Comes a Time

Nicolette Larson (pictured in 1985) sang harmonies on most of the songs.

The album originally started out as a solo record, but when Young played it for Reprise executives they asked him if he would consider adding rhythm tracks to what he already had. Young agreed, and the end product was Comes a Time. Two songs ("Look Out For My Love" and "Lotta Love") were backed by Crazy Horse.

"Human Highway" was written several years prior to the album's release, and originally presented to Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young in 1974 for a proposed studio album by the group which never came to be. Much of the album features harmony vocals from Nicolette Larson. She also shares lead vocals with Young on "Motorcycle Mama".[4]

For many years it was rumoured that Young had personally purchased some 200,000 vinyl copies of Comes a Time having been unhappy with the album's sound, owing to damage that occurred to the master tape during shipment to the mixing facility. The version of the album most widely available today was personally remixed by Young from the safety copy of the original master. In a March 2014 interview with Rolling Stone, Young claimed that he, in fact, used the 200,000 LPs as shingles for a barn roof.[5]

Retrospective professional reviews

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[6]
Christgau's Record Guide	A[7]
Rolling Stone	[8]
Spin Alternative Record Guide	9/10[9]
Tom Hull – on the Web	A[10]

Reviewing for The Village Voice in October 1978, Robert Christgau hailed Comes a Time as a "tour de force" for its folkie concept and music, with melodies that rival those of Young's After the Gold Rush (1970) and a sound that is "almost always quiet, usually acoustic and drumless, and sweetened by Nicolette Larson". While noting that listeners may "wonder why this thirty-two-year-old hasn't learned more about Long-Term Relationships", Christgau was ultimately won over by "the spare, good-natured assurance of the singing and playing" for how it "deepens the more egregious homilies and transforms good sense into wisdom".[11] Stereo Review magazine's Noel Coppage found the album to be Young's "simplest, most acoustic, and best produced" record since 1972's Harvest, but more "down to earth and direct" in comparison and highlighted by a healthier perspective to his usual angst and varied songs performed in a consistent style. While lamenting a lack of energy to some degree, Coppage said that repeat listens of the album will provide "rewarding experiences with texture and mood, some real tunes, and the real personality Young puts into his work".[12] Somewhat less impressed was Greil Marcus of Rolling Stone. Describing Comes a Time as "a restrained and modest set of love songs that traces a long affair from first light to final regrets", he expressed disappointment at the relative "facelessness" of the songwriting when compared with rougher music on earlier albums like Zuma (1975) and American Stars 'n Bars (1977).[13]

At the end of 1978, Comes a Time was voted the year's eighth best album in the Pazz & Jop, an annual poll of American critics nationwide, published in The Village Voice.[14] Christgau, the poll's supervisor, ranked it fifth on his own year-end list accompanying the poll.[15]

According to Rolling Stone's Milo Miles, while the album may have sounded out of place amidst the punk rock craze of 1978, it is in retrospect Young's "most timeless and easy-to-love works, a brief but immaculate" work. Miles interprets the opening track "Goin' Back" as Young returning to folk music in refuge from the real world, much as in the same way the album altogether offers listeners "a steady haven in dark times" with lyrics about "taking shelter from troubles and going out to face them again".[8] AllMusic's William Ruhlmann recommended the album to fans of Harvest, saying "melodies, love lyrics, lush arrangements, and steel guitar solos dominated, and Young's vocals were made more accessible by being paired with Nicolette Larson's harmonies."[6]

All songs are written by Neil Young, except where noted.

Side one

1. "Goin' Back" – 4:43
2. "Comes a Time" – 3:05
3. "Look Out for My Love" – 4:06
4. "Lotta Love" – 2:38
5. "Peace of Mind" – 4:11

Side two

1. "Human Highway" – 3:09
2. "Already One" – 4:53
3. "Field of Opportunity" – 3:08
4. "Motorcycle Mama" – 3:08
5. "Four Strong Winds" (Ian Tyson) – 4:07

Track numbering refers to CD and digital releases of the album.

• Neil Young – guitar, harmonica, vocals, production
• Frank Sampedro – guitar, piano, vocals (on tracks 3 and 4)
• Billy Talbot – bass, vocals (on tracks 3 and 4)
• Ralph Molina – drums, vocals (on tracks 3 and 4)
• Tim Mulligan – saxophone
• Nicolette Larson – harmony / lead vocals (except on tracks 3 and 4)
• Ben Keith – steel guitar
• Karl Himmel – drums
• Tim Drummond – bass
• Spooner Oldham – piano
• Rufus Thibodeaux – fiddle
• Joe Osborn – bass
• Larrie Londin – drums
• J. J. Cale – electric guitar
• Farrell Morris – percussion
• Rita Fey – autoharp
• Bucky Barrett, Grant Boatwright, Johnny Christopher, Jerry Shook, Vic Jordan, Steve Gibson, Dale Sellers, Ray Edenton – acoustic guitars
• Shelly Kurland, Stephanie Woolf, Marvin Chantry, Roy Christensen, Gary Vanosdale, Carl Gorodetzky, George Binkley, Steven Smith, Larry Harvin, Larry Lasson, Carol Walker, Rebecca Lynch, Virginia Christensen, Maryanna Harvin, George Kosmola, Martha McCrory, Chuck Cochran – strings

Technical

• Ben Keith – production (except on tracks 3, 4 and 8)
• Tim Mulligan – production (except on track 7)
• David Briggs – production (on tracks 3 and 4)
• Tim Mulligan, Michael Laskow, David McKinley, Danny Hilley, Mike Porter, Denny Purcell, Rich "Hoss" Adler, Ernie Winfrey, Gabby Garcia, Paul Kaminsky – engineering
• Elliot Roberts – direction
• Tom Wilkes – art direction
• Coley Coleman – photography

• Comes a Time at MySpace (streamed copy)
• Samples from Amazon.com