Like most institutions these last seven months, Neil Young’s new album reflects the duality of our times: there’s September 11, and then there’s everything else. The September 11 song is "Let’s Roll," a single that takes us inside the cabin of United Flight 93, the hijacked jetliner on which the passengers fought back. It’s the best and most anomalous song on this erratic album, since it’s got what Young at the top of his game has delivered since the late ’60s: a reedy voice and rough, angular guitar notes telling a story with a dramatic edge.

"Goin’ Home," the only track featuring long-time cohort Crazy Horse (on a tune alluding to Custer, no less!) is the other winner. The rest is mostly flaccid love songs and performances that don’t cut as deep, if at all. "Mr. Disappointment" is quite a letdown 35 years after "Mr. Soul": the tone recalls Luka Bloom’s version of LL Cool J’s "I Need Love," but Bloom is a much better rapper than Young is. "Quit (Don’t Say You Love Me)" is Michael Bolton in wolf’s clothing. The pairing of Young with soul titan Booker T. Jones on organ (and as co-producer with Neil) and fellow MG Duck Dunn on bass underachieves more often than it delights. This time around, rust ever creeps.