Harvest

Neil Young was so trashed during these sessions he could barely stand, but he somehow convinced James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt to show up for backup vocals on 'Heart of Gold.' It’s the ultimate contrast: the raw, back-porch fragility of the Stray Gators against the polished, commercial shine Reprise was banking on. You’ve got a mountain of pop and rock in your collection, but this is where the seams actually start to show in the best way possible. That '78 pressing in your hand isn't about sonic perfection. It’s about the fact that this album became such a massive, unwanted hit for Neil that it literally drove him toward the ditch for the rest of the decade. He spent years trying to write anything that wasn't 'Harvest.' You own some big-label pop—Bublé, Fleetwood Mac—but none of them had to actively sabotage their own success just to keep their sanity like this guy did.

source: the clerk