After the Gold Rush [Original recording remastered]

Neil Young | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 14, 2009)
• Original Release Date: 1970
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Reprise Records
• ASIN: B001VZY4M8
• Also Available in: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #770 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #18 in Music > Rock > Country Rock
  • #33 in Music > Rock > Folk Rock
  • #47 in Music > Pop > Singer-Songwriters

Editorial Reviews

Neil Young's third solo album followed his Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young masterpiece Déjà Vu. Top 10 and double platinum, with the Top 40 'Only Love Can Break Your Heart' and his condemnation of racism in 'Southern Man,' 1970's After The Gold Rush has been ranked among the '100 Greatest Albums Of All Time' by both Rolling Stone and Time magazine.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

81 of 81 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning Sound Quality For An Album Already Perfect, July 15, 2009

By 

Charles "Charles" (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: After the Gold Rush (Audio CD)

I'm not going to waste your time with a long winded review of one of the greatest albums of the last fifty years. If you are a fan then you know how good it is. If you are not a fan or unfamiliar with his work, then this 1970 album should do the trick. If it doesn't get you into Neil then nothing in his catalog will. I'm also not going to post the same review for all four albums released, this review applies to all of the newly remastered solo albums (Neil Young, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, After The Gold Rush & Harvest) with regards to sound quality.

I had a sneaking suspicion they were going to remaster his catalog since it took way too long for the Archives box set to come out, especially considering how little unreleased material was actually on it. To some extent the box set, in my opinion, was a bit bloated and padded to charge a higher price. In any event, it appears the real reason it took so long was due to the fact that they were remastering everything possible in his catalog and wanted to have it all ready to release in the same general time frame.

I mainly want to focus on the remastering of this album, which is absolutely incredible. The liner notes state it was remastered from the original analog tapes and was an analog to HDCD 24 Bit 176 KHZ digital transfer...uh...OK...sounds good to me! This album sounds so far superior to the original CD pressing that it made my weak car speakers sound like they had had a BOSE makeover. Upon hearing some of the album tracks on the Archives box set it was obvious how incredible they sounded and I hoped they would do the same treatement to his catalog. Each album is numbered in the order they were released and a label on the back states it's part of the "Neil Young Archives Official Release Series" so there should definitely be more to come. All of these remasters come in a standard jewel case and there are no bonus tracks.

The sticker on the outside of the packaging stated that it was "remastered from the original analog tapes...because sound matters", and they're right. Someday pre-packaged music will be gone to a large extent and the younger generation doesn't give a rat's behind about sound quality so we have to get the best sounding versions while we can. Yes, I'm getting old and crotchety, I admit it. Now get off my lawn!

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great album, great sound restored, July 20, 2009

By 

Great Faulkner's Ghost (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: After the Gold Rush (Audio CD)

Released in the same year as Déjà Vu, Young's landmark reunion album with former Buffalo Springfield collaborator Steven Stills, David Crosby and Graham Nash, After the Gold Rush understandably focused on Young's solo compositions and idiosyncratic vocal style. Although it always had a slightly hastily put together quality, as if Young were rushing to his next assignment with Stills, it was highly successful at the time both commercially and artistically, and has aged extremely well. In fact, along with Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, which had a more rock orientation and which also produced the classic "Down by the River," After the Gold Rush is arguably young's best overall album, blending rock-tinged songs like "Southern Man," basically a one off on "Down by the River," with lovely ballads such as "Only Love Can Break Your Heart," and "Don't Let It Bring You Down".

Like all the recent Neil Young reissues, this has benefited immensely from the remastering to HDCD sound. Unlike some remastering efforts these days, which tend to be aggressive and edgy, this one has made the sound more "musical and mellow while at the same time restoring the dynamic impact of Young's forceful guitar strumming and twangy lead guitar playing. In other words, it sounds about as close as a CD can come to sounding like an vinyl LP, without the clicks and pops of course. This reissue is long overdue, and it's great to finally hear it again with all the force and mastery of the original.

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Benefits of remaster may not be apparent to all, July 22, 2009

By 

Ross A. Seymour "rseymour10" (La Crosse, WI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: After the Gold Rush (Audio CD)

I did two sets of A-B comparisons of the original CD issues to the recent reissues for these albums (NY, Goldrush, Nowhere and Harvest). One was on my mp3 player (FLAC) and the other on my home stereo.

Like with many recent reissues the volume is increased (only slightly, thank goodness) and the bass is beefed up (punchier, more delineated, less of a blob sound). Unlike with many recent reissues (the Stones come to mind), distortion is not introduced with these changes.

On the electric numbers I frankly did not hear much difference. It may say more about how well the original CDs were mastered (which I had always thought were just fine). The differences really shine with the acoustic numbers, especially on Harvest.

Good upgrade for us fanatic Neil fans, but many won't hear much of a difference.