The Look

Regarding Robert Hilburn’s Dec. 17 article on Neil Young: Hilburn is wrong when he writes that Neil’s brilliant new album “Freedom” “hasn’t caught on with the public yet (it peaked at No. 35 on the Billboard charts) because radio play has been minimal. . . .” Though this might be a factor, the biggest reason the CD isn’t selling is the embarrassingly calculated and ugly CD cover. Neil, who is dolled up in a contrived, politically correct, fresh-off-the-rack blue Mao outfit, looks absurd.

That picture of Young and the title, “Freedom,” suggest that Neil is going to be whining tired politics on the whole CD, a la Jackson Browne something nobody wants to suffer through anymore (and Neil thankfully doesn’t do).

ARWO F. KUUS

Huntington Beach