] for ''Mojo'' magazine, Young denies any influence of UK punk rock on the album: "I wasn't really influenced by that scene. Most of the songs on that album had been written well before the [[Sex Pistols]] were ever heard of."<ref name="auto1"/> Instead, in a 2019 post on his website, he does credit Devo's influence: "This version was inspired by DEVO in attitude, moving a lot faster than the original earliest recording of "Sedan Delivery"."

==Recording==
The acoustic portions of the album including, "My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)", "Thrasher" and "Ride My Llama" were recorded live in [[San Francisco]] at the [[The Boarding House (nightclub)|Boarding House]] between May 24 and 28, 1978. Young played ten acoustic sets over five days. Young used the occasion to play several songs in concert for the first time. In addition to the three tracks on the album he also debuted "Powderfinger", "Shots" and "The Ways of Love" and played the rarities "Out of My Mind" and "I Believe in You" on piano. "Shots" would later appear on ''[[Re·ac·tor]]'' in 1981; "The Ways of Love" would first surface on ''[[Freedom (Neil Young album)|Freedom]]'' in 1989. The concert takes were heavily overdubbed in the studio. For example, Young would later double the guitar part to "Ride My Llama" in the studio. 

Two songs from the album were not recorded live: "Pocahontas" had been recorded solo in August 1976 during the ''[[Hitchhiker (album)|Hitchhiker]]'' session, with later overdubs in September 1977 at Triiad studios for the album ''Oceanside/Countryside'', an early version of ''[[Comes a Time]]''. "Sail Away" was also recorded at Triiad as a solo track, and received full band overdubs during the ''Comes a Time'' recording sessions in November 1977.<ref name="hrc">{{Cite web |title=HyperRust chronology |url=http://hyperrust.org/Chronology/The70s.html|website=Hyperrust.org |access-date=May 7, 2008}}</ref>

Following the May 27 performances at The Boarding House, Young joined Devo onstage at the punk club [[Mabuhay Gardens]]. The following day, they collaborated on the first electric performance of "[[Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)]]" at [[Different Fur]] Studios for the film ''Human Highway''. Young would later push Crazy Horse to match Devo's intensity of performance when recording their version of the song for the album.{{sfn|McDonough|2002|pp=531–532}}

The electric sets were recorded during the Neil Young/Crazy Horse tour in October 1978, with overdubs added later.{{sfn|McDonough|2002|pp=538}} The same performance of "[[Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)]]" is used on both ''Rust Never Sleeps'' and ''[[Live Rust]]'', with the former receiving significant overdubs. Audience noise is removed from the album as much as possible, although it is clearly audible at certain points, most noticeably on the opening and closing songs.  

Young adopted a new look for the concerts, with much shorter hair and wearing a sport coat and bolo tie. The concerts incorporated several visual stunts: ridiculously oversized amplifiers, [[Star Wars]] [[Jawa (Star Wars)|Jawa]]-inspired "road-eye" characters roaming the stage and 3D "Rust-O-Vision" glasses were given out to the audience.<ref name="auto"/> Young would also appear onstage alongside three large wood-carved Indian statues from the set of ''[[Human Highway]]''. One of the statues, "Woody", would accompany Young on future tours.<ref name="auto"/>

The 1978 tour featured an abrasive style of guitar playing influenced by the punk rock [[zeitgeist]] of the late 1970s that Young saw as a wake up call for a rock music world which, in his opinion had become predictable and overdone.{{sfn|McDonough|2002|pp=522}} The electric sets provided a reenergized response to the [[punk rock]] revolution and, were in stark contrast from Young's previous, folk-inspired album ''Comes a Time''.{{sfn|McDonough|2002|pp=529–537}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Neil Young at the Encyclopedia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Neil-Young#ref1030488 |access-date=March 27, 2023 |publisher=britannica.com}}</ref>

