Be it Prince’s ‘Little Red Corvette’, the Beach Boys ‘Little Deuce Coupe’ or Janis Joplin emploring the good Lord to buy her a Mercedes Benz, the car has long been a staple topic for Rock n’ Roll. Hell, even Belle and Sebastian threw their hat in to the ring with ‘I Love My Car’. Neil Young is clearly a man who loves his cars more than most, with the likes of Long May You Run being dedicated to his first car, or Tonight’s the Night’s name checking of Econoline Van. For Fork In The Road, the car is once again the star; this time it is Shakey’s long-term ‘Lincvolt’ project to turn his Lincoln Continental into a hybrid electro/biofuel vehicle.Recorded while touring last year, it marks the third in a trilogy of socially conscious, politically charged records that started with Greendale (2003), and continued on Living With War (2006). On first listen Fork In The Road may sound a little throwaway, all dirty bar room boogie on the likes of ‘Get Behind The Wheel’ and ‘Johnny Magic’ and the album’s title track. With it’s tale of Neil’s pot belly: “it’s not to big/ it gets in my way/ when I’m driving my Rig”, Fork In The Road delivers its message with a sense of humour and fun that prevents the record from ever feeling like a lecture . Plus you have to give him some points for managing to fit the phrase ‘domestic green fuel’ into at least two songs.While many have been quick to write Fork in The Road off as a one dimensional vanity project, repeated listens reveal it to be a far deeper record. Like Living With War before it, Fork In The Road is very much Young’s reaction to the times we are living in today. The churning ‘Cough Up The Bucks’ sees Young and his cohorts enquiring ‘Where did all the money go?’ in classic Youngian harmony, before the unexpected sound of Young almost rapping the songs title over and over, while ‘Fork In The Road’ criticizes the banking bailout, decrying the fact that the bailout isn’t for the common man, but for “for all those creeps hiding what they do”. Once again it seems that being pissed off is a driving force behind Shakey's writing. Yet for all the broadsides at the automobile industry not wanting to change, politicians and greedy bankers, there is also a ray of hope.‘Just Singing A Song’ acknowledges that "Just singing a song won’t change the world", Young imploring his fellow musicians to actually do something to make a difference rather than just singing about it. "You can sing about change/ while making your own" indeed. The gentle ‘Light A Candle’ sees the bombast and fuzz stripped back, returning to the acoustic guitar and a mournful pedal steel. Although melancholy it seems to suggest that now is the chance to make a difference and a new start, and reasses our place in the world. Despite the minor key, there is an overwhelming sense of hope to the song, and it may go down as one of the first and finest protest songs of the ‘Credit Crunch’ years. You can’t help feeling that ten years down the line it may just be viewed as a minor-classic.While Fork In The Road is by no means the greatest album of Young’s long career it fits pefectly into his back catalog, a ragged rocker that will sit happily alongside the likes of Zuma, Rust Never Sleeps or Tonight’s the Night. It also serves as the perfect indicator for Post- Bush era- dark times with big changes on the horizon, yet with a sense of underlying hope. 81%Neil Young on MySpace