Mountains belongs among a cluster of albums that represents a late-career renaissance for
Nils Lofgren. That many of those records carry credits by
Neil Young & Crazy Horse is a vagary of the calendar.
Lofgren rejoined
Crazy Horse in 2018, filling in for the retired
Frank "Pancho" Sampedro, completing the
Colorado album in 2019, the same year the guitarist released his own
Blue with Lou. Then, COVID-19 hit, and
Lofgren stayed with
Young, knocking out two
Young albums in less than a year, along with the 2023 album
All Roads Lead Home, which balanced new songs by
Lofgren and his
Crazy Horse compadres,
Ralph Molina and
Billy Talbot. All those records have a loose, homegrown quality while
Mountains, released just months after
All Roads Lead Home, decidedly does not. Technically the first collection of original material
Lofgren has released in a decade,
Mountains is a product of the studio, filled with sequenced rhythms, polished punch, and superstar cameos ranging from jazz legend
Ron Carter to
Ringo Starr (alas, the bassist and drummer do not form a rhythm section together). It's also possible to discern the long gestation of
Mountains through its deliberate pace: it has more than its share of ballads and many of its soul-stirring numbers move to a stately rhythm. Even the blues boogie "Won't Cry No More" -- a tribute to the late
Rolling Stone Charlie Watts which acts like a bookend to "Keith Don't Go" -- plays it tight, not loose. Far from seeming sluggish,
Mountains feels considered and thoughtful.
Lofgren doesn't shy away from big emotions -- one song, "Nothin's Easy," is explicitly dedicated to his wife
Amy, who also serves as the album's co-producer, yet many of the other tracks feel informed by their relationship -- and that open-heartedness is the key to the album's success: it enlivens the studio precision and gloss, giving it a warm human pulse. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine