How do you even begin to summarize the legend that is Canadian rocker Neil Young? Singer-songwriter, accomplished guitarist, Grammy award-winner, director, Godfather of Grunge, activist, two-time inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame—the resume speaks for itself and some miles after that. Not to mention Young's high-range creak-of-old-worn-leather style of voice that proves instantly recognizable no matter how soft or harsh the palette of instrumentation is around it.

These are the vocal shapings of a storyteller. Much like Bob Dylan or Leonard Cohen, Neil Young is never going to win you over with perfect pitch or his superbly sharpened tone. What he will do is reel you in with the power of his tales and the heart inside the words of his songs. The songs are where it all began for Neil Young with the release of his 1968 self-titled debut solo album, and the songs are what keep his legend strong to this day.

1 After The Gold Rush (1970)

After The Gold Rush

Written for a 1970 album of the same name, "After the Gold Rush" was an early example of some of Neil Young's best qualities. He could still surround himself with the folk-led instrumentation that made him a success within the band Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, while also taking his lyrics to thematically similar, if altogether deeper, places. And more surreal in the case of "After the Gold Rush," which uses a simple piano backing to transport the listener through a time travel of environmental decay.

In some ways, scrutinizing "After the Gold Rush" too closely almost makes the song feel winded and nonsensical, a hippie dream of the times devised after too many mind-altering substances and ments for the UNICEF organization. But Young is able to sell it simply with his conviction. He draws you into the song almost like a fairytale, and before you know it, you've gotten lost within the pages.

2 Four Strong Winds (1978)

Comes A Time

Young recorded "Four Strong Winds" as the final song on his 1978 album Comes a Time, which saw the musician return to a more balanced and cohesive country-folk style of sound. This was after several years of experimentation that came following After the Gold Rush and 1972's Harvest. And while Young certainly found fruit in the labors of his more wide-reaching and louder styles, folk and country have often felt like the central, definitive heartbeats within his work.

And while "Four Strong Winds" is a cover of a 1963 song by Canadian folk duo Ian & Sylvia, Young has always had the right mixture of longing and reverence for the song to make it seem originally his own. Much like the track "After the Gold Rush," Young pulls the listener into "Four Strong Winds," making it seem authentic, believable and impactful. The narrator is ending his spinning yarn on Comes a Time and going back to the road. You can almost feel the sting of the asphalt as he does here.

3 Cortez The Killer (1975)

Zuma

"Cortez the Killer" is another one of those very surreal, dream-like Neil Young lyrical odysseys that came out in the more hard rock, bluesy, jam-based realm of Young's collaborations with his long-time band Crazy Horse. Recorded for 1975's Zuma, "Cortez the Killer" is a mixture of a heavily exaggerated of the conflict between the Aztec tribe and Spanish explorer Hernan Cortez and Young's disintegrating relationship at the time with actress Carrie Snodgrass.

Despite the flighty lyrical path of "Cortez," it's one of Young's best electric jam-style songs, showcasing his ability to be a rocker and not just a folk artist. Young would come to dip his toe into many genre stylings over the years (with sometimes mixed results), but the effective treatises were unquestionably impactful not only to Young, but also to the artists that would cover his works in the years to come.

4 Cinnamon Girl (1969)

Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere

Young's first album with his band Crazy Horse was 1969's Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere and would come to feature multiple tracks that would not only be staples of Young's live repertoire over the years but his overall catalog as well. Lead among them was "Cinnamon Girl," a hard-punching rock anthem that felt thick and grungy before grunge had even been a thought, let alone a later cultural movement, in the early '90s.

This sort of early progressive sound from Young was why he'd ultimately later be credited as the so-called "Godfather of Grunge" and also showed his early chemistry with Crazy Horse that found the group delivering a razor-sharp edge to the world of rock. If they weren't jamming out to the heavens first, at least.

5 Helpless (1970)

Déjà Vu

During Neil Young's off-and-on and certainly tumultuous times within the band Crosby, Stills & Nash, one of his greatest contributions to the group was the song "Helpless." Written about his early life growing up in Canada for the group's 1970 album Déjà Vu, "Helpless" just feels like absolute magic put onto tape. Between Young's sparse and confessional lyrics, the country-folk backbeat, and those honey-golden CSN harmonies backing the choruses, this felt like the band in their absolute wheelhouse.