== Critical reception ==
{{Music ratings
| title = Retrospective professional reviews
| rev1 = [[AllMusic]]
| rev1Score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref name="AM" />
| rev2 = ''[[Chicago Tribune]]''
| rev2Score = {{Rating|4|4}}<ref name="CT" />
| rev3 = ''[[Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies|Christgau's Record Guide]]''
| rev3Score = A+<ref name="CG">{{Cite book |last=Christgau |first=Robert |title=[[Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies]] |publisher=[[Ticknor & Fields]] |year=1981 |isbn=089919026X |chapter=Consumer Guide '70s: Y |author-link=Robert Christgau |access-date=March 23, 2019 |chapter-url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_chap.php?k=Y&bk=70 |via=robertchristgau.com}}</ref>
| rev4 = ''[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]''
| rev4Score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Larkin |editor1-first=Colin |title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |date=2007 |publisher=Omnibus |page=1543 |edition=5th concise |ol=11913831M}}</ref>
| rev5 = ''[[The Great Rock Discography]]''
| rev5Score = 9/10<ref>{{cite book |last1=Strong |first1=Martin C. |title=The Great Rock Discography |date=2004 |publisher=Canongate |location=New York |page=1714 |ol=18807297M |edition=7th}}</ref>
| rev6 = [[Music Story]]
| rev6Score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{CN|date=December 2023}}
| rev7 = ''[[MusicHound|MusicHound Rock]]''
| rev7Score = 4.5/5<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Graff |editor1-first=Gary |title=MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide |date=1996 |publisher=Visible Ink |location=Detroit |page=754 |ol=8145585M}}</ref>
| rev8 = ''[[Q (magazine)|Q]]''
| rev8Score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref name="CD">{{Cite web |title=Crazy Horse – Neil Young – Rust Never Sleeps CD Album |url=http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=1099083&style=music&fulldesc=T |access-date=November 27, 2013 |publisher=[[CD Universe]]}}</ref>
| rev9 = ''[[The Rolling Stone Album Guide]]''
| rev9Score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref name="RSguide" />
| rev10 = ''[[Spin Alternative Record Guide]]''
| rev10Score = 10/10<ref>{{cite book |last1=Weisbard |first1=Eric |editor1-last=Weisbard |editor1-first=Eric |editor2-last=Marks |editor2-first=Craig |title=Spin Alternative Record Guide |date=1995 |publisher=Vintage Books |location=New York |isbn=0679755748 |page=447 |chapter=Neil Young}}</ref>
| rev11 = ''[[Consequence of Sound|Consequence]]''
| rev11score = A<ref name="CoS">{{Cite magazine |last=Garrett Gravley |date=July 20, 2019 |title=A New Neil Young & Crazy Horse Awaken on Rust Never Sleeps |url=https://consequence.net/2019/07/classic-album-review-neil-young-and-crazy-horse-rust-never-sleeps/ |magazine=[[Consequence of Sound]] |access-date=January 6, 2023}}</ref>
}}
Reviewing for ''[[The Village Voice]]'' in 1979, [[Robert Christgau]] called ''Rust Never Sleeps'' Young's best album yet and said although his melodies are unsurprisingly simple and original, his lyrics are surprisingly and offhandedly complex. "He's wiser but not wearier", Christgau wrote, "victor so far over the slow burnout his title warns of".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Christgau |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Christgau |date=July 30, 1979 |title=Christgau's Consumer Guide |work=[[The Village Voice]] |location=New York |url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cgv7-79.php |access-date=November 27, 2013}}</ref>

[[Paul Nelson (critic)|Paul Nelson]], writing in ''[[Rolling Stone]]'', found its first side "virtuosic" because of how Young "transcends the songs' acoustic settings with his commanding performance" and was "impressed by its themes of personal escape and exhaustion, the role of rock music, and American violence." Nelson would write that "''Rust Never Sleeps'' tells me more about my life, my country and rock & roll than any music I've heard in years."<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Nelson |first=Paul |author-link=Paul Nelson (critic) |date=October 18, 1979 |title=Neil Young ''Rust Never Sleeps'' > Album Review |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |issue=302 |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/rust-never-sleeps-19791018 |url-status=live |access-date=January 12, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070824004232/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/neilyoung/albums/album/301332/review/5946536/rust_never_sleeps |archive-date=August 24, 2007}}</ref> 

