"Neither burning out, nor fading away"

For decades, Neil Young has tested, mixed and invented songs in his musical laboratory, creating some of the most revolutionary and prodigious compositions of the past half-century.

The 60-year-old musical genius has temporarily ceased the experimentation and offered a straightforward, easy listening, candy-for-the-ears album in "Prairie Wind."

Employing the time-tested formula, "Prairie Wind" is somewhere in the crosshairs of folk, country and rock that is reminiscent of Young's golden melodies from the 1972 release "Harvest" and its 1992 sequel "Harvest Moon."

"The Grandfather of Grunge" has laid down the electric guitar and replaced extensive epic guitar solos with softly strummed acoustic country melodies.

"Falling Off the Face of the Earth" is a lighthearted hymn that's catchy enough to be deposited into one's memory bank and "It's a Dream" crescendos a collage of violins, light guitar riffs and Young's characteristic vocals that flow together to form a classic track.

Many songs echo the Neil Young of old like "This Old Guitar," with its gentle guitar melody that pleasantly resembles "Harvest Moon." Comparisons can also be drawn between "Prairie Wind" and classic songs like "Helpless" and "You and Me" for their slow tempos and choral backgrounds.

Along with the songs of life on the prairie, the album features overtly political songs like "When God Made Me," which Young played at the Live 8 concert, and "No Wonder" that reads a little like Bob Dylan's "Masters of War."

The album is a carefree romp through outdoor life and the Canadian countryside but may be too delicate for those who crave Young's harder tunes. Criticism can be laid on a couple songs like "He Was the King," a dedication to Elvis Presley, that sounds dated and out of place.

"Prairie Wind" sounds like it could have been excavated from the Earth's strata from Young's glory years of the '70s. Young's voice, as if cryogenically preserved from yesteryear, has not changed in pitch or potency. Like a time-traveling apparition from the past, "Prairie Wind" manifested in the wrong decade but at the right time, enriching Young's already-brilliant musical legacy.