Why Neil Young’s ‘Rust Never Sleeps’ Is the Most Punk Non-Punk Album of the 1970s

Neil Young was, back in the day, undeniably punk in his attitude. In particular, the 1979 album Rust Never Sleeps is still hailed today as one of the greatest proto-punk (debatable, considering punk was already a thing at the time) and proto-grunge (not as debatable) albums of the 1970s. Recorded with Crazy Horse, this album is something really special, and it has aged particularly well.

The proto-punk leanings of this album make sense, considering Young’s general attitude and support of punk rock in his later years.

“I never met Johnny Rotten, but I like what he did to people,” Young famously said in 1988. “He pissed off a lot of people who I think needed waking up. Rock and roll people, who in the 70s were asleep and thinking they were just so f***ing cool.”

In that same interview, Young went on to say that there was more to rock music than “perfection and overdubs”, and lamented the obsession at the time with wealth and fame that proved to be the downfall of so many rock stars through the years. He’s a man who knows who he is and what he stands for, and he has definitely been that kind of person since the 1970s. 

Rust Never Sleeps is so much more than just a punk-sounding album. In fact, there are quite a few elements of that album that make it very much a punk non-punk album.

What Makes ‘Rust Never Sleeps’ So Punk Rock?

It’s a well-produced album that doesn’t have the crustiness of the punk rock albums that would follow it. But the sound isn’t what makes this album so punk rock; it’s the energy and the message.

Rust Never Sleeps embodies the punk ethos of raw, rebellious energy. Songs like the title track have notable anti-establishment themes, and Young wasn’t afraid to tackle how disillusioned the youths of 1979 were in terms of social hierarchies and corporate control. He was challenging authority in a very particular way that had just started to become cool.

While the whole of the album doesn’t “sound” very punk, one can’t deny that the last half of the album (starting with “Powderfinger”) is particularly gritty and heavy on distortion. The instrumentation is also very stripped down, with more of a focus on energy than technical skill. There’s nothing more punk rock than that. Rust Never Sleeps almost sounds like a very early grunge album in that respect. With iconic lyrics like “It’s better to burn out than fade away”, it’s not surprising that so many grunge musicians in the 90s claimed Young was their favorite artist.

Either way, it’s an empowering piece of work still worth listening to today.

Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images

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