“Return to Greendale”

Neil Young

Reprise Records

Think of Neil Young’s 2003 record “Greendale” as the venerable rocker’s take on “Our Town,” with a heavy dose of weirdness, environmentalism and anti-war sentiment thrown in.

“Return to Greendale” gives listeners, and viewers, a chance to revisit the often overlooked Young record, tour and rock opera film. On the live album, Young and his longtime collaborators Crazy Horse deliver versions of the record’s 10 songs that are largely faithful to the originals.

But the true gem of this release is the full-length concert from Toronto included in a box set on Blu-ray. It’s by watching Young’s vision play out onstage, with actors above, beside and intertwined with the band, while portions of Young’s 2003 “Greendale” film are sometimes projected, that the storyline comes alive and is made more understandable.

The story follows multiple generations of the Green family as their lives play out in a fictional California town.

Some of the acting is groan-worthy, to be sure, but there’s a certain appeal to the quirkiness and passion of the whole endeavor that draws you in. Plus, Young and Crazy Horse are at the top of their game, with Young strutting the stage and powerfully delivering the album from start to finish.

If you’re not open to Young’s esoteric side trips, this one may not be for you. But if that’s just your thing, “Return to Greendale” is a welcome look back.

“Hey Clockface”

Elvis Costello

Concord

If Elvis Costello’s 33rd studio album sounds a bit all over the place, that’s because that’s where it was recorded.

The stupendously prolific English songwriter and former angry young man began work by cutting three solo songs in Helsinki in February. He recorded nine more in Paris, working with musicians anchored by his longtime pianist Steve Nieve.

Finally, two tracks were written by trumpeter Michael Leonhart in New York and recorded with guitarists Bill Frisell and Nels Cline, before Costello completed them post-lockdown in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Unsurprisingly, “Hey Clockface” lacks the cohesion of “Look Now,” 2018’s excellent return to form with his band the Imposters. Instead, it plays out as a melange of styles, a sampler that relates to various stages in Costello’s career.

“I Do (Zula’s Song)” has a smoky jazz club vibe that recalls Chet Baker’s heartbreaking turn on “Almost Blue.” Elsewhere, the arrangements bang and clatter with a claustrophobic rage reminiscent of 1986’s “Blood & Chocolate.” “No Flag” bursts with bitterness and bile: “I’ve got a head full of idea and words that don’t seem to belong to me,” he spews. “No sign for the dark place that I live/ No God for the damn I don’t give.”

The album hits a high point with the doomy, impressively realized “Newspaper Pane,” creating a dark, enveloping mood in which the jaunty New Orleans strut “Hey Clockface/How Can You Face Me” feels strangely out of place. This is not Costello’s most consistent work, but he still does have a head full of ideas, with most worthy of exploring.