''Rust Never Sleeps'' was voted the second best album of 1979 in ''The Village Voice''{{'}}s annual [[Pazz & Jop]] critics poll.<ref>{{Cite news |title=The 1979 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll |work=The Village Voice |location=New York |url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/pnj/pjres79.php |access-date=November 27, 2013}}</ref> Christgau, the poll's creator, ranked it second on his own list for the poll, as did fellow critic [[Greil Marcus]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Christgau |first=Robert |date=January 28, 1980 |title=The Pazz & Jop Critics' Poll (Almost) Grows Up |work=The Village Voice |location=New York |url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/pnj/pj79.php |access-date=November 27, 2013}}</ref> The album also won ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's 1979 critics poll for Album of the Year.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Albums Of The Year And End Of Year Critic Lists |url=http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/rolling.htm#1979 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060222083523/http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/rolling.htm#1979 |url-status=usurped |archive-date=February 22, 2006 |access-date=October 6, 2010 |publisher=Rocklist.net}}</ref> In a decade-end list for ''The Village Voice'', Christgau named it the ninth best album of the 1970s.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Christgau |first=Robert |date=December 17, 1979 |title=Decade Personal Best: '70s |work=The Village Voice |location=New York |url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/list/decade70.php |access-date=June 23, 2013}}</ref>

In 2000, ''Rust Never Sleeps'' was voted number 240 in the third edition of [[Colin Larkin]]'s ''[[All Time Top 1000 Albums]]'' book.<ref name="Larkin">{{Cite book |title=[[All Time Top 1000 Albums]] |date=2000 |publisher=[[Virgin Books]] |isbn=0-7535-0493-6 |editor-last=Colin Larkin |editor-link=Colin Larkin |edition=3rd |page=110}}</ref> In 2003, it was ranked number 350 on ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's list of [[Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time|the 500 greatest albums of all time]].<ref>{{Cite magazine |title=Rust Never Sleeps ranked 350 |url=http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-19691231/rust-never-sleeps-neil-young-and-crazy-horse-19691231 |url-status=dead |magazine=Rolling Stone |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110902035751/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-19691231/rust-never-sleeps-neil-young-and-crazy-horse-19691231 |archive-date=September 2, 2011 |access-date=August 1, 2021}}</ref> ''Rolling Stone'' re-ranked the album at 351 in the list's 2012 edition, and later at number 296 in the 2020 edition.<ref name="500-greatest">{{Cite web |year=2012 |title=500 Greatest Albums of All Time Rolling Stone's definitive list of the 500 greatest albums of all time |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-156826/neil-young-and-crazy-horse-rust-never-sleeps-46086/ |access-date=September 9, 2019 |publisher=[[Rolling Stone]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |date=September 22, 2020 |title=The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-albums-of-all-time-1062063/ |magazine=Rolling Stone |language=en-US |access-date=January 14, 2021}}</ref> In a retrospective review, [[Greg Kot]] of the ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' said that the acoustic and electric sides were both "astounding".<ref name="CT">{{Cite news |last=Kot |first=Greg |author-link=Greg Kot |date=October 21, 1990 |title=From Rock To Country And Back Again |work=[[Chicago Tribune]] |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1990/10/21/from-rock-to-country-and-back-again/ |access-date=November 27, 2013}}</ref> [[AllMusic]]'s William Ruhlmann viewed that "Young reinvigorated himself artistically by being imaginative and bold, and in the process created an exemplary album that encapsulated his many styles on a single disc with great songs — in particular the remarkable 'Powderfinger' — unlike any he had written before."<ref name="AM">{{AllMusic |class=album |tab=review |id=r22516 |first=William |last=Ruhlmann |access-date=May 8, 2005}}</ref> [[Rob Sheffield]], writing in ''[[The Rolling Stone Album Guide]]'' (2004), felt that "Powderfinger", "Pocahontas", "Thrasher", and "Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)" were among Young's greatest songs.<ref name="RSguide">{{Cite magazine |title=Neil Young: Album Guide |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/neil-young/albumguide |magazine=Rolling Stone |access-date=November 27, 2013}}</ref>