"Helpless" is one of those rare types of songs that feels right cut together as a CSNY staple and just as important when brought right down to the roots as a Young solo take. The track has a certain type of life and energy to it in both iterations, and it adds yet another important branch to Young's expansive musical tree.

6 Harvest Moon (1992)

Harvest Moon

Time and again, for all of the many sound variations in Neil Young's lengthy years of recording music, there's still something deeply significant to be said about his quietest moments put to tape. Not that the rock, jam, or experimental sides didn't have something to say, but it often seemed that Young's deepest introspections about his life and the people close to him came out in contemplative pieces like 1992's Harvest Moon.

Deemed a follow-up 20 years later to the success the artist had with 1972's Harvest, Harvest Moon focused on relationships and romance within long-term companionship. The title track here echoes this with sweeping, harmonic acoustic guitar and an ambiance that feels so gentle and caring. Said to be about his then-marriage to wife Pegi Young, "Harvest Moon" feels like a reassuring and expansive nod to all the lovers out there.

7 Ohio (1970)

So Far

In addition to the song "Helpless," one of Neil Young's other major contributions to his time with Crosby, Stills & Nash was the 1970 single release of the protest song "Ohio." Quickly written the same year as a response to the fatal shooting of four students on the Kent State college campus by National Guardsmen during Vietnam War protests, "Ohio" was an electrifying reaction to both the tragedy and the government's actions overseas.

While "Helpless" felt a bit like gentle hippie folklore, "Ohio" was the steely eyed anger of a counterculture unwilling to put up with any further injustices. And while "Ohio" has had its impact dulled over the years as popular classic rock radio fodder, it still has a message that shouldn't be so easily forgotten.

8 Tonight's The Night (1975)

Tonight's The Night

If songs like "After the Gold Rush," "Helpless," and "Harvest Moon" could capture Young at his most quietly confessional, it took songs like the title track from the gloom of 1975's Tonight's The Night to remind you he could also unload his fair share of demons with a full-throated electric shout as well. Written following the heroin overdoses of Crazy Horse guitarist Danny Whitten and roadie Bruce Berry, "Tonight's The Night" is all the resulting anger from the stages of grief packed into one stormy wallop.

Nothing is quite in tune; Young's voice on the album recording is cracked and sounds like paint peeling, and the song leads into an album where the deep darkness of emotional doldrums is peeking around every corner. "Tonight's The Night" is just the right shade of raw that bleeds into a harsh, bruising art.

9 The Needle and the Damage Done (1972)

Harvest

Recorded in what would be an unfortunate prelude to "Tonight's The Night," Young wrote "The Needle and the Damage Done" after Crazy Horse guitarist Danny Whitten had a near-fatal heroin overdose. Recorded for 1972's smash-hit album Harvest, "The Needle and the Damage Done" would also act as a tribute and memorial to other artists Young had seen fall to the drug as he made his way through the world of music.

This song reminds us that there is certainly no lack of temptations when it comes to the pursuit of art and the fame and fortune it may (or may not) bring along with it. Success can breed excess; the pursuit of success can lead to the need to mask pain or dull what it takes to get there, or you can draw the short straw and simply find that the vice of addiction can find you. It's as simple as the gentle, beautiful guitar pattern in this song.

10 My My, Hey, Hey (Out Of The Blue) (1979)

Rust Never Sleeps

Recorded as an acoustic bookend along with hard rock closer "Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)," "My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)" starts off Young's 1979 album Rust Never Sleeps and was intended to capture the musician's mindset as he felt he was growing musically irrelevant. The opposite would prove to be true, as Rust Never Sleeps helped to keep Young's career propelling onward, but the two songs do make an interesting contrast between rock and roll and the musicians who play it.

While the genre may never die, Young intended the tracks to say that it's important to make the most of your time on top, because while rock goes on, rockers can be left behind. So it's better to burn out than to simply fade away. And while some might debate what it means to "burn out" in this context, Young made it just another defining moment in the span of his legendary career.