Landing on Water is the fifthteenth studio album

Studio album

A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...

 by Canadian musician Neil Young

Neil Young

Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...

, released on July 28, 1986 (Geffen GHS 24109).

History

Several of the songs on the album were resurrected from Neil Young and Crazy Horse's failed 1984 sessions - a set of sessions where, according to longtime producer David Briggs, the musicians "played like monkeys".

Landing on Water came after Young settled out of court with Geffen Records. Geffen sued Young for $3.3 million, on the grounds that Young's mid-'80s records were non-commercial and musically uncharacteristic. Later, David Geffen would personally apologize to Young for the lawsuit and interfering with his work.

Track listing

All tracks written by Neil Young

Neil Young

Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...

.

Side one

1. "Weight of the World" – 3:40
2. "Violent Side" – 4:22
3. "Hippie Dream" – 4:11
4. "Bad News Beat" – 3:18
5. "Touch the Night" – 4:30

Side two

6. "People on the Street" – 4:33
7. "Hard Luck Stories" – 4:06
8. "I Got a Problem" – 3:16
9. "Pressure" – 2:46
10. "Drifter" – 5:05

Personnel

• Neil Young
  Neil Young
  Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
  
   – Harmonica
  Harmonica
  The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
  
  , Lead guitar
  Lead guitar
  Lead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
  
  , Producer
  Record producer
  A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
  
  , Synthesizer
  Synthesizer
  A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
  
  , Vocals
  Singing
  Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
  
  
• Steve Jordan – Drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
  
  , Synthesizer, Vocals
• Danny Kortchmar
  Danny Kortchmar
  Danny "Kootch" Kortchmar is a guitarist, session musician, and songwriter. Kortchmar's work with singer-songwriters such as David Crosby, Carole King, Graham Nash, Carly Simon and James Taylor helped define the signature sound of the singer-songwriter era of the 1970s...
  
   – Guitar
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
  , Producer, Synthesizer, Vocals
• San Francisco Boys Chorus
  San Francisco Boys Chorus
  The San Francisco Boys Chorus is a choir for boys consisting of 230 members based in San Francisco with additional campuses in Oakland and San Rafael. It is known officially as "San Francisco's Singing Ambassadors to the World"....
  
   – Vocals on tracks "Violent Side" and "Touch the Night"
• Niko Bolas – Engineer, Mixing
• Richard Bosworth – Engineer
• Julie Last – Engineer
• Laura LiPuma – Design
• Louis Magor – Choir Director, Director
• Tim Mulligan – Engineer
• Doug Sax – Mastering, Original mastering
• Duane Seykora – Engineer
• Bernard Shakey - Art Director

Releases

Year	Type	Label	Catalog #
1986	LP	UME Imports	424 109
1986	CD	Geffen	24109
1990	CS	Geffen	24109
2000	CD	Interscope	490799
2002	CD	Universial Distribution	UICY-2352
2004	CD	Warner Music	GED24109

Charts

Album

Country	Peak Position	Weeks
Canada	40
US	46
UK	52	2
Sweden	15	8

Chart	Peak Position
The Billboard 200	58

Singles

Single	Chart	Peak Position
Touch The Night	Billboard - Mainstream Rock	8
Weight Of The World	Billboard - Mainstream Rock	33

Video

There is a video for "Touch The Night". In the video, Young plays a TV news reporter, covering a car accident. Interestingly, the whole video was shot in two takes.

Video Album

At one time, a video album was planned for the songs on this album, but it was scrapped due to lack of support from Geffen Records.