==Track listing==
All tracks written by [[Neil Young]] except where noted.<ref name="Album">Neil Young and Crazy Horse. ''Rust Never Sleeps'' (Reprise Records, 1979).</ref>
{{Track listing
| headline = Side one
| title1 = [[My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)]]
| writer1 = [[Neil Young]], [[The Ducks|Jeff Blackburn]]
| length1 = 3:45
| title2 = Thrasher
| length2 = 5:38
| title3 = Ride My Llama
| length3 = 2:29
| title4 = [[Pocahontas (Neil Young song)|Pocahontas]]
| length4 = 3:22
| title5 = Sail Away
| length5 = 3:46
}}
{{Track listing
| headline = Side two
| title6 = [[Powderfinger (song)|Powderfinger]]
| length6 = 5:30
| title7 = Welfare Mothers
| length7 = 3:48
| title8 = [[Sedan Delivery]]
| length8 = 4:40
| title9 = [[Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)]]
| length9 = 5:18
}}

== Personnel ==
*[[Neil Young]] – [[singing|vocals]], [[guitars]], [[harmonica]], [[organ (music)|organ]], [[percussion instrument|percussion]], production

'''with <small>(on "Sail Away")</small>:'''
*[[Nicolette Larson]] – vocals (written by)
*[[Joe Osborn]] – bass (written by)
*Karl T. Himmel – drums (written by)

'''Crazy Horse <small>(on side two)</small>'''
*[[Frank "Poncho" Sampedro]] – [[electric guitar]], [[backing vocals]]
*[[Billy Talbot]] – [[bass guitar|bass]], backing vocals
*[[Ralph Molina]] – [[drum kit|drums]], backing vocals

'''Additional roles'''
*[[David Briggs (record producer)|David Briggs]], Tim Mulligan – production

