To borrow a line from Forrest Gump, a Neil Young album is like a box of chocolates -- you never know what you're going to get.

Hell, with the shape-shifting Neil, you don't even who you're going to get. Sometimes it's Mr. Rock. Sometimes it's Mr. Folk. Sometimes Mr. Country. Every now and then it's Mr. Grunge, Mr. Rockabilly, Mr. Swing or even Mr. Electronica.

On his latest surprise Are You Passionate? -- his thirtysomethingth album and first solo studio disc since 2000's Silver and Gold -- Neil introduces his new alter-ego: Mr. Soul. And no, we're not referring to his old Buffalo Springfield song. We're talking soul as in Memphis soul. Motown soul. Maybe even a little Muscle Shoals soul thrown in for good measure. Believe it or not, that's where Young's musical wanderlust has led him now -- to the world of Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett and Sam & Dave.

Sure, the heart of Southern soul is quite a journey for a white kid from Winnipeg. But as always, Neil makes it an interesting trip. Most of Are You Passionate? 11 tracks are the last sort of songs you'd expect from Young: Warm, seductive soul stirrers, with Neil crooning romantically over top of lazy, loose R&B grooves that bob and glide along with authenticity. And they oughta sound authentic; for his backing band, Young has enlisted no less than three-fourths of Booker T. & The MG's. Between them, these guys -- organist Booker T. Washington, bassist Donald (Duck) Dunn and drummer Steve (Smokey) Potts have worked with everyone from Otis and Wilson to Big Star and the Blues Brothers, not to mention a stint as Neil's live band during the mid-'90s. Here, Booker's burbling organ, Dunn's climbing bass lines and Potts' in-the-pocket grooves create such a tastefully nostalgic, instantly familiar background you wonder if Neil is about to launch into Dock of the Bay.

Thankfully, Young knows he's no Otis. Nor does he try to slip into anyone else's shoes here. He just sticks to his guns, singing with the same creaky yelp he's been nursing for 40 years and soloing away haphazardly on his old fuzz-tone Les Paul. Somehow, though, it all seems to fit just fine with the old-school grooves and melodies. Several of those seem to be lifted almost wholesale from I Can't Turn You Loose. You're My Girl, for instance, combines that familiar melody with bits of The Temptations' My Girl, while Be With You mixes it with touches of The Supremes' Come See About Me. At the slower end of the spectrum are the title cut, Mr. Disappointment, Two Old Friends and When I Hold You in My Arms -- bluesier, loping waltzes and ballads closer to Young's more usual fare. Finally, the closing cut She's a Healer is a smouldering, hypnotic soul workout that makes Neil seem funkier than any old white guy has a right to be.

There are two exceptions to the formula: Goin' Home, an epic, slowly crunching rock jam featuring Crazy Horse instead of The MG's; and Let's Roll, Young's dark, much-heralded 9/11 tribute inspired by the last words of Todd Beamer, one of the civilians who reportedly fought terrorists for control of the hijacked Flight 93. The track is a tense, deliberately paced ballad set inside the doomed plane, with powerful lyrics ("One's standing in the aisleway, two more in the door / We got to get inside there, before they kill some more") and a dark, no-nonsense delivery that make it the rawest and most moving musical tribute to Sept. 11 so far.

Maybe we should call his new persona Mr. Heart and Soul instead. (More on: Neil Young).

Track Listing