The Monsanto Years is the 37th studio album by Canadian-American singer-songwriter Neil Young and the American rock group Promise of the Real, released on June 29, 2015 on Reprise Records.
[3] The album was produced by both Young and John Hanlon, and is accompanied by a film documenting the recording process.
[3] Micah reflects on their relationship with Young: "Neil doesn't want us to hold back musically, and we all were quickly absorbed into the fold with him.
"[4] Songs on the album reflect Young's dissatisfaction with Genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, and the lack of requirements that GMO sourced foods be labelled as such.
[5] The song "A Rock Star Bucks a Coffee Shop" reflects Young's unhappiness at Starbucks' efforts to prevent a Vermont referendum from taking effect that would have required the labeling of GMO sourced food products.
Praising the contributions of Promise of the Real, Dennis wrote: [The band] sound not unlike Crazy Horse, and supply all the big riffs, crashing major chords and harmonies that have characterised Young's best records for five decades.
Club gave the album a "C" rating, opining that the concept of the album and its execution were "underproduced, underwritten, and not likely to take up more than a few months (if not weeks or days) of Young's promotional energies before he moves to the next thing" but with some highlights among the harder rock songs.
[11] Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic.com gave the album 3.5 stars out of 5 claiming that: "Young uses his sturdy footing to lash out at what he perceives as destructive forces – to our dinner tables and social fabric – and if the individual message may wind up fading like yesterday's newspapers, the music will keep The Monsanto Years burning bright".
Unfortunately, for some of us, his current album may fail to reflect our strong beliefs in what we do every day to help make agriculture more sustainable.
[22] Criticism of the company led Monsanto to investigate Young and write an internal memo on his social media activity and music.