== Charts ==
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|+Chart performance for ''Rust Never Sleeps''
! scope="col" | Chart (1979–1980)
! scope="col" | Peak<br>position
|-
! scope="row"|Australia ([[Kent Music Report]])<ref name="aus">{{Cite book |last=Kent |first=David |title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 |publisher=Australian Chart Book |year=1993 |isbn=0-646-11917-6 |edition=illustrated |location=St Ives, N.S.W. |page=295 |author-link=David Kent (historian)}}</ref>
| style="text-align:center;" |8
|-
! scope="row"|US [[Billboard 200|''Billboard Top LPs & Tape'']]<ref name=":12">{{Cite magazine |title=Stephen Stills |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/stephen-stills |magazine=Billboard |access-date=July 5, 2020}}</ref>
| align="center" |8
|-
! scope="row"|[[UK Albums Chart|UK Album Charts]]<ref name=":22">{{Cite web |title=STEPHEN STILLS {{!}} full Official Chart History {{!}} Official Charts Company |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/14258/stephen-stills/ |access-date=July 5, 2020 |website=Officialcharts.com}}</ref>
| align="center" |13
|-
! scope="row"|Canadian [[RPM (magazine)|''RPM'' 100 Albums]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Canada |first=Library and Archives |date=April 16, 2013 |title=The RPM story |url=https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/rpm-story.aspx |access-date=July 5, 2020 |website=Bac-lac.gc.ca}}</ref>
| align="center" |28
|-
! scope="row"|Dutch Album Charts<ref name="NED Albums">{{Cite web |title=Dutch Albums |url=http://dutchcharts.nl/search.asp?search=neil%20young&cat=a |access-date=July 22, 2016 |publisher=dutchcharts.nl}}</ref>
| align="center" |19
|-
! scope="row"|German Album Charts<ref>{{Cite web |title=Suche – Offizielle Deutsche Charts |url=https://www.offiziellecharts.de/suche |access-date=April 2, 2021 |website=Offiziellecharts.de}}</ref>
| align="center" |59
|-
! scope="row"|Finnish Album Charts<ref>{{Cite book |title=Sisältää hitin: Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1961}}</ref>
| align="center" |9
|-
! scope="row"|New Zealand Album Charts<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Hung |first=Steffen |title=The Stills-Young Band – Long May You Run |url=http://hitparade.ch/showitem.asp?interpret=The+Stills-Young+Band&titel=Long+May+You+Run&cat=a |access-date=June 21, 2020 |website=hitparade.ch}}</ref>
| align="center" |7
|-
{{Album chart|Sweden|9|artist=Neil Young & Crazy Horse|title=Rust Never Sleeps|rowheader=true|access-date=August 5, 2024}}
|-
! scope="row"|US ''[[Cash Box (magazine)|Cash Box]]'' Top 100 Albums<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |title=CASH BOX MAGAZINE: Music and coin machine magazine 1942 to 1996 |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box-Magazine.htm |access-date=July 5, 2020 |website=Worldradiohistory.com}}</ref>
| align="center" |9
|-
! scope="row"|US ''[[Record World]]'' Album Chart<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |title=RECORD WORLD MAGAZINE: 1942 to 1982 |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Record_World.htm |access-date=July 5, 2020 |website=Worldradiohistory.com}}</ref>
| align="center" |13
|}
'''Singles'''
{|class="wikitable"
! Year
! Single
! Chart
! Position
|-
| rowspan="3" | 1979
| rowspan="3" |"[[Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)]]"
| [[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] Pop Singles<ref name="BillboardSingles">{{AllMusic|class=album|tab=charts-awards/billboard-single|id=r65620|label=''Comes a Time'' – Neil Young > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles|publisher=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|access-date=January 2, 2005}}</ref>
| 79
|-
|US Cashbox Singles<ref>{{Cite web |title=CASH BOX MAGAZINE: Music and coin machine magazine 1942 to 1996 |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box-Magazine.htm |access-date=April 3, 2021 |website=Worldradiohistory.com}}</ref>
|94
|-
|US Record World Singles<ref>{{Cite web |title=RECORD WORLD MAGAZINE: 1942 to 1982 |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Record_World.htm |access-date=April 3, 2021 |website=Worldradiohistory.com}}</ref>
|72
|-
|}
'''Year End Chart'''
{| class="wikitable"
!Year
!Chart
!Position
|-
|1980
|[[Billboard (magazine)|''Billboard'']] Year End Chart<ref>{{Cite web |title=BILLBOARD MAGAZINE: American music magazine 1920's to 2017 |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard-Magazine.htm |access-date=January 13, 2021 |website=Worldradiohistory.com}}</ref>
| align="center" |78
|-
|1979
|''[[Cashbox (magazine)|Cashbox]]'' Year End Chart<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cashbox Year End Chart 1978 |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1978/CB-1978-12-30.pdf|format=PDF|website=Worldradiohistory.com}}</ref>
| align="center" |43
|}

== Certifications ==
{{certification Table Top}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=Australia|artist=Neil Young|title=Rust Never Sleeps|award=Gold|relyear=1979|certyear=2010|type=video|access-date=December 16, 2021}}
{{certification Table Entry|type=album|region=United Kingdom|artist=Neil Young|title=Rust Never Sleeps|award=Silver|certyear=2008|relyear=1979|access-date=November 17, 2019|id=5653-261-2}}
{{certification Table Entry|type=album|region=United States|artist=Neil Young|title=Rust Never Sleeps|award=Platinum|certyear=1980|relyear=1979|access-date=November 17, 2019}}
{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{Cite book |last=McDonough |first=Jimmy |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780679427728 |title=Shakey: Neil Young's Biography |publisher=Random House |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-679-42772-8 |location=New York City, NY |oclc=47844513 |author-link=Jimmy McDonough}}

== External links ==
* {{Discogs master|type=album|38738}}
* Film: {{IMDb title|qid=Q59587231|id=tt0079834}}

{{Neil Young}}
{{Crazy Horse (band)}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Album chart usages for New Zealand]]
[[Category:Neil Young live albums]]
[[Category:Crazy Horse (band) albums]]
[[Category:1979 live albums]]
[[Category:Reprise Records live albums]]
[[Category:Albums produced by David Briggs (producer)]]
[[Category:Albums produced by Neil Young]]