Decade, while being eventful in that it did once and for all establish [Neil Young] as a Major Artist of impressive proportions, also illustrated the fact that his is a vision as consistent as it is clear; he will sing about how it feels to live in this strange and risky world, where friends still die and politics of oppression still operate and love is always hard to live with, and he will do it with none of rock's usual obfuscation or frivolity until they come to take him away.

New-album-wise (Comes a Time), this translates into serious songs about love, a theme with which he was so obviously occupied as one part of a couple at the time the album was made…. It's a smooth job, one of his calmer efforts … but still quietly passionate, a bit of a sleeper.

Side one involves a lot of committing...