but not a summation, of Young's various styles from After the Gold Rush and Harvest (much of the country rock) through On the Beach (the incredible "Will to Love") to Zuma ("Like a Hurricane" is a worthy successor to "Cortez the Killer" as a guitar showcase) with a lot of overlap within the songs. According to William Ruhlmann, in a review for Allmusic,Neil Young made a point of listing the recording dates of the songs on American Stars 'n Bars; the dates even appeared on the LP labels. They revealed that the songs had been cut at four different sessions dating back to 1974. But even without such documentation, it would have been easy to tell that the album was a stylistic hodgepodge, its first side consisting of country-tinged material featuring steel guitar and fiddle, plus backup vocals from Linda Ronstadt and then-unknown Nicolette Larson, while the four songs on the second side varied from acoustic solo numbers like "Will to Love" to raging rockers such as "Like a Hurricane." "Will to Love" is a particularly spooky and ambitious piece, extending the romantic metaphor of a salmon swimming upstream across seven minutes. The album's centerpiece however, is "Like a Hurricane," one of Young's classic hard rock songs and guitar workouts, and a perpetual concert favorite. It was finally released on compact disc, as an HDCD, on August 19, 2003, as part of the Neil Young Digital Masterpiece Series along with On the Beach, Hawks & Doves, and Re-ac-tor. Track listing All songs written by Neil Young except as indicated. Side one Performed by Neil Young, Crazy Horse and the Bullets; recorded in April 1977. Side two Personnel Neil Young – vocals, guitars; harmonica ; glockenspiel, keyboard, piano, vibes, drums Frank "Poncho" Sampedro – guitars ; synthesizer ; backing vocals Ben Keith – pedal steel guitar ; Dobro, backing vocal Carole Mayedo – violin Billy Talbot – bass Tim Drummond – bass Ralph Molina – drums ; backing vocal Karl T. Himmel – drums Linda Ronstadt, Nicolette Larson – backing vocals Emmylou Harris – harmony vocal Charts Year End Album Charts Certifications References External links American Stars 'n Bars at Myspace (streamed copy where licensed) Neil Young albums 1977 albums Albums produced by David Briggs (producer) Reprise Records albums Albums produced by Elliot Mazer Albums produced by Neil Young Warner Records albums Crazy Horse (band) albums Albums recorded at Wally Heider