No matter how exciting, it can be difficult to find words to describe a new Neil Young album. After all, with his newest chrome hearts-assisted effort Second Song, Young's catalogue now boasts 46 titles — not including his work with Buffalo Springfield or Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, let alone his countless live releases and EPs. So, while this is technically only his sophomore effort with his new band, it sounds how you would expect: Second Song is classic Young, his distinctive trill over music imagining that Laurel Canyon butted up against the Smoky Mountains, all acoustic guitars with country strings, the occasional harmonica rounding it all out. The album's best quality is its looseness; the sense that, rather than tightening his grip, Young is jamming with friends. For someone so publicly uptight, it's a nice glimpse behind the curtain. Lyrically, meanwhile, Second Song is almost evenly split with songs about how much he loves his wife and songs about how much he hates the government — though both camps are tinged with a nostalgic regret that only turning 80 can bring. The seven minutes of "Day After Day," are a well-spent trip to the core of the man himself, while "Earth Girl" is going to be every hippy's new favourite love song. If you're a fan of Young's slower moments — such as Colorado's "Eternity" or anything off of Comes a Time — this is an album full of similarly beautiful missives. Age has brought a tenderness to Young that suits him well. And maybe that's enough. Just because Young put folk on the map, invented grunge and has been hating presidents since before it was cool, it's not fair to him to demand more. Simply put, Second Song is a great album. However, by its last note, you can't help but have the nagging sensation that it could've been more. But perhaps holding an album that would be a crowning achievement for most other artists as "great but uninventive" is unfair, a cruel reward for a career of many twists but few flops. If you love Harvest-era Neil Young, this is for you. If rocker Young is more your style, there's still a lot of vulnerability and emotive stretches to keep you enthralled. If you're looking for one more big turn from the shapeshifting legend, though, it's not Second Song. Instead, what you have here is a great record that, despite not reinventing the wheel, belongs in the upper tier of an illustrious catalogue.