Manager Elliot Roberts told Young’s controversial biographer Jimmy McDonough “If (Neil) watches tv on the road and there’s a CNN special on Bosnia, Neil wants to do a record and a benefit within two days.” This same impulsiveness sinks Living With War, a joyless album of vapid political screeds that makes Country Joe McDonald sound like Cornel West. Coming on the heels of the also-political Greendale, Living With War finds our hero in “hippie dream” mode, struggling to conjure anything beyond raw passion; there’s even a song called “Let’s Impeach The President.” Written and recorded over a period of nine days, the album is a classic rush job; it bleats its message but forgets to give a shit about the music. In a career marked by strange detours and artistic decisions bordering on the surreal, this one isn’t even wacky enough to merit a laugh.