If Neil Young has a pronounced weakness, it's a lack of focus. Restless to a fault, he's apt to rush into the recording studio without fully forming his ideas. Sleeps with Angels is that kind of album--and yet it's one of his best. Jarred by the death of Kurt Cobain (the rock & roll martyr quoted Young in his suicide note), he dashed off this collection of songs in 1994 with backing from his steadfast electric warriors, Crazy Horse. At least two songs--the title track and "Change Your Mind"--seem to directly refer to Cobain. Others--"Driveby" and "Safeway Cart" among the most striking--are mesmerizing and gloomy. Still others--"Piece of Crap," "Blue Eden"--are raw and cutting. Goes to show an elegy, no matter how somber, needn't be a hushed affair. --Steven Stolder