After many arguments and a lawsuit, Young left Geffen Records in 1988 and returned to his original label, Reprise, with This Note's for You.

"The Ways of Love" was written in the mid-1970s, attempted for Comes a Time, and first performed live during the May 1978 Boarding House concerts for Rust Never Sleeps.

According to Young in a November 1990 Vox interview with Nick Kent: I've always put a piece of Roy Orbison on every album I've made.

[6] "Rockin' in the Free World" originates with a phrase Young borrowed from guitarist Poncho Sampedro.

Young recorded the songs at his home studio at Broken Arrow Ranch in late July 1988, in between sessions for the CSNY album American Dream The sessions took place during a break in the tour supporting This Note's for You, and feature performers from his touring band.

"Ordinary People" from Chrome Dreams II was also recorded at this time, as was a driving, electric version of "Crime in the City".

During the sessions, Young would pursue the loudest sound possible by routing his guitar "Old Black" through different combinations of amps.

According to producer and sound engineer Niko Bolas, the loudness was in response to the saccharine production of American Dream: "That record came about as a direct result of doing CSNY.

"[5] The trio recorded the songs "Heavy Love", "Wrecking Ball", "Cocaine Eyes", "Don't Cry", "On Broadway", "Eldorado" and "Boxcar".

Young sequenced an early version of Freedom from these songs plus the earlier "Someday" and "Crime in the City" with a proposed title of Times Square.

Instead of releasing the album, Young embarked on a tour of Australia and then Japan with the Restless plus Ben Keith and Poncho Sampedro.

To promote the tour, Young released a five-song EP of the Hit Factory songs, Eldorado.

Though the Times Square tracks would still form the core of the album, Young would continue to incorporate more material.

At his ranch in March 1989, Young would record new songs "No More" and "Rockin' in the Free World" and revisit "Too Far Gone" and "The Ways of Love" from the 1970s.

In July, he would round out the album by recording "Hanging on a Limb" and overdub vocals to "The Ways of Love" with Linda Ronstadt.

"Rockin' in the Free World" became one of Young's signature songs and a live favorite, and bookends the album in acoustic and electric variants, a stylistic choice previously featured on Rust Never Sleeps.

Although he originally planned to release a purely electric rock album ("nothing but abrasiveness from beginning to end"), Young says the final product is "almost like listening to the radio - it keeps changing and going from one thing to another.

In concert, Young would typically play "Rockin' in the Free World" well into the set, when the band's energy is at a high.

I had my trainer, and we just lifted weights and I did calisthenics to get my blood to the level it would be at after performing for an hour and twenty-five minutes—which is usually how long I'd be onstage by the time I did that song.

"[10][5] Comedian Dennis Miller would later say that "Rockin' in the Free World" was the single greatest performance on the show in its history.

"[13] AllMusic reviewer Matthew Greenwald offered strong praise for the second track, "Crime in the City," calling it "undoubtedly the centerpiece of the album," "cinematic in scope" and "one of Neil Young's most accomplished works".

[16][17] All tracks are written by Neil Young, except where notedAdditional personnel Production Weekly charts ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.