Freedom has received mainly positive reviews, especially in comparison to the rest of Young's '80s work. AllMusic's William Ruhlmann explained that it "was the album Neil Young fans knew he was capable of making, but feared he would never make again." He also stated that "there were tracks that harked back to [his] acoustic-based, country-tinged albums." In Glide Magazine, Doug Collette wrote that with Freedom, Young closed the 1980s "with an artistic statement even more emphatic than his contemporaries", the Rolling Stones' with Steel Wheels, and comparable to Bob Dylan's Oh Mercy. Writing for Ultimate Classic Rock, Nick DeRiso called Freedom Young's "most varied, most topical, most complete work since the '70s".
The album is ranked number 996 in All-Time Top 1000 Albums (3rd. edition, 2000).
Track listing
Personnel
- Neil Young – vocals; acoustic guitar; electric guitar; harmonica; piano on 9
- Chad Cromwell – drums
- Rick "The Bass Player" Rosas – bass
- Frank "Poncho" Sampedro – guitar on 2, 5 (as "Poncho Villa"), 9, 12; keyboards on 5, 7; mandolin on 11; vocals on 12
- Ben Keith – alto saxophone on 2, 7; pedal steel guitar on 2, 6, 11; keyboards on 10, 12; vocals on 11
Additional personnel
- Linda Ronstadt – vocals on 4, 6
- Tony Marsico – bass on 10
- Steve Lawrence – tenor saxophone on 2, 7
- Larry Cragg – baritone saxophone on 2, 7
- Claude Cailliet – trombone on 2, 7
- John Fumo – trumpet on 2, 7
- Tom Bray – trumpet on 2, 7
Production
- Neil Young – producer, mixing engineer
- Niko Bolas – producer, recording engineer except on tracks 1 4, mixing engineer except on tracks 1 4
- Tim Mulligan – digital engineer, recording engineer on 4
- Harry Sitam – senior technical engineer
- Dave Collins – digital editor
- Doug Sax – digital mastering engineer
- Dave Hewitt – recording engineer on 1, mixing engineer on 1
Charts
Weekly charts
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
! scope="col"| Chart (1989)
! scope="col"| Peak<br />position
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
|}
Singles
{| class="wikitable"
!Year
!Single
!Chart
!Position
|-
| rowspan="2"| 1989
|"No More"
| rowspan="3"| Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks
| align="center" |7
|-
|"Rockin' in the Free World" (Electric)
| align="center" |2
|-
|1990
|"Crime in the City" (Electric)
| align="center" |34
|}