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.